Participants: Bill Knott
Series Code: WOFP
Program Code: WOFP000008
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00:24 Welcome to the final,
00:27 the eighth week of prayer service 00:29 that we've been having this week, 00:31 it started last Sabbath morning with our Pastor John Lomacang. 00:36 And then it proceeded through the week, 00:37 we had Shelley Quinn on Sunday night, 00:39 I spoke on Monday night. 00:41 John Dinzey on Tuesday night, 00:44 and then our pastor again on Wednesday evening, 00:47 Thursday evening was Pastor CA Murray 00:50 and last night our founder Danny Shelton. 00:53 And today the speaker is going to be 00:56 none other than the editor of the Adventist Review 01:00 Dr. Bill Knott, 01:02 and so this has been a really exciting weekend. 01:06 Danny, when we started talking about reviving 01:10 the week of prayer, 01:11 do you remember the week of prayer 01:12 when you were younger and...? 01:14 Oh, absolutely and I also remembered 01:15 in gathering too. 01:16 You don't hear much about that anymore. 01:18 No. 01:19 But we started way before Christmas 01:21 and I was out there, you know, in gathering, 01:22 but the week of prayer is a great thing 01:24 and the beauty of 3ABN with television and radio, 01:27 if you happen to miss, 01:29 I traveled a couple nights I was gone. 01:31 But I got to come back and I got to hear Shelley, 01:33 and then I was traveling down to Nashville 01:37 the other night when CA was preaching, 01:39 and I heard him on the radio, Jay... 01:40 All right. Heard him on... 01:41 You're doing all right now, I heard you, okay. 01:43 Jay is doing all right, 01:44 he's here in church today, great. 01:46 Praise the Lord for that good report. 01:47 And I heard CA preaching on the radio, 01:49 so as I was heading down, 01:51 so thank the Lord for 3ABN television 01:53 and 3ABN radio. 01:54 Amen. 01:56 Well, it is a remarkable 01:57 how the Lord has enabled us to reach around the world. 02:00 Radio now is on how about, how many stations, Jay? 02:04 About 225. 02:06 225 stations... 02:07 That's a two-hander. 02:09 That's right, it surely is. That's amazing. 02:11 Not only here but around the world... 02:12 Around the world. 02:14 We heard when we were in Australia for instance. 02:15 Well, we really did and I had someone tell me 02:17 the other day that they watch 3ABN 02:21 on a local channel 02:23 but they said we also listen in our car on 3ABN radio. 02:29 So you, if you have a downlink station 02:32 in your area, 02:33 even if you don't have a radio station, 02:36 you should be able to reach 3ABN radio 02:39 through that downlink station. 02:40 I have a couple guys that come out 02:42 and we'd play basketball Tuesday nights 02:44 and they'll come out invariably, 02:46 and want to talk about sermons they've heard on 3ABN radio. 02:49 They say, we don't watch, we don't have time 02:51 but when I travel back and forth to work, 02:53 I'm always keeping up with you guys, 02:55 and what's happening there at 3ABN. 02:56 We've even had some of the coal miners 02:59 who say that they record it 03:02 on their little digital recorders, 03:05 and then listen to it 03:06 when they're down 900 feet below the ground 03:09 working in the coal mines. 03:11 And they're listening to 3ABN radio 03:13 while they're going about their work. 03:15 So God is blessing, He really is. 03:18 Now, Danny, we've been having prayer request all week long 03:22 and today was no exception, 03:24 what are we praying about today? 03:26 Well, you know, today we have emphasis, 03:28 of course, on revival and reformation. 03:30 That's something, folks, as I mentioned last night, 03:33 you see the times in which we're living, 03:35 we need revival like we've never had it. 03:38 But we need to start personally, right? 03:40 Individually rededicating our lives to the Lord 03:43 and then as we're working together 03:44 as a family, 03:46 as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 03:48 we know what our mission is 03:49 to take an undiluted three angels' messages 03:52 to all the world, 03:53 so we want to pray for that 03:54 and outpouring of the Holy Spirit 03:56 and revival on God's people today. 03:58 Amen. 04:00 And, you know, we have seen some remarkable answers 04:02 to prayer this week 04:04 and we believe with all of our heart 04:06 that God still answers prayer. 04:09 So if you have a special prayer request 04:12 and you're watching us today or you're listening by radio, 04:15 you can call our number which is... 04:19 618-627-4651. That's right. 04:22 618-627-4651. 04:25 And we have JD and some other folk I guess 04:27 that's answering the phones today, right? 04:29 And, well, we have some pastoral staff there, 04:31 if you just hit one, 04:33 when the phone answers just hit the number one, 04:37 it will take you to one of the pastoral staff 04:41 and you'll be able to record and receive actual prayer 04:46 for your request at that time. 04:48 And we just praise the Lord 04:50 that so many of you have been calling in 04:53 and have been responding. 04:56 And we also appreciate your, not only your prayers 04:59 but your financial support 05:00 because, Danny, without that we wouldn't exist. 05:03 Absolutely, what we're doing is it has to be a team effort, 05:07 and it has to be all of us who have the same goals 05:10 and then same mission of taking this gospel message 05:13 into all the world so Jesus can come back. 05:15 So we really, you pray and ask the Lord 05:17 what He would have you to do 05:19 for the ministry reaching hands together 05:22 for the ministry 05:23 of Three Angels Broadcasting Network. 05:25 And 'cause we really do not designate 05:28 the amount, do we? 05:29 I think you heard somebody on the television just recently 05:32 that had a specific amount, 05:34 was it $423 or something like that? 05:36 I had a guy who had something like that, 05:38 I just heard him, just recently he said, give $423 05:42 and he said, you need to give it. 05:44 He said, it's blessed me so much by your giving, 05:46 I had to go buy 240 acres of property 05:49 and I don't even have any reason for it, 05:50 I just didn't want to give it to the government. 05:52 So I'm being blessed so much 05:54 that if you give me the money, you'll be blessed 05:56 and you can, things like that will happen to you, he said. 05:59 And he also said, the guy said, 06:01 what do you tell people to pray? 06:02 And he said, get this, he said, I tell them one thing, 06:06 just pray Lord, make me the biggest giver. 06:08 So I said, well, okay, 06:09 we don't do that here at 3ABN... 06:11 No we don't, we don't. We don't do that. 06:12 We let you pray and say, Lord, what would you have me to do? 06:15 And that's the reason sometimes 06:17 we could ask for a specific amount, 06:18 we might ask people to send 50, 06:20 but the Lord may want them to send 100. 06:21 That's right. 06:22 So we don't interfere with what the Lord is impressing 06:24 you to do in your giving, 06:25 not only to us but to your local church. 06:27 That's right. 06:28 And also your tithes and your offerings, 06:30 we encourage people 06:31 God will bless you for giving your tithes and offerings, 06:33 and believe it or not, 06:35 3ABN is not the only place that we think it should come, 06:37 we know God has a great work around the world. 06:40 And the Holy Spirit will impress you 06:42 not only how much to give but who to give to. 06:45 Well, He will and... 06:47 Did I go too far at that time? 06:48 No, you did exactly. Okay, all right. 06:50 We were discussing this just before we came out, 06:53 and we honestly could not believe 06:56 some of the appeals that you will hear 06:58 if you're watching some religious television today. 07:02 But we just want to be as honest 07:04 and as straightforward as we can be, 07:08 you know, the great needs of this ministry 07:11 and no manipulation, 07:13 just allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. 07:17 Our speaker today, 07:19 Dr. Bill Knott is a New Englander really. 07:23 Okay. 07:24 He went to Atlantic Union College, 07:26 he began his ministry in New England 07:29 in Taunton, Massachusetts, 07:31 went on to Syracuse, New York where he was a pastor. 07:35 And then to Berrien Springs, Michigan, 07:38 you remember Berrien Springs, 07:40 and then to Walla Walla, Washington 07:42 where he was a college church pastor. 07:45 Along the way, he also received his MDiv, 07:48 Master of Divinity 07:50 from Andrews University seminary. 07:52 And then later went to George Washington University 07:56 in Washington DC 07:58 and received his doctorate of history, 08:02 American Religious History. 08:05 So he is, he is well equipped, 08:07 he loves the Lord, he's been a pastor, 08:10 you're not talking about somebody 08:11 that spent all their life just studying, 08:14 this has been a man that for 18 years 08:17 pastored churches working with people. 08:20 Wow. 08:21 And he's an editor, a writer, 08:22 he was for nine years the associate editor 08:25 of the Review and Herald, before he became the editor. 08:30 He has two sons, Evan and Brady. 08:32 In fact, I think we were talking a minute ago 08:35 and Evan is right now 08:37 preaching at a little church in Michigan, 08:39 he is a ministerial student at Andrews University, 08:42 a senior ministerial student 08:44 and he's preaching in a little church 08:46 out in southwestern Michigan 08:48 right at this very time 08:50 that his father will be speaking to us here today. 08:54 And his son Brady is also there, 08:56 Evan and Brady, his wife Debby works 08:59 at the General Conference 09:01 and these are people that love the Lord. 09:04 What we appreciate about him 09:05 is that he has, he's very open to supporting ministries, 09:10 he's very close to many of the ASI ministries 09:15 including 3ABN and we appreciate his support. 09:18 Amen. 09:20 I'm glad you came out to tell about all the degrees 09:23 and education he has 09:24 'cause I not only couldn't remember that, 09:26 I can't even say some of his degrees, 09:28 I can't even call him by name, there's so up there. 09:31 But no, he's a great guy, 09:33 besides all of that he loves the Lord... 09:34 Amen. 09:36 He's gonna bring us a great message, 09:37 why don't we just have a little prayer 09:38 and then we're gonna have Pastor John Lomacang, 09:40 he's gonna come out 09:41 and this week we've been actually showing 09:44 some of the Pillars songs, music on video 09:47 but he's going to sing to us live today. 09:49 So we're happy for Pastor John 09:51 and thankful for what God is doing in him 09:53 and through him. 09:54 You know, he's gonna sing 09:56 one of my favorite historical songs, 09:58 "Don't You See My Jesus Coming". 10:02 And this is a wonderful 10:04 inspiring song of the second coming. 10:07 Amen. 10:08 Jim, would you lead us in prayer? 10:09 Our Father and our God, we thank You today 10:11 that we can come to You in prayer. 10:14 Father, we thank You that we have the assurance 10:17 that Jesus loves us, 10:19 that He came to die for us, 10:23 that He rose again and that He's coming back. 10:27 Father, help us to continue 10:29 to proclaim that message around the world, 10:32 through the power of Your Holy Spirit, 10:35 I pray that You will bring revival 10:37 not only to our church, 10:38 not only to our ministry but to us individually. 10:43 Bring us that spiritual revival, 10:46 we pray, thank You, Father. 10:48 Pray that You will anoint. 10:50 The music we're going to hear in a moment from Pastor John 10:53 and anoint the lips of Pastor Bill Knott, 10:56 in Jesus' name we ask it, amen. 11:21 Don't you see my Jesus coming? 11:27 Don't you see, in yonder cloud? 11:34 With ten thousand angels round Him 11:40 See how they my Jesus crowd? 11:46 I am bound for the kingdom 11:52 Will you go to glory with me? 11:58 Hallelujah! O praise ye the Lord! 12:08 Don't you see the saints ascending 12:13 Hear them shouting thro' the air 12:20 Jesus smiling, trumpets sounding 12:25 Now His glory they will share 12:30 I am bound for the kingdom 12:36 Will you go to glory with me? 12:42 Hallelujah! O praise ye the Lord! 12:48 Hallelujah! 12:51 Hallelujah! 12:53 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 12:56 Hallelujah! 13:02 Don't you see the heavens open? 13:07 And the saints in glory there 13:14 Shouts of triumph bursting round them 13:20 Glory, glory, glory here 13:25 Where 13:30 I am bound for the kingdom 13:35 Will you go to glory with me? 13:41 Hallelujah! O praise ye the Lord! 13:47 Hallelujah! 13:49 O praise ye the Lord! 14:05 Amen. 14:14 Good morning and happy Sabbath. 14:15 Happy Sabbath. 14:17 This morning the Word of God for us 14:19 is found in the Gospel of Luke 7:11, 14:25 Luke 7:11. 14:32 "Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, 14:37 and his disciples and a large crowd 14:39 went with him. 14:40 As he approached the gate of the town, 14:42 a man who was died was being carried out, 14:45 he was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. 14:49 And with her was a large crowd from the town." 14:57 After school 15:00 and certainly on every school holiday, 15:05 the four of us kids used to play at healing 15:10 out under a clear blue Texas sky. 15:14 I'm not quite sure which of us first invented the game 15:18 or if any of us would care to claim credit for it today. 15:23 Maybe it came about because of all those stories 15:26 we heard at Sabbath school about missionary doctors 15:29 and nurses toiling over broken bodies 15:32 in far off jungle places. 15:36 Maybe it came from the fevered imaginations of children 15:41 who had been watching too many medical dramas 15:44 on television. 15:45 In any event, by halfway through 15:47 the first grade the game was firmly established. 15:52 Keith would bring with him an old stethoscope 15:55 that he somehow managed to smuggle out of the house 15:57 every afternoon. 15:59 Kathy would bring an array of cooking utensils 16:03 that had been magically transformed 16:05 into surgical instruments. 16:08 I would bring along my trusty red 16:10 and silver etch-a-sketch machine. 16:14 And Tina, well, as I remember it, 16:18 Tina didn't have to bring anything along. 16:21 Tina had the sweetest smile 16:22 a first grade boy ever fell in love with. 16:26 Children's games as we all remember 16:29 have very definite roles and rules to them, 16:34 things have to be done decently and in order 16:38 or else the game dissolves. 16:40 And in our particular version 16:42 of the age old game of medicine, 16:44 the patient for the day would have to lie down 16:47 on an open bench out there in the stone garden, 16:50 a bench that had been magically transformed 16:52 into a surgical operating table. 16:55 With knowing looks, the doctor of the hour 17:00 would lean over murmur wise observations 17:05 to the attending nurse, who of course was Tina. 17:10 The cardiogram machine, the electrocardiogram machine 17:13 would be called for 17:15 better known as the etch-a-sketch machine. 17:18 And it would be laid down on the patient's heart, 17:21 and by turning the white dials 17:23 of that red and silver etch-a-sketch machine, 17:25 you could create the wildest arrhythmias 17:27 you ever did see. 17:32 Truth is, the supposed heart beats 17:34 on that etch-a-sketch machine 17:37 look more like the gyrations of my 401(k) fund recently. 17:42 If you wanted to show 17:43 that the patient was desperately ill, 17:46 you just crank the dials down until he appeared to flat line. 17:51 It was the patient's role 17:53 of course to patiently endure all of this 17:56 and to moan and groan 17:58 at all the appropriate intervals. 18:01 Sometimes if you felt particularly daring, 18:05 you would even feign unconsciousness, 18:09 where only the administrations 18:11 of Nurse Tina could wake you up. 18:14 You would awake from your comatose condition 18:17 to discover Dr. Keith leaning over you 18:19 with that curious half smile on his face, 18:22 while Tina looked on adoringly. 18:25 Well, children are incurable optimists, 18:28 we know that. 18:29 No one ever died 18:31 during our little game of medicine, 18:33 that very worst the patient would only appear to be dead. 18:39 The whole point of the game, 18:42 the whole point of the game 18:43 was the exercise of superior skill 18:46 by the medical staff 18:47 that had saved yet another difficult case. 18:52 Oh, the games the children play. 18:57 What a strange prophetic forecast they give 19:02 of what we may end up doing with our lives. 19:06 Today, Keith is a successful psychiatrist 19:11 practicing in Denver. 19:14 Kathy went on to earn a doctorate in nursing. 19:17 Tina well, Tina broke them all 19:21 but then again Tina always broke them all. 19:24 And I make so boldest to stand behind pulpits 19:28 week after week in places around the world 19:31 and talk about healing. 19:35 That game that we played in the stone garden 19:38 on weekday afternoons 19:39 has become the real stuff of our grown up lives. 19:45 We never allowed for death 19:46 in those backyard games as children, 19:49 every sick patient was eventually gonna recover, 19:54 every wounded cowboy or Indian 19:57 was gonna get up and play the game the next day. 20:01 Our little world was built on that unsubstantiated belief 20:04 that life always goes on, 20:07 recovery always happens, 20:10 as long as there is life there is hope. 20:13 Hope and life in play were all inextricably connected 20:18 for us as children. 20:21 But the story that Luke tells us about in his gospel 20:24 this morning shows us a time 20:26 when no one felt at all like playing, 20:31 because no one had any hope left. 20:34 Hope had disappeared. 20:38 Hope had disappeared as quickly as had the last breaths 20:42 of that sturdy young man 20:44 who lay there on the funeral stretcher. 20:48 His curly black hair was still damp 20:51 from the fever of his last moments, 20:55 his teeth were clenched in a last spasm of pain. 21:02 There is something, 21:04 there is something about the death of children 21:08 to which we humans will never be reconciled. 21:14 We can sometimes in the course of things 21:18 accept and understand the death of an elderly person 21:23 who has lived a long fruitful life 21:25 in our own quiet way, 21:29 we have been getting ready for that moment. 21:32 We can sometimes even accept 21:34 the loss of a middle-aged person 21:36 who by accident or illness 21:39 leaves a family alone, leaderless. 21:45 But nothing, 21:47 nothing in our bones disposes us 21:50 to understand the death of children, 21:54 our children or anybody's children. 21:58 There's something profoundly unnatural about children 22:02 preceding their parents to the grave, 22:04 it scares us and it scars us 22:07 more than any other fear we have. 22:10 With the death of children, comes the death of hope. 22:16 The future instead of looking bright and rosy, 22:19 it just becomes a long gray corridor of time. 22:24 And on that day in the village of Nain, 22:26 I suspect that people 22:27 who otherwise never went to funerals 22:29 came out to that funeral that day 22:31 to walk behind that unnamed widow 22:34 as she walked behind 22:36 the funeral stretcher of her son. 22:40 Her loss, 22:42 oh, it was a lot more than her loss, 22:44 the entire town felt it keenly. 22:48 Not only had death dealt them a blow by taking the life 22:51 of a young man they loved, 22:53 but death had, had blasted their hopes as well, 22:56 how could they go on 22:59 when this kind of thing could happen? 23:01 If young men like this could be cut down in the prime of life, 23:07 how would life ever again be sweet or fun? 23:14 How could the children ever play again 23:17 in the dusty streets 23:19 late afternoon their funny little games of doctor, 23:25 rabbi, carpenter? 23:30 It's very likely that the entire town 23:32 had turned out for this funeral 23:34 in that hilltop village called Nain. 23:37 And just now as Luke shows us the scene, 23:39 the funeral procession 23:40 is making its way out of the gate of the village 23:43 and down the steep road to the cemeteries, 23:46 which even to this day lined the road to Nain. 23:52 It really was the worst 23:53 of all possible days for a funeral. 23:57 Bright cheerful sun hanging in mid-heaven, 24:02 song birds twittering 24:03 in the olive trees along the route, 24:07 fields of ripe grain blowing in a gentle breeze 24:11 down in the valley, 24:13 the snow capped heights of Mount Hermon 24:15 outlined against a blue sky, 24:18 oh, it was the worst of all possible days for a funeral. 24:22 Everything in the natural world 24:24 had conspired on that day to sing a song of hope 24:27 and on that day the human world had no hope. 24:33 They were going to a funeral. 24:36 An entire village was going down, 24:40 it was going down the steep rocky road 24:43 that led to the cemeteries, 24:45 down from the companionship of the houses 24:48 that clustered up there on the hill, 24:50 down to the lonely graves where they buried their dead. 24:56 Mourners were weeping that morning, 24:58 some of them professional hired to mourn, 25:01 others weeping 25:02 because their heart really was ready to break into. 25:08 The stretcher was undoubtedly carried 25:10 by the young men of the village, 25:14 each one of them feeling the solemn weight 25:19 of carrying someone they had loved 25:22 on their shoulders. 25:26 Do you know that weight? 25:29 I do, I do. 25:35 And just at that moment as providence would have it, 25:38 just at that moment, 25:39 Jesus and His followers were going up, 25:41 up that same steep rocky path 25:44 that led to the village of Nain. 25:46 It was a place that Jesus undoubtedly knew very well, 25:49 Nain was a mere six miles, 25:52 a 90 minute walk from his hometown of Nazareth. 25:54 He had undoubtedly been there many times in the 28 years 25:58 he lived in Nazareth. 26:00 And chances are Jesus had many friends 26:02 up there in that hilltop town. 26:05 He knew every turn in that twisting road 26:07 that led up from the plain of Esdraelon 26:10 where Deborah and Barak had defeated crafty Cicero. 26:14 Up past the town of Endora, where discouraged Saul 26:17 had gone to seek the spirit of dead Samuel, 26:20 up past the olive trees and the vineyards, 26:23 up past the cemeteries, up to the gate of the village, 26:26 two great crowds of people were on the move that morning. 26:31 One of them sat discouraged, 26:34 almost frantic with grief. 26:38 And the other one buoyant and cheerful and hopeful, 26:41 because they had among them, the one who called himself 26:44 the resurrection and the life. 26:47 It was as if a wedding party 26:51 had confronted a funeral procession 26:52 at an intersection. 26:55 And no one knew what to do. 26:58 What did etiquette call for anyway? 27:01 Should you blow the horns and let the tin cans rattle? 27:05 Or should you turn on the headlights 27:08 and be somber, dress in black? 27:14 Jesus' eyes quickly sized up the situation, 27:17 He realized that He and His disciples 27:19 were on a collision course 27:21 with a grieving widow and her dead son, 27:23 unless He told His followers to step aside, 27:25 those two groups of people would soon be so intermixed 27:29 that no one would know who was going up 27:31 and who was going down. 27:35 Disciples with Thanksgiving on their lips 27:37 would soon find themselves 27:39 surrounded by a sea of wailing people. 27:43 And mourners clinging to their grief 27:46 would soon be surrounded by disciples 27:48 still bubbling with the news of Jesus' latest miracle. 27:53 But you know, Jesus didn't care a lot 27:55 about etiquette that morning. 27:58 Jesus didn't care a lot about etiquette that morning, 28:01 because He had both the will and the power 28:04 to bring that mourning to an end. 28:07 The scripture tells us that when Jesus saw this widow, 28:11 His heart went out to her, His heart went out to her. 28:15 What a beautiful expression 28:17 that sums up how Jesus response to any hurting person, 28:21 His heart goes out to them. 28:25 He saw her grief for what it was. 28:28 Her grief was the broken hearted lament of a woman, 28:35 who was now without hope 28:37 just as surely as she was without resources. 28:41 With no husband to support her, 28:44 with no son to care for her in her old age, 28:46 she would now very likely be reduced 28:49 to living off the generosity of friends, 28:53 worse yet, she might end up begging for bread. 28:59 There would never be any little grandsons 29:02 to bounce on her knee. 29:06 There never be any playful little granddaughters 29:08 to tug at her skirts and say, grandma, tell us 29:12 what it was like in the olden days? 29:16 No, there would be no one else to talk to 29:20 on those long evenings, 29:21 when the other village women retreated into their houses 29:24 with their husbands and their children. 29:27 All her hopes lay dead and pulled on that stretcher 29:30 that she walked behind, 29:32 she was burying a lot more than her son that day 29:35 and she knew it disheartened, 29:37 discouraged people don't last very long. 29:44 Chances were that failing health, 29:48 advancing age, few resources 29:53 would take her to an early grave of her own. 29:57 And at just the moment 29:59 when we would have expected Jesus 30:00 to put an arm around her shoulder 30:02 and stand there beside the body 30:05 as He had once stood at the tomb of Lazarus, 30:08 Jesus says a very surprising thing, 30:12 don't cry, He tells the widow. 30:15 Or as some of the better translations have it, 30:17 you can stop crying now. 30:20 Friends, that is a curious thing 30:22 to be saying at a funeral. 30:24 In 32 years 30:26 of conducting Adventist and Christian funerals, 30:28 I have never even once 30:29 thought of saying something like that. 30:33 Right at the moment when we would have expected 30:35 Jesus to be validating her feelings 30:38 and telling her that her tears would do her good, 30:41 and giving her His shoulder to cry on. 30:45 Jesus tells her to stop crying, 30:49 He seems to suggest 30:50 that there's no reason to go on shedding tears. 30:54 Well, my friends, 30:55 in case you have not picked this up, 30:57 Jesus is always doing surprising things. 31:02 At just the moment when we think 31:04 He will act in some predictable manner 31:06 and do the thing we've always expected, 31:08 He does something we never have thought of. 31:12 At some moment when we have just accomplished something, 31:16 that brings us the praise of our peers 31:18 and our hearts are swelling with pride, 31:21 Jesus says to us, 31:22 humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. 31:25 It is not what we expected. 31:29 And when we're feeling 31:31 so wretched and low about ourselves 31:34 that we think that no one so holy 31:37 and pure as Jesus, 31:38 whatever want to have anything to do with slime like us, 31:42 Jesus says, whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 31:45 Do you believe it? 31:47 Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. 31:51 When we're planning some revenge, 31:55 yes, I know you, I know me. 31:58 When we're planning some revenge on someone 32:00 who has injured us, 32:02 Jesus says, turn the other cheek. 32:07 Love those who persecute you 32:11 and when we're sure, 32:12 when we're certain that we've blown it big, 32:16 we've ruined all our chances for eternal life, 32:19 Jesus says, 32:21 the Son of Man came not into the world 32:23 to condemn the world 32:24 but that the world through Him might be saved. 32:28 If you want to worship a predictable Lord, 32:31 my friends, it will not be Jesus. 32:34 If you want a safe, 32:36 stable discipleship with no surprises, 32:40 you will not be following Jesus. 32:42 It is Jesus who delights in what we call dilemmas. 32:46 It's Jesus who thrives on surprise. 32:50 It's Jesus who revels in resurrections. 32:53 It's Jesus who gets righteous about revival. 32:57 And on that morning, 32:59 Jesus took grief and He turned it on its head, 33:04 and He brought it up dancing, 33:08 because He had declared 33:09 that it was the essence of His mission 33:12 to reverse the pain in human life, 33:15 to preach good news to the poor, 33:17 to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, 33:20 cause the blind to see, 33:22 set at liberty all who were oppressed, 33:24 you know, He could afford to do some surprising things, 33:29 even on days like that, 33:32 even at a funeral. 33:34 Scripture doesn't tell us 33:36 how this widow reacted to His strange command 33:39 that she should stop crying. 33:41 It doesn't tell us 33:42 if the tears somehow freeze dried on her cheeks 33:45 when she realized it was Jesus speaking to her. 33:49 We don't know 33:51 if she might have been a lifelong friend of Jesus 33:53 whose heart sprang up with joy 33:54 when she saw Him standing in the path. 33:57 On the other hand 33:59 she might have looked at Him as a stranger 34:01 and wondered how a stranger could say something so uncaring 34:07 in her moment of bitterness. 34:09 But whatever feelings 34:11 His words may have provoked in her, 34:12 He didn't leave her guessing very long, did He? 34:16 Luke tells us that He immediately 34:18 stepped over to the funeral stretcher 34:21 and He did something that no rabbi and no priest 34:24 and no Pharisee in all the land 34:25 would have done in a similar situation, 34:27 He reached out and He touched the funeral stretcher. 34:32 Now that seems unusual to us, 34:35 we are used to attending funerals 34:37 and seeing mourners touch the casket 34:41 in a gesture of affection or saying goodbye. 34:46 It's hard for us to understand 34:48 how the people of Jesus' time 34:50 thought about the presence of death. 34:52 But according to the Law of Moses, 34:54 anyone who even touched a dead body 34:56 or the bed on which a dead body lay 34:59 was for a period of time excluded 35:03 from the presence of the Lord, 35:04 in the ominous language of that day, 35:06 they were ceremonially unclean. 35:11 Jesus risked defilement 35:14 because He unnecessarily came in contact 35:18 with a dead body. 35:20 Jesus risk the probability that He would be excluded 35:23 from the synagogue service the next Sabbath 35:26 by some unctuous elder who told Him, 35:28 you are ceremonially unclean. 35:33 But you know, as He did on so many other occasions, 35:36 Jesus showed no fear of the censure of His enemies. 35:41 He knew what He was about, 35:42 and He was about doing good and making people whole, 35:45 He risked defilement with virtually every person 35:48 that He healed with every diseased person, 35:51 with every blind person, with every paralyzed person, 35:56 with every demoniac. 35:57 And you know, I like to think that He did it all with the, 36:00 a look in His eye and a laugh 36:02 that said, oh, come now, be serious. 36:05 How can making someone else whole 36:08 make me unclean? 36:11 Then Jesus said something to that lifeless form 36:14 on the funeral stretcher, 36:15 which no rabbi and no priest 36:17 and no Pharisee in all the land would have ever dared to say, 36:20 because it would have been blasphemously impossible 36:23 for them to carry it out. 36:25 Jesus said, young man, I say to you get up. 36:30 A little advice this morning, 36:33 if you're going to make it a habit to go to funerals 36:38 and tell the dead to get up, 36:42 you'd better have the power to make it happen. 36:45 Amen. 36:48 Or else there are gonna be a lot of angry mourners 36:50 wanting to tear you limb from limb, 36:52 but you know, my friends, 36:54 Jesus wasn't in any danger that day. 36:56 He wasn't in any danger from disappointed people. 37:00 Now Jesus, Jesus held then and Jesus holds now uncreated, 37:07 unimaginable power in His hands, 37:10 He wakes the dead to life 37:11 more easily then I wake up my son 37:13 from an afternoon nap. 37:16 And on that strange morning so long ago, 37:19 His creative word reached into the ears 37:22 of that dead young man and recreated in him 37:25 the ability to both hear and understand. 37:28 And Luke, 37:30 the doctor ever interested in the medical details 37:33 of the case he says that the dead man sat up 37:37 and began to speak, I bet he did. 37:42 Can you imagine, friends, what it would be a like, 37:44 what it would be like to lose consciousness 37:48 and go under in your own house 37:51 surrounded by dozens of grieving friends 37:53 and families, 37:54 knowing that this was probably your last moment of life, 37:58 and then wake up in the middle of a funeral procession 38:01 half a mile away five feet off the ground. 38:06 I'd love to know what he said. 38:09 Did he pick up in mid-sentence where he had left off, 38:14 telling his mother not to grieve? 38:18 Did He continue with a long list of things 38:20 he was confessing? 38:22 Because he thought this was his last moment. 38:26 Was he in the middle of distributing 38:28 all of his prized possessions to his friends, 38:31 who would now have to give them back? 38:35 How bewildering to be the last person in the scene 38:38 to know what was truly going on, 38:40 but you know, my friends, 38:42 I'm sure that if that young man experienced 38:44 any embarrassment that morning it quickly went away 38:48 when he opened his eyes 38:49 and looked straight into the face of Jesus. 38:52 At the height he was being carried 38:54 about five feet off the ground, 38:56 it is literally true, friends, 38:58 that the first thing that young man saw, 39:00 when he opened his eyes from the sleep of death 39:03 was nothing else than the face of Jesus. 39:07 That young man resurrected outside 39:09 the gate of his hometown, 39:11 he was the first one to know the consolation 39:14 with which so many Christians 39:16 have laid down in the sleep of death, 39:18 they have known with utter certainty 39:21 that the next thing they see 39:22 on that great getting up morning 39:24 is gonna be nothing other than the face of Jesus. 39:28 Like Him, the righteous dead 39:32 are gonna sit up and begin to talk. 39:36 But rather than continuing their confessions 39:38 or handing out their estates, 39:40 I have this idea 39:41 that what every resurrected tongue 39:43 is gonna be saying that morning 39:45 is something like worthy, worthy is the lamb 39:48 that was slain to receive power, 39:51 and wealth, and wisdom, and strength, 39:53 and honor, and glory, and blessing, 39:55 oh, praise to the Lord Jesus. 40:00 Friends, I want you to follow me this morning, 40:03 I want you to use those rusty sacred imaginations 40:08 of yours for a moment. 40:10 I want you to think of what it must have been like 40:13 to be outside the village gate of Nain 40:16 on that morning. 40:18 On that morning, when Jesus simply spoke 40:20 the word that brought a widow's dead son 40:23 back to life and gave a town back its hope, 40:26 when He proved conclusively 40:28 that He is the Lord over sin and death. 40:30 Think for me, think with me, 40:33 what it was like to be there. 40:36 Do you think, friends, that the people in the crowd 40:40 just quietly turned around 40:43 and went back to their individual homes? 40:48 Do you think my, friends, 40:49 that all those who had just witnessed 40:51 the foretaste of the final defeat of Satan 40:54 just looked at each other and said, 40:55 well, that was nice, wonder, what we're having for lunch. 41:01 Do you think that these people, 41:02 all of these ecstatic ex-mourners, 41:06 all of these deliriously delighted people 41:08 just turned around, and picked up their dust claws 41:11 and their shovels and went back to work? 41:15 Friends, I don't know about your sacred imaginations 41:17 but let me tell you what I see in mine. 41:20 I see a crowd of people almost leaping into the air 41:24 in delight for what Jesus has done. 41:26 I hear a thunder of voices outside the walls of Nain 41:30 lifting up the cry of the psalmist 41:32 and throwing it to the heavens, 41:33 Lord, you have turned our mourning into dancing, 41:37 our feet are filled with Your praise. 41:41 I hear others with their arms around me 41:46 lifting up their voices as we give our praise to Jesus. 41:51 You see, friends, this morning and every morning, 41:57 this morning and every morning I can draw faith 42:02 from reading the lessons of scripture, 42:05 about what Jesus is able to do in reviving 42:08 not only individuals but whole movements. 42:12 I draw strength this morning from the knowledge 42:17 that 2,000 years ago, a gentle healer named Jesus 42:23 simply spoke the word 42:26 that brought a young man back to life, 42:28 gave a town its hope again. 42:31 Because, I believe that one day soon 42:33 that same gentle healer is gonna call me 42:36 and all those I love on to life eternal. 42:42 But I have to admit, 42:45 I've been having an argument with the Lord recently, 42:50 I've been having an argument with the Lord 42:53 about where I'm gonna be on resurrection morning. 42:59 I want to be 43:02 in a little hilltop cemetery in western Massachusetts, 43:08 where three weeks ago tomorrow, 43:12 we laid my father to rest. 43:16 Then where a year ago come Tuesday, 43:19 we laid my mother to rest. 43:22 I want to be there 43:23 on resurrection morning to see all that precious dust, 43:27 mother, father, grandparents, aunts, uncles 43:31 rise to walk in newness of life. 43:35 But I also want to be in Syracuse, New York 43:38 out on a windswept hill on the east side of town, 43:41 I want to be there to watch my Italian grandparents, 43:44 who embraced the truth of God's remnant church, 43:46 I want to see them come back to life 43:48 that morning too. 43:51 But I also want to be in a little cemetery 43:55 behind a church in Bedford, Michigan, 43:59 where my best friend sleeps. 44:02 We had gone all the way 44:03 through high school and college together, 44:06 friends, prayer partners, 44:09 had started seminary together one morning, 44:11 Jeff, went one way to class and I went there, 44:17 and he never got there. 44:20 And every time I drive near Battle Creek, 44:23 I stop and go out 44:24 to that little cemetery in Bedford 44:27 and I say, Lord, 44:28 I want to be here on resurrection morning. 44:31 I don't know how the Lord is gonna sort all this out, 44:34 I know He's gonna sort me out. 44:37 I know that He will make me deliriously happy on that day 44:41 when He calls those I love back to life eternal. 44:46 Friends, not only do I believe this morning 44:48 that Jesus can bring a dead disciple back to life, 44:54 but I've come to believe in recent months 44:56 that Jesus can bring comatose congregations 45:00 and quiescent conferences back to life as well. 45:05 Thank God that in His goodness this movement has never died. 45:08 Thank God that in His goodness for 150 years 45:12 there have been believers 45:13 in this advent message on this continent, 45:15 but, friends, let's be candid, let's be candid. 45:19 The body has been going through some rough times recently. 45:24 Parts of the body have become entirely inactive. 45:31 Hands and fingers that should have been doing 45:34 the work of caring and sharing, 45:38 they've gotten paralyzed with disuse. 45:42 Legs and feet that should have been like 45:44 Jesus going on errands of mercy, 45:46 they've spent way too much time 45:48 propped up in front of television sets 45:50 and video games. 45:53 Throughout the body of this church 45:54 there has often been a pervasive sense 45:56 of illness and disease 45:59 and the woundedness of individuals 46:01 has now often become 46:02 the woundedness of whole congregations, 46:06 whole regions. 46:08 Now as ever before 46:11 we stand in need of the touch of a gentle leader. 46:16 I want you to hear the words 46:19 that Ellen White wrote, 46:20 the words that come from today's reading 46:23 in the week of prayer, 46:25 words that fit this moment 46:28 in our church's history so well. 46:32 Listen to what the servant of inspiration wrote. 46:35 "Idleness and religion do not go hand in hand, 46:40 and the cause of our great deficiency 46:42 in the Christian life and experience 46:44 is inactivity in the work of God. 46:47 The muscles of your body will become weak and useless 46:51 if they are not kept in exercise, 46:53 and it is so with the spiritual nature. 46:55 If you would be strong, you must exercise your powers. 46:59 Exercise faith in God by proving his promises 47:02 as you take up your cross and lift your burden. 47:05 Put on the yoke of Christ, 47:07 and prove his words to the test, 47:08 you will find rest for your souls. 47:11 Open the Scriptures 47:13 to some one that is in darkness, 47:14 and you will not complain of your weariness 47:17 or lack of interest in the truth." 47:20 The cause and the cure are equally matched, 47:24 the church that has grown tired and weak 47:27 and apathetic can be revived 47:29 by focusing on the creative and re-creative power of God 47:33 and by watching Him do miracles again 47:36 in our midst. 47:39 I told you a few moments ago 47:42 that I do have a sacred imagination. 47:46 And I'm here this morning to tell you 47:49 it still works real well. 47:51 Amen. 47:53 I'm here because Jesus is here 47:58 to tell you about a future for this movement 48:03 in which healing and revival abound. 48:09 I'm here today to talk about a time in this movement 48:14 when shattered broken lives are made whole again. 48:18 I'm here to talk about a moment, 48:21 when discouraged sinful people 48:24 discover a community of God's people 48:27 ready to wrap their arms around them. 48:30 I see this movement as a place 48:34 that gathers in and doesn't exclude, 48:38 I see this movement as a place where those 48:40 who are already feeling self condemned 48:42 by their behaviors and their addictions 48:45 have God's people love them into the truth. 48:49 I see this movement as a place 48:52 where those who've had the self esteem 48:54 are almost crushed out of them, 48:56 have your arms 48:57 and my arms wrapped around them. 49:01 I want to be part of that movement, 49:03 I want to be part of that revival, 49:05 it's a revival of primitive godliness, 49:08 it sounds a whole lot 49:09 like the church of the Book of Acts, 49:11 because it is again 49:13 a revival of the same spirit of activity and faith. 49:17 I want to be part of a community 49:20 that has its arms open wide 49:21 as Jesus has His arms open wide. 49:24 If that's the church you want to be part of, 49:28 raise your hand today. 49:30 If that's the church you want to belong to, 49:34 make a commitment today to giving this day, 49:38 to being part of that revival moment 49:42 that He has for us. 49:45 Ellen White says in that same reading, 49:48 "If you would go to work as Christ designed 49:52 that his disciples should, 49:54 and win souls to the truth, 49:56 you would feel the need of a deeper experience 49:59 and greater knowledge in divine things, 50:02 you would hunger and thirst after righteousness. 50:06 You would plead with God, 50:07 and your faith would be strengthened, 50:09 and your soul would drink deeper draughts 50:11 at the well of salvation. 50:13 Encountering opposition and trials would drive you 50:16 to the Bible and prayer, 50:17 and then you would go forth as laborers together with God, 50:20 to open the Scriptures to the people. 50:22 You would grow in grace, and in knowledge of the truth, 50:25 and your experience would be rich and fragrant." 50:28 That sounds like a revived people, doesn't it? 50:32 That sounds like a people who got the order straight, 50:35 revival begins with the activity of God, 50:39 He can raise the dead. 50:42 Revival continues as we are individually 50:45 and corporately renewed by a focus on His word 50:49 and a prayer life that's rich and deep. 50:51 Revival continues as we take 50:53 that experience of new joy and new hope 50:57 and begin moving out into the community 50:59 and we discover that 51:01 for every Bible study we give, we gain. 51:04 For every lesson that we teach, we learn. 51:08 For every sermon that we preach, 51:10 we are preached to ourselves by the Holy Spirit of God. 51:15 That, my friends, 51:16 is the reciprocity of the gospel, 51:19 it brings back to us that which we give away. 51:22 Revival continues not just by wishing it so 51:25 and hoping it so, 51:27 but by moving out in faith and letting God make it so. 51:31 Revival and mission, oh, they're inextricably connected. 51:34 When you've seen the dead raised to life, 51:38 you've got something to say. 51:40 When you've seen the spiritually dead 51:43 raised to life, you've got something to say. 51:46 If you're one of those who's been raised 51:48 from a death of sin 51:50 to everlasting life in Jesus Christ, 51:52 you've got something to say, 51:54 no one can keep you silent. 51:57 Trust me as long as I breathe 51:59 the rocks are not gonna cry out. 52:02 As long as I breathe 52:04 no singing, no shouting from rocks, 52:09 I will give Him praise as long as I have my being. 52:14 That's what the Psalmist says, 52:17 that's what I say this morning as well. 52:20 Friends, time has come in our life as a movement, 52:24 the time has come for us to move off 52:27 just spectator existence 52:30 watching other people do mission. 52:34 Friends, if you don't get involved in it, 52:37 you will get bored with watching others do it. 52:41 If you don't ever find the opportunity to pick up 52:44 the tools of the gospel and go out into your community, 52:47 you're gonna have no reason to stay with this movement. 52:52 And the vast number of those who leave, leave 52:56 because they have never found that renewing revival mission 53:01 that comes forward 53:02 from a born again experience with Jesus. 53:06 How many of you know that born again experience? 53:09 How many of you know that Jesus is in fact 53:12 renewing and reviving you this day 53:15 as you invite Him into your life? 53:17 Friends, Jesus calls us today to look at His word, 53:23 to remember His power, to find His renewing, reviving, 53:27 resurrecting strength in our own lives 53:29 and then to go out 53:30 and keep that cycle of renewal and revival going forward. 53:36 If today that's what you want, 53:39 would you get on your feet with me? 53:41 We want to offer ourselves in dedication 53:43 to the Lord today, 53:46 making ourselves available for a great plan 53:50 that only He knows in all of its detail, 53:54 and only we can live as His disciples. 53:58 Pray with me now. 54:01 Lord Jesus, 54:03 this day our hearts have been reminded again 54:09 of Your great power. 54:11 We've seen again, Lord Jesus, 54:13 that You can do what we call the impossible, 54:17 You can create life again, and spiritual life again. 54:21 There are many of us here today, Lord, 54:23 who are testimonies, living witnesses to that fact, 54:26 now let us be more than living, 54:28 let us be speaking, and preaching, and testifying, 54:31 and sharing witnesses of that fact, 54:34 so that the renewal and the revival 54:36 You plan for Your people will keep moving forward. 54:39 May it ever be grounded in Your word, Lord Jesus. 54:43 May it ever be grounded 54:45 in a knowledge of what You do first 54:47 and then we do. 54:49 May the sequence of the gospel be clear to us. 54:51 It is not us running on ahead of You 54:53 and asking You to follow, 54:55 it is You doing great things and us giving You our praise. 55:00 Lord Jesus, this day take our hearts, 55:04 we can't give them to You unless Your Spirit prompts us. 55:09 Take our minds often distant 55:12 and traveling in far directions, 55:14 center them, focus them on the goodness of Jesus. 55:19 Take our lives, Lord, 55:21 we bring them in obedience to You, 55:23 knowing that in You, and through You, 55:25 and for You, and to You, are all things 55:28 may we be part of that movement, Lord Jesus. 55:31 Lord, this morning there is someone here 55:33 who wants to respond, 55:35 someone watching on television 55:36 who wants to reach out and give You their heart. 55:39 Lord Jesus, I invite You to work 55:41 with that person this day, 55:43 show them that new life and resurrection 55:45 and revival are possible for them. 55:48 May they have confidence, Lord, 55:50 the confidence that comes 55:52 from a certainty only You can give, 55:54 that they too can claim this new life. 55:57 And, Lord Jesus, 55:58 even now as we conclude this time of worship, 56:02 we raise our hearts in thanks giving 56:04 as those people in Nain must have once graced them. 56:07 We thank You, and praise You worthy, 56:10 worthy is the lamb 56:11 for giving us all that we need 56:15 that will carry us to Your kingdom. 56:16 Until that day, Lord Jesus, hold us in Your grasp, 56:20 inspire us with Your love, 56:23 give us the spirit to speak clearly, 56:26 confidently, and winningly of your good news. 56:31 I ask this and I pray this in the name 56:33 that is above all names, 56:34 even that of Jesus Christ the resurrected one, 56:40 amen. 56:53 As we slip into putting into practice 56:55 what we've heard this week in this week of revival. 56:58 Our prayer for you on behalf of 3ABN 57:00 and the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church 57:02 is that, you not just become content 57:06 with hearing about revival, but that you begin to pray 57:08 for the Lord to revive your life. 57:11 As we've discovered this morning 57:12 our Lord delights in dilemmas, revels in the resurrection, 57:17 and rejoices in revival. 57:20 We pray that the Lord will activate your prayer life 57:23 and your life of service, so that when Jesus comes, 57:26 He will come for a revived people. 57:29 May God bless you. |
Revised 2017-05-11