Participants: Shawn Boonstra
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000936
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01:01 Good morning. Good morning.
01:03 I have the privilege this morning 01:05 of introducing our speaker for our 11 o'clock service 01:09 Pastor Shawn Boonstra. 01:11 He is the speaker and director of "It Is Written" telecast 01:14 and I'm sure all of you are familiar with him 01:17 and he really needs no introduction. 01:21 On a personal note Shawn means a lot to our family 01:25 and has a special place in our hearts, 01:27 especially my husband and I. 01:29 He married us last September and we just admire Shawn. 01:35 One thing about him, when you get to know him personally 01:38 he has a close walk with Jesus Christ. 01:41 He loves Jesus with all his heart. 01:44 And my husband and I especially admire his devotion, 01:49 his passion for finishing the work 01:52 and spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth 01:55 so that we can go home with Jesus some day soon. 01:59 I ask you this morning to prayerfully open your hearts 02:03 and your minds to be receptive 02:06 to the message that God has for us today. 02:40 The Lord is my Shepherd 02:45 I never shall want 02:50 For lack of His mercies 02:54 My soul shall not pant 02:59 In pleasant green pastures 03:03 I daily abide 03:08 He leads me the peaceful 03:12 Still waters beside 03:18 My soul He restoreth 03:22 And for His Name's sake 03:27 The path of His righteousness 03:32 bids me to take Yea 03:39 Though I pass through death's dark shade 03:45 I will not by evil 03:49 Be ever dismay'd 03:54 I will not by evil 03:59 Be ever dismay'd 04:05 The Lord is my Shepherd 04:11 I never shall want 04:31 For thou art my Shepherd 04:35 And with me always 04:40 Thy rod and Thy staff are 04:45 my comfort and stay 04:49 My table thou spreadest 04:54 In presence of foes 04:59 My head thou anointest 05:03 My cup overflows 05:08 Thy goodness and mercy 05:12 Shall follow me still 05:17 While life's earnest duties 05:21 I daily fulfill 05:26 Till joyous my spirit 05:30 shall claim its reward 05:35 And dwell evermore 05:40 In the house of the Lord 05:44 And dwell evermore 05:49 In the house of the Lord 05:56 The Lord is my Shepherd 06:02 I never shall want. 06:14 Amen. 06:24 To see Alpha and Beverly here 06:26 singing was a pleasant surprise. 06:28 I didn't know to very recently that they would be singing. 06:32 They sang for me when I was with It Is Written, Canada. 06:35 They are Canadian. 06:37 Now, I want you to see how this works. 06:41 Canada does not have a big army. 06:44 So how do we takeover America? 06:50 Just send preachers and singers. 06:56 We are gonna study God's word together 06:59 and I have a particular burden to share with you this morning 07:03 because in some corners of Christianity 07:05 as of late I have been hearing 07:07 that in this last hour of earth's history 07:10 we should be retooling our message 07:13 so that it applies to the modern secular mind 07:16 and appeals to people 07:17 who are not interested in spiritual things. 07:22 But as I have been studying scripture 07:24 I have seen in the pages of the Bible 07:27 that God deals very clearly 07:29 with this issue for the last days. 07:32 So in a moment we are going to turn to Acts Chapter 14 07:35 but before we go there I would invite you 07:38 to bow your heads with me in prayer. 07:42 Father in heaven, You know right now at this moment 07:48 how desperately I need You. 07:52 If I'm to speak I have nothing to say. 07:56 And my thoughts and my heart 07:57 are tainted by selfishness and pride and sin. 08:03 And so I beg that You would take a coal from heaven's altar 08:07 and touch my lips. 08:09 Give me the ability to think clear thoughts 08:14 and to have my heart and my eyes and my ears 08:17 focused on Jesus for these next minutes. 08:22 We sense He is coming soon 08:24 and even before we see Him face to face. 08:27 Today we want to see Him in the pages of the Bible 08:32 and it's our prayer that You would open our eyes 08:33 so we could see that. 08:35 Forgive our sins and speak to us now 08:39 and we covenant 08:41 that we will respond when You speak. 08:44 For we ask it in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, amen. 08:48 Amen. 08:50 There is this story in Acts Chapter 14 08:54 where Paul and Barnabas are visiting the city of Lystra 08:59 and as they are there God uses them 09:01 to heal a man that has never been able to walk. 09:04 He was born crippled, the Bible says in Acts Chapter 14. 09:09 And after this man has been healed 09:12 all of sudden the city comes unglued. 09:15 Paul and Barnabas 09:16 are left standing alone in the city square 09:18 wondering where everybody has gone. 09:20 The city evacuates, the people leave. 09:23 And Barnabas is left looking at Paul 09:25 and now this is the Boonstra revised version of the story. 09:29 Barnabas says to Paul where did everybody go. 09:32 Paul says, I don't know, they are gone. 09:34 You would think after the healing 09:36 we could have had an evangelistic 09:38 but they are gone. 09:40 Where are they? 09:41 And so these two men stand in the city square 09:44 all by themselves in Lystra 09:46 kind of like people on the beach 09:49 just at that point 09:51 when the water sucks out the sea before a tidal wave. 09:55 Wondering around wondering where everyone is gone 09:57 and then all of a sudden Barnabas sees them. 10:00 Paul, I think we've got a problem. 10:04 What is it, Barnabas? Take a look. 10:05 Look down the street. 10:07 And there they come, 10:10 the people of the city have run out of town 10:13 and they have gone to grab the priest of Zeus. 10:15 They said this amazing thing happened in town, priest, 10:18 and this man has been healed. 10:19 We think they might be the Gods comedown to earth. 10:22 What do you think we should do? 10:23 And the priest of Zeus or Jupiter says, 10:25 hey, we ought to offer a sacrifice. 10:28 So here comes the crowd with an ox and a bunch of flowers. 10:32 Barnabas pulls on Paul sleeve, he said, this is a problem. 10:36 I think they are going to worship us. 10:39 What a disaster of an evangelist meeting. 10:42 I mean, there they are 10:43 to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ 10:45 and now they are about to slay the bull for Paul and Barnabas. 10:49 They are gonna worship human beings. 10:51 It's a disaster up until Paul realizes what's going on. 10:56 Acts 14:14 "Which when the apostles, 11:01 Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, 11:04 and ran in among the people, crying out." 11:06 I mean, they were in agony over this. 11:08 they tore their clothes over it. 11:10 They were so upset 11:12 and that's before you could run over to Wal-Mart 11:14 and buy another set for $11.95. 11:17 It's hard to get new clothes. They are upset. 11:19 Verse 15, now watch what happens. 11:23 "And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? 11:27 We also are men of like passions with you," 11:30 let me pause there for a moment. 11:33 If there are only a few big secrets 11:35 to successful witness that's one of them right there. 11:38 It's helping people see 11:39 that you too are sinners saved by Christ. 11:41 You are not unusual, you are not high and mighty, 11:44 you don't sit on a pedestal and you are not a religious 11:46 know at all, you are just like them. 11:49 That secret alone goes a long way. 11:51 "Why do ye these things? 11:53 We also are men of like passions with you, 11:56 and preach to you" 11:57 now listen to this, here comes Paul's message. 12:00 "We preach to you 12:02 that you turn from these vanities unto the living God, 12:05 which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, 12:07 and all things that are therein." 12:10 Now if that sounds familiar 12:12 and it opt to Seventh-day Adventist Christians 12:15 Paul is preaching the first angel's message 12:19 to the people in Lystra. 12:21 He uses the three angels' messages. 12:23 I find that interesting. 12:25 Verse 16, "Who in times past suffered all nations 12:30 to walk in their own ways." 12:31 There is the theme of the Great Controversy. 12:34 God has allowed sin to run its course 12:37 so that He can deal with it for all time. 12:39 Paul preaches the prophetic message 12:42 in the context of the Great Controversy 12:45 and we should note, he is not on home turf. 12:48 He is in a foreign culture 12:50 speaking to people who do not think like him. 12:52 He comes with God's prophetic message 12:54 in the context of the Great Controversy. 12:57 Verse 17, "Nevertheless," 12:59 now here comes a big, big principle, 13:02 "Nevertheless he" that's God 13:06 "left not himself without witness, 13:09 in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, 13:13 and fruitful seasons, 13:14 filling our hearts with food and gladness." 13:17 Paul says to them wait a minute, 13:19 don't worship me. 13:20 Worship Him that made, 13:22 I mean there it is again three angels' messages. 13:24 Don't worship me, worship Him that made. 13:27 If you pay attention you will see that 13:29 that is who your heart has been desiring. 13:32 He's left witness of Himself everywhere. 13:34 There is another big evangelistic principle. 13:37 It's to understand that God has not left Himself 13:40 without witnessing any time, in any place, in any culture. 13:44 He speaks to human hearts everywhere. 13:47 Here's how God works. 13:48 I mean, if I would have sum up the principle 13:50 found in this story for witness and soul winning 13:53 the principle is so simple. 13:54 It's this, before you witness God gets there first. 14:01 It's so simple. 14:02 God goes in, God stirs up the hearts, 14:06 He wakes people up, He gets their attention 14:09 and then He sends in the preacher 14:11 with a handcrafted message from the mouth of God Himself 14:15 that God knows will appeal to those hearts 14:17 that He has woken up and He sends us 14:19 and to help these people connect the dots. 14:22 He sends us in to help them see whose voice it is 14:25 that they have been hearing, that's the principle. 14:28 If you catch on to it it's explosive for evangelism. 14:32 If you miss this principle that God gets there first 14:36 and then He sends you in, 14:38 if you miss it you start making some mistakes. 14:44 I was reading the New York Times a little while ago, 14:47 October of last year to be precise. 14:50 There is this headline in the paper 14:52 that got my attention. 14:54 It was in the US news section. 14:56 It said, "Thou shalt not kill." Now that got my attention. 15:01 I mean, there is the Ten Commandments 15:02 in the New York Times. 15:04 A postmodern secular journal and they are talking-- 15:07 and this is not in the religion section 15:09 and it's not in the opinion section, 15:11 it's in the US news section. 15:12 And I sat up and I took note. 15:14 I thought look at that, 15:16 every responds to the Ten Commandments 15:18 because God's character is revealed there 15:20 and people either like it or they don't like it 15:22 but they have to deal with it. 15:24 It keeps showing up because the image of God 15:27 has not been scrubbed out of the human heart 15:29 even after 6,000 years of sin. 15:31 Hasn't been-- 15:33 we still want to look at it. 15:34 So I got excited. 15:36 Here is one of the Ten Commandments 15:37 in the New York Times, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" 15:41 except that wasn't the headline. 15:43 The headline said this, Thou Shalt Not Kill, 15:50 except in church. 15:53 Now it really had my attention. 15:56 I cancel an appointment so I could read it. 16:00 If it was you I apologize. 16:04 Listen to the article, "First the percussive sounds 16:07 of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill. 16:11 Then the gospel of peace. 16:13 Across the country, 16:15 hundreds of ministers and pastors 16:16 desperate to reach young congregants 16:18 have drawn concern and criticism 16:20 through their use of an unusual recruiting tool, 16:22 the immersive and violent video game Halo. 16:26 The latest iteration 16:27 of the immensely popular space epic, 16:29 was released nearly two weeks ago by Microsoft 16:31 and has already passed $300 million in sales. 16:34 Those buying it must be 17 years old, 16:36 given it is rated M for mature audiences. 16:40 But that has not prevented leaders at churches 16:42 and youth centers across Protestant denominations, 16:45 including churches 16:47 that have cautioned against violent entertainment, 16:50 from holding heavily attended video games nights 16:54 and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles." 16:57 I just want to point something out, 16:58 just for the record. 17:00 Here is a secular paper the New York Times 17:04 and when God's people began to compromise on principle 17:07 who points it out, the secular mind. 17:10 Why? 17:11 They pointed out because the image of God 17:12 has not be scrubbed entirely out of their hearts 17:15 and they can see 17:16 when there is a problem with what we are doing. 17:19 "The alliance" this is here continues, 17:21 "The alliance of popular culture 17:23 and evangelism is challenging churches 17:26 much as bingo games did in the 1960s. 17:30 And the question fits" now here it comes, 17:33 "the question fits into a rich debate 17:35 about how far churches should go to reach young people." 17:41 He asked the question a few more times. 17:43 Little later on the question arises he said 17:46 "What price to appear relevant?" What price? 17:52 Now I want to allow the New York Times 17:57 to set the table for our Bible study this morning. 17:59 Can I do that? 18:01 I know, we'll go right back to the Bible 18:02 but can we allow the New York Times 18:04 to ask the question this morning, 18:06 how far do we go to embrace popular culture? 18:11 Now, before we begin to answer it let me say this 18:14 so that I don't come off its some kind of an extremist. 18:18 I do believe 18:19 that when we preach the gospel of Christ 18:21 we need to speak it in a language 18:23 that the people we speak to get, 18:25 that they understand. 18:26 We need to speak to them and tell Jesus did this. 18:29 Use stories people understood from their everyday life, 18:32 we need to do that. 18:34 Let me also say for the record that these churches 18:37 had set up the violent videogame 18:39 which is basically made up of shooting each other. 18:42 Some of the kids in the article said 18:43 we go because it's so much fun to blow each other up. 18:48 I want to say from the bottom of my heart 18:50 that not for one second 18:51 do I doubt the motive of the people that did that. 18:54 I don't doubt 18:55 the motive of these pastors not for a moment. 18:58 I think their hearts are sincere. 18:59 I think they want the right thing. 19:00 They have noticed that their churches are emptying 19:03 and that the young people are not there 19:05 and it breaks their hearts 19:07 because I know that these pastors 19:09 want these kids in the kingdom of God. 19:11 I know that. I don't question the motive. 19:14 It's so easy to question people's motives and say, 19:17 the devil sent so and so to our church to destroy it. 19:20 That's not always the case. 19:21 Sometimes we just misunderstand the principles. 19:25 I don't question the motives of these pastors 19:28 but I do have a question about the method 19:33 because I think the method is based on a misunderstanding 19:36 of how God actually works with us. 19:39 You see what God has asked us to do is to help people 19:42 find what they are already looking for. 19:44 That's what happened in Lyster. 19:46 Paul says, hey, you are looking for God, you got it wrong 19:50 you latched on to the wrong thing. 19:52 Paul could see that the human heart 19:53 so desperate for worship they would latch on to anything 19:56 that came along and he recognize their principle 19:59 and he says to them, I'm here to help you find 20:02 what you are already looking for. 20:04 God has given us that job to go into the community 20:07 find the people that God is speaking to 20:09 and help them find what they are looking for. 20:11 The principle is so simple. 20:13 God gets there first 20:14 and He sends us in to connect the dots. 20:18 Our job as Christians is not to make-- 20:22 now follow me carefully and I will explain it. 20:25 Our job is it making sense so far? 20:28 Amen. 20:29 All right, two people think it make sense. 20:32 Our job is not to make secular people spiritual. 20:38 That's not our job. 20:40 Our job is to find the secular people 20:43 that God is waking spiritual. 20:45 That's our job. 20:47 In 1 Corinthians Chapter 2 Paul lays out for us 20:50 exactly how it works. 20:52 He says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, "The natural man 20:56 does not receive the things of the Spirit of God." 21:01 He says in verse 13 that when he spoke, 21:04 when he preached he did not do it 21:06 in the words which man's wisdom teaches 21:09 but which the Holy Ghost teaches. 21:11 Paul recognized the principle. 21:14 I mean, what the Bible tells us is, 21:16 there is no magic button in the human heart 21:19 that you as a human being can go to 21:21 and push and suddenly make a secular person spiritual. 21:25 There is no way that we can go to a secular person 21:28 and make them interested in spiritual things. 21:30 The natural man does not receive 21:32 the things of the Spirit of God. 21:35 That's God's job. 21:37 God pushes the button, He wakes up the heart 21:40 and now they are interested in spiritual things. 21:44 That's how God works people say 21:46 but now you are narrowing your focus, pastor, 21:48 shouldn't you be going after everybody. 21:50 Yes, I do go after everybody because I've discovered 21:53 that God is speaking in this last hour 21:55 to just about everybody. 21:57 If they have not just spurned the voice of the Holy Spirit 22:00 God is making just about everybody interested 22:02 in spiritual things at some level. 22:06 I'll never forget Beverly. 22:09 After a meeting one night 22:11 she came to me tears in her eyes. 22:13 She said, pastor, I've got this big decision 22:15 that I have got to make and it's a terrible decision. 22:18 I said, what is that problem, Beverly? 22:21 She said, pastor, 22:23 my mother is on the other side of the country 22:25 and she is not well and the doctors are saying 22:27 she is not gonna make it. 22:29 She is dying and yet here I am in these evangelistic meetings. 22:34 And I have waited 52 years to hear this message. 22:38 I knew, I was out there somewhere. 22:40 My heart has been craving it 22:41 and I don't want to miss any of this. 22:43 What am I going to do? 22:45 She said, I have resolved in my heart 22:47 that God wants this moment to happen 22:50 and so I'm going to stay for the rest of these meetings 22:52 and God will take care of my mother. 22:54 I'm not missing this. I have waited 52 years. 22:58 In every street, in every city in America 23:01 there are people that have waited 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years 23:04 to hear the gospel of the Jesus Christ. 23:07 They might not recognize His name even. 23:09 They might not know what we know 23:11 but God has been speaking to their hearts 23:14 and He sends us in to help connect the dots. 23:18 I'll never forget Diane. I rang Diane's doorbell. 23:22 We were knocking on doors 23:23 inviting people to take Bible study. 23:25 And I was with a friend and to be honest 23:27 I wanted to go home. 23:29 I was tired and we had 23:30 a few doors slammed in our faces. 23:33 We rang the bell and she opened the door 23:34 and I said, hi, I'm Shawn from It Is Written. 23:39 She burst into tears. 23:41 It's not the first time 23:42 a woman has burst into tears when I introduce myself. 23:47 I said, are you okay? She said, I am okay. 23:51 How did you know? 23:53 I said, how did I know what? She said, follow me. 23:56 I followed her into the living room 23:58 and there was a Bible open on her coffee table 24:00 and the pages had obviously been wet. 24:03 She said, I have been on my knees all night 24:05 reading this book. 24:06 All night reading this book begging God 24:08 to send somebody to my house to explain what it means. 24:13 I've never felt so small in my life 24:16 and I started to catch on. 24:18 It takes me a long time to catch on the most things. 24:21 But I don't wake people up, 24:23 God wakes them up and He sends us in. 24:26 I mean, listen to how the disciples worked. 24:29 Desire of Ages, page 349 has this astounding statement. 24:35 "As Jesus ministered to the vast multitudes 24:37 that gathered about Him, 24:38 His disciples were in attendance, 24:40 eager to do His bidding and to lighten His labor. 24:43 They assisted in arranging the people, 24:44 bringing the afflicted ones to the Savior, 24:46 and promoting the comfort of all." 24:49 Now there is a felt needs ministry. 24:51 They are attentive to the needs of those people, felt needs 24:56 but it doesn't stop there. 24:57 Next statement. 24:59 "They watched for interested hearers, 25:03 explained the Scriptures to them, 25:06 and in various ways worked for their benefit." 25:09 What did they look for? 25:10 They wandered the crowd looking for interested hearers. 25:15 If you wander a city looking for interested hearers 25:17 you will not run out of them but you'll notice 25:20 the disciples were not trying to make the hearers interested 25:23 they were looking for the hearers 25:25 that were interested. 25:27 They are already hearing the voice of Jesus. 25:29 That's who they are focused on. 25:31 Take a look at how it works in the Bible 25:34 and ever most every single case you can see it. 25:37 Who did Peter baptize on the day 25:39 of Pentecost, Acts Chapter 2? 25:40 The Bible says it was "devout men 25:42 from of every nation under heaven." 25:44 They were already in tuned to the voice of God. 25:46 They already sensed spiritual things. 25:48 Who was Peter's first gentile convert? 25:51 It's a man named Cornelius, a devout man the Bible says. 25:55 He feared God, he was giving money to God's people. 25:57 He had already had a vision and then God sends in Peter. 26:02 In Acts Chapter-- 26:03 oh, I don't remember what chapter it is. 26:05 I'm like the apostle Paul, 26:07 you know, how he is always saying, 26:08 somewhere it is written. 26:09 I can never remember where either. 26:12 There is this story where the angel-- 26:14 oh, it's Acts Chapter 8. 26:16 The angel comes to Philip and says, 26:18 you know what, I've got a Bible study well under way. 26:20 I got a guy in a chariot reading the Book of Isaiah 26:23 and he is coming up on the stuff about Messiah. 26:25 God's already set it up 26:26 now He is gonna sends you in to connect the dots. 26:29 You go tell them the truths so he knows 26:31 whose voice it is he's been hearing in his heart. 26:35 God's method is simple, He get's there first. 26:39 You want success in witnessing become a sanctified snoop 26:44 when you hang around people. 26:46 Listen carefully to them, look at everything. 26:49 Now most of you will never have me in your home again 26:52 but when I come in I'm looking at your bookshelf. 26:54 I want to know what you've been reading 26:56 because bookshelf is a map of the human mind. 26:58 I look at the pictures on the wall. 27:00 I listen very carefully because somewhere, 27:02 somehow God spoke to you before I got there 27:05 because I can't convert you, I can only show you the truth 27:08 that God wants you to hear after He wakes up your heart. 27:13 But in recent years 27:15 in some corners we've become more hesitant. 27:18 We started to think backwards and now we think 27:20 that we have to make the hearers interested, 27:24 instead of look for the interested hearers. 27:27 And again I believe firmly in being relevant. 27:30 I believe firmly in speaking a language 27:32 that people understand. 27:34 But you don't change the message 27:35 that how God handcrafted to address the people 27:38 who's heart's He has been speaking to. 27:40 See, we've lost sight of the fact sometimes 27:42 that God has a plan. 27:44 We started rewriting it 27:45 thinking that we have to come up with something 27:47 to reach the last generation 27:48 because God forgot all about them. 27:51 God has had a plan since long before we were born. 27:54 The Bible says the Lamb is the Lamb slain 27:56 before the foundation of the world. 27:58 The plan of salvation was well thought out 28:00 by the infinite mind before we ever came on the scene. 28:03 He knows what He is doing. 28:05 And when God gave us this message in this book 28:07 He didn't consider every generation 28:09 except the last one. 28:11 I mean, you picture God calling Gabriel back. 28:13 Gabriel, go get the angels. We made a big mistake. 28:17 When we gave the last day church 28:18 the three angels' messages 28:20 we forgot all about the postmodern secular mind. 28:23 It's never gonna work. Let's regroup. 28:25 I mean, God doesn't change His mind. 28:27 Amen? Amen. 28:28 He doesn't change His mind. 28:30 God wakes up the heart, He has a message for those people 28:33 and when those two things come together 28:35 it has explosive power. 28:37 It explodes. You can't lose. 28:39 I mean, we could try and dream of our own methods. 28:41 We could think of our way to do it. 28:43 We could come up with our own message. 28:46 I could put out pizzas and videogames 28:49 and I could open a Starbucks and I would get a crowd 28:55 but it's not the crowd 28:57 that's been waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning 28:58 hearing the voice of God pleading them to come home. 29:02 God doesn't make a mistake. 29:04 He knows the power of the heart He changes 29:07 and the messenger He sends. 29:09 He knows the power of it. 29:10 You know, who else knows the power of it? 29:14 Lucifer sees it. He sees it. He knows as well as we do. 29:19 In Revelation 18 God plans to light up the whole world. 29:22 He sees it. 29:25 I don't know if you've noticed what his plan is. 29:27 He knows that if God changes the heart 29:29 the people are seeking God. 29:31 And what does He do? 29:33 He doesn't open a Starbucks, 29:34 he gives him a spiritual message. 29:36 In Revelation Chapter 13 29:39 he sets up a false system of worship. 29:41 Then he has a second beast come along and work miracles. 29:44 He even counterfeits the second coming. 29:47 And He almost feel sorry for the devil, don't you? 29:49 He forgot to read all the studies. 29:50 It said, that you can't reach the postmodern secular mind 29:53 with religious themes. 29:55 But working on it for 6,000 years 29:58 he knows the power, so what he does 30:01 is try to get to those hearts before God's messengers do. 30:04 He wants to speak to them first. 30:07 Could it really be... 30:11 that the devil understands better than we do? 30:14 Is that possible? 30:16 Why do we think in the last moment 30:18 we got to change the message? 30:21 There is this amazing story in the Bible 30:23 aimed directly at God's last day remnant church. 30:25 I believe it with all my heart. 30:27 It's found in the Book of Jonah. 30:30 God goes to this reluctant prophet. 30:33 Jonah? Yes, Lord, what? What is it? 30:38 Jonah, I want you to arise-- 30:41 I can't help it. 30:42 Every time I read that I think, 30:44 you know, that's like free advertising 30:45 for David Asscherick, Arise. 30:51 I want you to arise and go to Nineveh. 30:56 Every time God calls you to spend yourself 30:58 for the salvation of somebody else 31:00 it's always a call up. 31:02 Always a call up. 31:03 If I be lifted up, Jesus said, I'll draw all men to Me. 31:06 The highest point in history is the cross. 31:09 I want you to arise and go Nineveh. 31:11 You want me to go where? I want you to go to Nineveh. 31:16 Lord, what exactly do You want me to preach when I get there? 31:20 Well, I want You to preach sin and repentance 31:24 and I want you to preach judgment 31:26 and My mercy and My love. 31:28 Lord, I can't do that, 31:29 I mean, go to Nineveh and preach those things. 31:31 Don't you understand 31:32 that is not a Judah Christian culture in Nineveh? 31:35 Those people worship fish. 31:38 I can't go in there with that message. 31:40 Lord, that would be a big mistake. 31:42 I can't-- 31:44 fish, I mean, what am I even gonna eat 31:45 when I get to Nineveh. 31:46 I don't think those people are vegetarians. 31:49 Pretty sure they sneak 31:50 and shall be past into the Caesar salad dressing. 31:53 I can't go to a place like that. 31:57 Jonah, I want you to go. 31:59 Lord, I can't relate to the fish worshiping people. 32:02 I'll tell you what, Jonah, you go and I'm pretty sure 32:06 by the time you get there you are gonna have a fish story 32:08 or two that you can work into your sermon. 32:15 What did Jonah run from? 32:18 Buckle your seatbelts for a second 32:20 I want to look at something in the Book of Jonah. 32:23 Why was he reluctant, 32:24 because he is afraid of public speaking? 32:27 I don't believe it. 32:28 It says in Jonah 1:3 32:31 that Jonah left the presence of the Lord. 32:36 What does that mean? 32:38 Can't disappear from God's eyesight. 32:40 Psalm 139 says, "Whither shall I flee from thy presence?" 32:43 What's he fleeing? What's he running from? 32:48 Can't get away from God's presence. 32:50 There is this rule in Bible study 32:52 that says the first time 32:53 something is mentioned in the Bible 32:55 it's very important and it sets the stage 32:57 for understanding the concept. 32:59 The first time you hear 33:00 of somebody leaving the presence of the Lord 33:02 its Cain in Genesis Chapter 4. 33:05 And Cain in Genesis Chapter 4 33:07 leaves the presence of the Lord. 33:08 And again you can't get out of God's eyesight 33:10 so that can't be what's going on. 33:13 God says in Genesis 3 down into that think verse 24, 33:19 the Bible says that God took two Cherubim 33:21 and put them at the gates of Eden 33:22 and there was a brilliant flashing presence between them. 33:25 When it says God place those Cherubim there 33:27 it's actually the root word Shakan, 33:29 same root word is Shekinah. 33:32 God calls the Tabernacle at the gates of Eden, 33:35 two Cherubim and the brilliance presence. 33:36 There was a sanctuary service at the gates of Eden. 33:41 What did Cain leave? 33:43 He left the presence of the Lord. 33:45 What did Johan leave? 33:47 It's interesting, you dig into history and you discover 33:49 that in Jonah's day there is this belief 33:52 that if you have the gift of prophecy 33:54 and you step over the national boarder 33:56 outside of Israel the gift of prophecy would stop 34:01 like your cell phone went out of range. 34:03 Because the sanctuary was in the land of Israel 34:06 and if you got away from the sanctuary 34:07 you would lose the gift of prophecy. 34:09 What is Johan running away from? 34:11 Two things. 34:12 He is running away from the sanctuary 34:14 and he is running away from the sprit of prophecy. 34:16 That's what he is running away from. 34:18 Says in Johan Chapter 2 that when Jonah came back twice 34:22 he says when he is repenting, I will return to Your temple. 34:27 Satan sits on the sidelines he knows what would happen 34:29 if Jonah went in and preach God's message to the people 34:32 God had prepared. 34:33 We know historically 34:35 that Nineveh had already had an earthquake and a plague 34:37 and that the king had already gone 34:38 from worshiping many gods to one 34:40 before Jonah ever got there. 34:43 And the devil makes him uncomfortable 34:45 with the Spirit of Prophecy in the sanctuary. 34:48 And isn't it astounding then in his last moments 34:52 when the devil knows the power of the message 34:54 God has put in our hands 34:56 that he goes after the same thing. 35:00 Goes after the same thing from Cowan Ken Wright 35:03 to Glacier View, 35:05 the Spirit of Prophecy and the sanctuary. 35:11 He is trying to silence the message 35:12 that can change the world because he knows 35:14 God offered the three angels' messages 35:17 and God wakes up the hearts. 35:20 And when you bring God's three angels' messages 35:22 to the world in the last moments 35:24 they will recognize the face of God in it. 35:27 Our job is not to wake everybody up, 35:29 God's doing that. 35:30 Our job is to tell them the truth 35:32 and show them Jesus in the three angels' message. 35:35 Lift high the cross 35:36 and then give them the message God wrote, 35:38 He didn't make a mistake. 35:40 He doesn't make mistakes. 35:43 I was in Minneapolis, oh, I don't know 10 or 20 times 35:49 and I was in the airport its five o'clock 35:51 and I get to my gate 35:53 and I always go to my gate early 35:54 because I want the overhead bin space. 35:56 I want to be the first one on the plane. 35:59 And I'm there early 36:00 and of course a lightening storm blows in 36:02 and there is thunder and lightening 36:03 and I watched the gate attendant. 36:05 She picked up the phone and I heard her say, 36:06 what do you mean? 36:08 What do you mean weight critical? 36:10 I can't-- 36:12 you mean I got to ask the volunteers 36:13 to get off this plane 36:15 and I'm listening to this and I'm thinking-- 36:17 no, I heard her say, you know, we need to find how much? 36:20 A hundred pounds. 36:21 So now I'm thinking there is a thunderstorm 36:23 and the plane is within 100 pounds of being safe. 36:27 I don't want to be on that plane. 36:29 So the minute she hung up the plane 36:31 I stepped up the podium, I said, I'm volunteering. 36:33 I volunteer to give up my seat. 36:36 I don't have to get there till tomorrow anyway. 36:38 She said, hallelujah. 36:39 Well, she didn't say hallelujah but she was close. 36:43 And she gave me a free ticket and a meal voucher. 36:47 I went to the food fair and I showed the meal voucher. 36:49 I met a lady who is wonderful. 36:50 She said, I know exactly 36:52 how much you can get for that voucher. 36:53 And it's like down to a sign. 36:54 She spent every last penny of the voucher. 36:56 I had a plate of food this high. 37:00 I had a leisurely meal, I went back to my gate. 37:03 It's now 8:15 and there is a big crowd there. 37:06 Turn out they cancelled the flight altogether. 37:09 And as I approached the gate some guys sees me 37:11 and he yells loud enough for everybody to hear, 37:14 that's the guy who got the free ticket. 37:23 I was popular. 37:26 I got on the plane and I sat in my seat 37:28 and I did air passenger's prayer. 37:31 I don't know if you know about the air passenger's prayer. 37:34 You watch the people coming down the aisle 37:35 and you think okay, Lord, 37:37 please I want a little gymnast in the middle seat beside me 37:42 not the 800 pound football player. 37:46 Don't want to ride all the way back to L.A. like this. 37:49 And I'm praying and you know what, 37:51 the seat is empty in the middle 37:53 and then the plane get stalled on the ground 37:55 more lightening and thunder 37:56 and they couldn't put any more else in the plane, 37:58 no one is allowed to work on the tarmac. 38:00 Apparently they are allowed to leave 38:01 the suitcases on the tarmac though 38:03 because when I opened it like fish fell out of it. 38:05 There was so much water inside my suitcase. 38:09 And I sat there the plane got stalled 38:10 and then we tried to pull away, got stalled 38:12 and finally they open the door and a lady gets on 38:14 and comes and takes the seat across from me. 38:17 Now this lady is the model 38:20 for the original Chatty Cathy Doll. 38:23 She has no filter between her brain and her mouth 38:25 whatsoever, nothing. 38:27 If she thinks it she says it and I'm tired, 38:30 I was hoping for a little rest on the plane 38:32 and she sits down, she says, 38:33 oh, look the tray table goes up and down 38:35 and look there is a little 38:36 thing in here the window that goes up and down 38:38 and look there is a plane at the gate next to us. 38:40 Hey, there's people getting on and off of it. 38:41 There is a magazine here in the seat pocket. 38:43 Where are you flying to today? 38:46 Oh, Lord, I said, why? 38:51 I think the Lord smiles 38:52 because preachers deserve that once in a while. 38:59 And we sat and talked, I took my headphones out, 39:02 I was listening to Rachmaninoff. 39:04 I wanted to listen to Rachmaninoff, 39:05 I couldn't hear over the chatter and... 39:09 she turned to me she said, you fly often. 39:12 I said, yeah, quite a bit. 39:14 She says, I don't, this is my first time. 39:17 I said, I kind of guessed. 39:21 Said, I won't travel much but I've decided to take a trip 39:27 because my husband has just died... 39:32 and I got to get away. 39:35 And now I get it, I understand three hours in the airport 39:39 and I understand repeated thunder and lightening. 39:43 I get it. 39:44 I see the angels hustling a woman 39:46 through the airport to get her to that plane on time. 39:50 It's not in our hands. 39:52 God wakes up the heart and then He sends in the messenger. |
Revised 2015-10-15