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Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME230225S
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00:13 ♪♪ 03:12 >> Amen, amen. 03:17 ♪♪ 03:26 ♪♪ 05:10 >> Now, the reason we're here today, 05:12 it's not just because we serve a God who died for us 05:16 so that we may live. We are here today 05:19 because we serve a God who, after three days, 05:23 He rose again. 05:24 He rose again. And we serve our recent Saviour. So as we sing this song, it may 05:29 not be too familiar to you, but just meditate on the lyrics and realize the wonderful 05:36 and powerful recent savior that died for us, that we're serving and singing to today. 10:59 >> Amen, amen, glory to our God. 11:05 >> Father, that's what we're saying. You received that praise. 11:09 All our voices express that to You. We have a few moments left. 11:16 Would you please energize these moments? Hide the distractions. 11:21 Hush the clamorings of our minds. Speak to us in Jesus' name. 11:29 Amen. 11:31 Can you imagine what it would be like -- I'm serious -- if the 11:37 police, little Berrien Springs, Oronoko Township. 11:42 I know the police. I have a policeman five doors 11:45 down from where I live. But if the police showed up 11:49 and I'm talking about in their squad cars. 11:53 Red and blue, flashing, flashing, flashing, they show up 11:57 at every entrance into this tiny little village township. 12:04 And they jump out of their squad cars. There's an officer there halting 12:09 all traffic, all traffic arriving to our little Berrien Springs village. 12:15 One question. Do you live on the campus of Andrews? 12:19 Do you live in the village? The answer is yes, you may go. If the answer's no, 12:23 come again some other day. That happened this Sunday in a little town in Kentucky 12:30 called Wilmore. You may have heard about it. Population -- 6,461. 12:39 Small town. Small Christian university in that town named 12:44 Asbury University, on whose campus something rather unusual happened when they were having 12:52 worship at chapel a few Wednesdays ago. And that is the worship 12:57 didn't stop. They had no big gun preacher. No visiting choir. 13:04 It was just the students. 13:08 And the worship kept going. The services ended, but they stayed in the Hughes Auditorium. 13:16 And then the singing started, and then the praising started, and then the testimonies began, 13:21 and then the confessions, and then the repentance. And then -- this is students 13:27 lead now. Then students start coming forward to the front, and 13:31 all that day, all that day, chapel kept going. By the way, they're required to 13:37 go to three chapels every week. 13:44 It'd take a while, but you'd get it. [ Laughter ] 13:47 You'd get it. 13:49 All that day, into the night. Now word is spread across campus. 13:55 Kids are coming back to church. 13:59 All that next -- all that night. The next day, you got it. The next night, all that week. 14:05 The rest of that week. All the next week that came. Four days into the following 14:11 week. 16 days and nights, 24/7. That place is packed now. 14:18 Doing the kind of worship we're doing right here. Led by students. 14:24 Unbelievable. 20,000 people this Sunday showed up, and that's why 14:29 the town said, "Adios, we cannot handle this." The president of Asbury 14:36 University, Kevin Brown, released a statement. They put it on their website, 14:41 Asbury University. Only they opened a new page, and they called the new page 14:45 "Outpouring." Here are the president's words in that statement. 14:51 All right. Put it on the screen for you. Kevin Brown -- "On February 8, 14:59 2023. Asbury University's regularly scheduled chapel service 15:05 never ended. What we have experienced since that Wednesday morning has been 15:11 a current of immeasurable goodness, flooding our community and quickly moving into other 15:16 regions of the world. Words fail any effort to communicate the abundance 15:21 of experiences and stories that will leave us forever changed. 15:26 Thursday, February 23." Two days ago. "Will mark the end of this 15:32 historic multi-week gathering at Asbury University with a National Collegiate Day of 15:38 Prayer broadcast hosted on our campus." We celebrated that this Thursday 15:43 ourselves here at Andrews. "I find it fitting that what started with college 15:49 students on our campus is ending with college students joined in prayer and worship 15:54 across the country." Wow. 16:00 Somebody asked him why he was bringing the revival to a halt. He responded -- I like his 16:07 words -- "How can you shut down something you didn't start?" Isn't that good? 16:14 We have a couple of PhD students down there. Their families or friends 16:17 are here in town. I've read both of their eyewitness reports because they 16:24 stepped into that huge auditorium, experienced it, And then I'm going to read 16:28 the last paragraph of of one of these here. "The language of revival 16:33 has been used a lot to describe what's going on. Personally, I would probably 16:39 hold off using that type of language." The president didn't use 16:43 the word once. "I would hold off using that type of language because we just 16:47 don't know what the fruits of this are going to be. Is it going to effect long term 16:52 change? Repentance, you know, people turning back to the Bible. 16:55 Are people going to go back to their communities and continue to take Jesus with them? 17:00 Only time will tell. But if you just ask me what I'm seeing there right now, 17:05 I see thousands of people who are wanting a deeper experience with God. 17:10 Thousands of people from all different kinds of backgrounds and ethnicities 17:14 and denominations and ages coming together to worship and pray. 17:18 At the very least, I'd say it shows just how much people are in search of something 17:25 more." 17:27 I thought that was pretty wise. Wow. So here we are in another little 17:35 town about 500 miles to the north, in another little Christian university. 17:41 Could it happen here? Let me give you a little bit of history. 17:46 The first as Asbury Revival, historic, noted in the reference books, took place in 1970 in 17:54 that same auditorium, same campus. The date it began -- 17:58 February 3, 1970. That fall -- now listen to this -- that fall, eight months 18:04 later, October 1970, a similar revival broke out on the campus of Andrews University. 18:14 In chapel, in this church on that morning. The leadership of this 18:21 faith community were gathered in Takoma Park at something they used to call Autumn Council 18:26 of the General Conference. They interrupted the meeting. Listen to this. 18:30 They interrupted the meeting. "We just received a phone call from Andrews University. 18:35 The chapel has not let out. Students are lined up at a microphone 18:40 to share their testimonies. That now is history. 18:48 The rest is history, of a revival that started on this campus, in this very place, 18:54 and spread to all the Adventist colleges in North America. I'm a little freshman or 18:59 sophomore down in Southern. Everybody heard about it. 19:06 Wow. Could it happen again? You know, I did the arithmetic. It's 53 years later 19:13 from the Asbury 1970 revival. It's the same for us. It started in Asbury 19:19 and went to Andrews. I suppose it could start in Asbury again and come to 19:23 Andrews. Who am I to say? I was brooding over all of this 19:29 this week, and it suddenly hit me, all those tweeted video clips coming out of the packed 19:34 Hughes Auditorium. You know what? Those students, every one of 19:38 them was a Gen Z'er. Telling you the truth. Gen Z, 18 to 25, 19:44 maybe up to 30, if you wish. Every one of them. And I'm thinking to myself, 19:49 "That's what we got on this campus." They're all Gen Z'ers. 19:53 Undergrad, graduate, seminary. They're all Gen Z'ers in the seminary. 19:58 Man. You can't tell me this generation isn't open to an 20:03 outpouring of the love of God. I'm so blessed to have young friends, the teens 20:10 at Andrews Academy. The 20-somethings here at Andrews University. 20:17 Wow. Now I know, I know the moment a revival breaks out among the 20:22 young, there are going to always be people who step forward and challenge the 20:26 authenticity of what has just happened. I understand that. 20:30 Jesus understands that. That's exactly what happened to him. 20:34 One day, the Pharisees, those grumpy old religionists, came saddling up to Jesus, 20:42 as he's riding on the back of a donkey. The crowd is gone wild. 20:47 They are jumping and hollering. Their hands are in the air. They're waving palm branches, 20:52 they're praise shouting, they're praise singing "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!" 20:58 And the grumpy religionists race up to Jesus and say, "Yo, you got a problem 21:03 on your hands here. We got some false revival going on." 21:08 Here it is. The account in Luke, 19:3. "Some of the Pharisees in the 21:13 crowd said to Jesus, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.'" And Jesus said to them, 21:20 "'I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will shout out." 21:28 Come on. This must be a counterfeit revival. 21:32 I mean, people shouldn't be this happy about Jesus. Are you serious? You mean that? 21:40 No, you can't. And by the way, when Jesus and his entourage finally make their 21:46 way down, and sometime later, they end up in the temple, the same grumpy religionists 21:52 show back up. They always show up when they're not wanted. 21:57 Matthew, 21 now. "But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw 22:01 the wonderful things Jesus did, and the children this time are shouting in the temple courts, 22:07 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' they were indignant. 'Do you hear what these children 22:13 are saying?' they asked Jesus. 'Yes, I hear what the children are saying,' Jesus replied. 22:19 Have you never read from the lips of children?'" He's quoting Psalm 8 here. 22:24 "'From the lips of children and infants, You, O Lord, have called forth your praise.'" 22:31 Because what you naysayers don't realize is this is the real deal. 22:38 My, oh, my. Fact of the matter is, if God is ever going to renew, 22:44 if God is ever going to revive, if God is ever going to raise up, if God is ever going to 22:49 resurrect the church that you and I belong to, it's going to take this generation. 22:56 You Gen Z'ers have been kind of dissed on enough that you're sort of callous to the thought. 23:03 But it's going to take your generation. Andrews Academy, your 23:09 generation, Andrews University. Your generation. Where God will get the most 23:14 traction, the highest momentum for a strategic move. That's why, by the way, 23:19 college campuses are the Holy Spirit's favorite place to begin a revival. 23:23 A little German village named Wittenberg, university campus, a revival breaks out, 23:29 and it becomes the mighty Protestant Reformation. A little college campus called 23:33 Oxford University. And a few youngsters get together, and they become the 23:38 front edge of the greatest revival to sweep the British Isles. 23:43 The Holy Spirit loves the young. And he loves college campuses. So don't let anybody diss you 23:52 for being here at Andrews University. This is ripe and fertile field 23:58 for the Holy Spirit. He loves it, and he loves you. You got a big friend in the 24:06 Holy Spirit. Listen to me. I'm telling you. As I say, Gen Z'ers maybe the 24:12 rescue generation of God's final mobilization. Two Mondays ago, I'm here in my 24:17 office, it's Monday morning. Five undergrads are sitting in my office. 24:23 Multi-disciplined kids. Computer engineering, I think. I know aviation. 24:28 I know theology. Whatever else. They wanted me to read a paper 24:33 they wrote. Three pages long. A carefully thought through 24:39 well-articulated, impassioned appeal to whoever reads it. It begins with these words. 24:48 "We are deeply concerned with the declining spiritual condition of the students 24:52 at Andrews University." 25:01 I hesitate to even speak those words because I have spent my life 25:06 pretty much here. And I love this university. And they do, too. 25:14 I only speak them because I know that if I went to every other campus and said, "Give me five 25:18 students who feel this way, there'd be legions." This isn't the only place 25:25 where a sentence like this could be written. 25:31 For an hour, I listened. I asked, pushed back. I listened. 25:39 Came down to have prayer, so we all know knelt down and prayed around the circle 25:42 together. That afternoon, I invited the pastors, Lead Chaplain José, 25:49 and his team. We sat around a boardroom table downstairs, and we read 25:55 through this paper, three pages out loud together. Chaplain José subsequently 26:02 met with this group. Again, again. 26:08 The next day, as it turned out, is a Tuesday, I happened to be speaking at the Religion 26:14 Theology Department undergrad worship service for all disciplines, so they're all 26:19 Gen Z'ers there. Had an altar call at the end of my short little talk, and 26:25 Gen Z'ers, in front of their peers, come walking down in Nethery Hall -- 26:31 Not in Nethery. New Bold, New Bold. They're coming down the stairs, 26:35 in front of their peers, coming to Christ. Don't tell me that this 26:41 Generation Z, this Gen Z generation, is not ready to be mobilized and enlisted 26:48 for the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe it. Two Sabbaths in a row, by the 26:54 way, do I need to remind you, this winter, we've had a Gen Z'er standing right here 27:01 behind this humble little pulpit, preaching her heart out. I'm talking about 27:05 Marian Gonzales. She's a religious V.P. communications major. 27:10 I listened to her preach her heart out on behalf of the Gospel. 27:14 The very next Sabbath, junior psychology, pre-med major Nick Bishop, SM, preaching 27:21 his heart out. I was so proud of both of them. And then I don't mind telling 27:26 you that just last Sabbath, not even a Gen Z'er. Pre Gen Z, young man named 27:31 Heyman Lago played the part of Job on this platform like nothing I've ever seen before. 27:40 I'm telling you, there is a generation primed and ready to be mobilized. 27:46 We just need the ignition. We just need the fire. 27:54 I realize many of you, and I want to give a shout out to you 27:57 who teach at Andrews Academy and Andrews University. 28:00 Many of you are looked up to. You're looked up to by these Gen Z'ers. 28:04 They think you're the coolest thing around. 28:08 And I know that God is using you. 28:11 You're not by accident in that classroom. 28:14 God is using you. I believe the church's best 28:17 days -- I believe Andrews University's best days 28:20 are yet to come. God is on the throne. 28:25 We have nothing to fear. Gen Z'ers are going to be key players in the dramatic 28:31 chapter to come. So the question is, what do I do? 28:36 What do you do? What do we do? What next step shall we take? There are two responses. 28:41 Response number one. If you're young, you must engage this battle. 28:47 All right? If you're young, you must engage this battle. 28:52 The greatest battle of history is just roiling around you as we speak. 28:58 What's that mean? Engage this battle. I'll tell you what it doesn't 29:02 mean. I'm going to run three one liners by you right now. 29:05 You will not remember the verse. You won't remember where it's found. 29:08 You won't even remember all the words in the these three one liners. 29:11 But I've underlined in every one liner the words that need to get your attention. 29:15 By the time we read the third one, you say, "I get it, I get it." 29:19 Okay, let's go. One liner, number one. Who's ever read the Book of Job. 29:23 Job -- rather, Judges. Come on, Judges, 5:23 "Curse Meroz." 29:28 You know what? Nobody knows today. No scholar knows, what is Meroz? 29:31 Is it a place? It is a person? Nobody knows. 29:34 This is Deborah, the prophet, is singing a song, and it ends up there. 29:39 "'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the Lord. 'Curse its people bitterly 29:43 because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.'" 29:49 What's going on here? Some sort of battle is raging around them, 29:51 but these in Meroz refuse to come to the help of God's mission. 29:56 They just sat there, did nothing. They were... 30:03 Do you know what a AWOL means? Come on, A-W-O-L, AWOL. No? 30:10 Well, I'll put on screen for you. There it is. 30:13 It's a military term, AWOL. What's it mean? Absent without leave. 30:17 Hey, who said -- boy, who said you could leave? Who said you could go to town? 30:21 You have no leave. Absent without leave. These guys in Meroz were absent 30:27 without leave. They should have shown up. They should have been there. 30:30 But they weren't. I'm talking to you who are young. 30:33 Don't you do that. Don't you go AWOL. You must engage the battle. 30:38 Okay, three one liners. Here comes number two. Psalm 78:9. 30:42 Just like the last one. "The men of Ephraim." Nobody knows what this is 30:46 talking about. There is no historical evidence of this moment, 30:50 but we'll read it anyway. "The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows." 30:54 You know what that is, don't you? By the way, Jonathan Alter -- 30:59 rather, Robert Alter renders this line. "They were deft wielders 31:04 of the bows." They could hit with an air a dime at 100 meters. 31:10 So these guys are fully equipped to the teeth. They are able. 31:14 Okay, now we got that. "The men of Ephraim, though, armed with bows, turned back 31:21 on the day of battle." AWOL. They should have been there. 31:25 They could have been there. But when the heat got really hot, adios. 31:30 They're not there. What's going on here? AWOL. 31:35 I'm talking to you who are young. Don't go AWOL. 31:39 Engage the battle that rages all around you. Are there battles going on? 31:45 I was talking to a young coed this week, not a part of that other group I was with. 31:51 She says, "Oh, my, you have no idea. You have no idea." 31:58 I have an idea. We are in a battle. And you know what? 32:04 Because the Holy Spirit is so big on Gen Z'ers, guess what? And I must be candid here. 32:10 If the Holy Spirit is big on Gen Z'ers, there's somebody down on them. 32:16 Guess who? Guess who? Destroy 'em, kill 'em. They're too effective. 32:24 Crush the movement. Stop the generation. Yeah, I get it. 32:29 All right, there are three one liners. Here's the last one. 32:34 New Testament, 2 Timothy, 4: 9 and 10 Paul sitting on death row 32:38 in the Mamertine dungeon in Rome. He's writing to a young 32:41 associate of his, Timothy. "Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he 32:48 loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica." 32:53 Demas is another young, we gather, spiritual warrior, partner with Paul. 32:59 But when the heat gets hot, when the culture is strong and seeks to suck you 33:05 into its iron jaws, look out. 33:10 Demas, gone. The world just drew him away. Gotcha. 33:22 Don't go AWOL. Demas went AWOL. Don't you go AWOL. 33:25 Engage. If you are young, engage, engage the battle. 33:30 You were born for this. I'm telling you. You got to trust me. 33:34 You are the generation we have to have for this thing to go viral. 33:41 And it will go viral one day, if Revelation, 18:1 is correct, it will go viral. 33:46 And you've got to be a part of it. Don't go AWOL on God. 33:52 All right, response number one. Response number one. If you're young, you must 33:56 engage the battle. Response number two. If you're not so young, 34:00 you must engage the battle. They're fairly similar, both of those. 34:06 Because the point is, it doesn't matter your age at all. Young or not so young. 34:10 The issue is not about your age. The issue is about usage. Just put "us" in front of "age." 34:16 Usage. Are you using what has been handed to you on a silver 34:22 platter for the sake of the Kingdom of God? Are you using it? 34:25 Are you using it? What are you talking about, Dwight? 34:28 Well, let's go to Paul. The Saint Paul that lost his buddy, young buddy Demas, 34:33 who sucked into the culture and disappeared. Let's go to Paul. 34:38 He's chained to a Roman soldier right now, by the way. Yeah. 34:41 When he writes these words. Ephesians 6:12 and 13, then verse 18. 34:45 "For our struggle [battle] for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the 34:51 rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual 34:56 forces, the armies of evil in the heavenly realms." Everybody's playing for you. 35:04 Both sides are gunning for you. They need your allegiance. They need your loyalty. 35:09 You are a key to them, and they know it. You just don't know it. 35:13 That's the problem. You don't realize how critical you are at this time in history. 35:21 "Armies of evil in the heavenly realms." "Therefore," Paul writes, 35:25 "Put on the full armor of God." You know that armor of God. What is it? The helmet of -- 35:29 What is it? Helmet of salvation, breastplate of -- what was that? 35:34 Righteousness. Sword of the spirit. Okay, come on, the belt of 35:38 truth. Shout to the gospel. That's in those little ellipses. 35:42 Those three dots. "Therefore put on the full armor of God." 35:45 Armor listed. And Paul says something he does not add into the armor because 35:49 this one's nuclear. This is nuclear now. This is nuclear. 35:54 "And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 35:59 With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." 36:04 The reason prayer is listed after Paul enumerates the pieces of armor, 36:09 I believe, is because prayer is the most potent weapon of all. It's kind of the iso. 36:14 He isos it. He says, "Let's just talk, let's end by talking about prayer." 36:19 Nuclear, nuclear. Why nuclear? Because prayer accesses 36:25 the source of all nuclear... 36:32 What would be the word after -- nuclear's an adjective. All nuclear in the universe? 36:36 Nuclear what? What? Okay, I'll take power. 36:43 That's good. The source of all nuclear power in the universe. 36:50 That's why prayer is key. Hey, listen, let's listen to somebody pretty bright. 36:56 He's in New York, the eminent pastor in New York, Timothy Keller. 37:00 He wrote just, well, it came out in Atlantic magazine, a very celebrated magazine. 37:08 February 5, 2023. Timothy Keller wrote a piece. Here's the title of the piece, 37:12 "American Christianity is Due for a Revival." That's the title. 37:17 Now you got my attention, so I'm reading it. Okay, let's put it on screen. 37:22 "All religions," Keller writes, "All religions promote and call for prayer. 37:27 But historically, during times of fast growth and renewal, Christian movements have been 37:32 marked by an extraordinary amount of communal prayer." Now, watch this. 37:39 Jonathan Edwards -- not arguably -- the number one homegrown American theologian 37:45 in the history of this continent. Jonathan Edwards wrote of the -- 37:50 Now here comes Edwards speaking. "Explicit agreement and visible union of God's people in 37:56 extraordinary prayer." I love those two words. "Extraordinary prayer for the 38:02 revival of religion. If you want a revival, you have to have extraordinary prayer." 38:06 Now, Keller goes on to comment. "Unions of believers for prayer." 38:11 Small groups, big groups, both large and small gatherings have an empowering effect. 38:18 The renewed growth of the church in the United States will not happen without it. 38:25 I'm telling you, it's nuclear. And it's necessary. Absolutely nuclear and 38:32 absolutely necessary. And do you know why it's absolutely necessary? 38:36 Because prayer is the one weapon the enemy of us all cannot stand up against. 38:43 Prove it to me, Dwight. Okay, I will. "Satan cannot endure to have 38:49 his powerful rival appealed to. For he fears and trembles before Christ's strength and 38:55 majesty." Now get this. "At the sound of fervent prayer, 39:00 Satan's whole host trembles." 39:05 We're in trouble now. We're in trouble now, they say. 39:11 The sound of fervent prayer, Satan's whole host trembles. Keep reading. 39:14 "And when angels, all-powerful, clothed with the armor --" Look at this. 39:19 "Clothed with the armory of heaven, come to the help of the fainting, pursued 39:24 soul --" By the way, that's just you against the whole army of Satan. 39:27 Just little me against the whole army is Satan. When that happens, angels, 39:32 clothed with the armory of heaven, come to the help of that fainting, pursued soul. 39:36 And when that happens, read this. Satan and his host fall back, 39:40 well knowing that their battle is going to take a lot longer than they thought at first. 39:45 Is that what it says? That this battle is going to turn their way eventually if 39:50 they just stay at it? Is that how it reads? How does it read? 39:53 That the battle is what? It is lost. It is lost. 39:59 There's no argument. There's no debate. It's over, out. 40:04 And they obey. My. Doesn't matter whether you're 40:09 young or not so young. You must engage this battle through prayer in the name of 40:15 Christ Jesus. Kneeling down in your dorm room. Your roommate there, your 40:20 roommate not there, it does not matter. You're in the dark. 40:23 You're kneeling down. And what are you doing? You're asking Jesus 40:26 to pour himself out upon you, to pour himself out upon your roommate, to pour himself out 40:31 on the guys across the hall, to pour himself out upon some friends in that other 40:38 dormitory. 40:41 In the dark, you're begging Him to send the powers away. 40:52 That's what I do when I go into my -- after running, when I go into my a little study. 41:00 No lights on. Sun isn't up, hasn't come up. I just get down and start 41:08 talking to God. And sometimes I use this phrase, and I'll repeat it over and over 41:12 again. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 41:17 Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Sometimes I'm thinking about 41:22 somebody. I might be thinking about you. I say, "Jesus, son of David, 41:27 have mercy on her." Jesus, son of David, have mercy on them. 41:34 Many times I prayed, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us here at Pioneer. 41:39 Have mercy on us here at Andrews University." Jesus, son of David. 41:46 Sometimes I change it up. I say, "Jesus, lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, 41:51 have mercy on me." Jesus, lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have 41:56 mercy on us. The point is, you don't need a class in how to pray. 42:03 You can just pray. He's listened to you. Shh. 42:08 Heaven is silent as you pray. 42:12 You've been waiting for that prayer, and all they need is your permission. 42:17 And in that prayer, you're crying out your permission. Deliver me now. Deliver me now. 42:25 I must have you. 42:29 That's it. Nuclear. The forces, the armies 42:36 of the enemy driven away. My, oh, my. 42:43 What was that line again? There will be no resurrection. Timothy Keller, yeah. 42:47 No resurrection without extraordinary prayer. I want to ask you a question. 42:51 Are you having extraordinary prayer, Mr. RA or Ms. RA? Are you having extraordinary 42:57 prayer in the place where you're in charge of? 43:00 Let me ask you, department chair, are you having 43:05 extraordinary prayer where you lead? 43:08 Let me ask you, teacher. 43:09 You've got a room full of students. Are you having extraordinary 43:11 prayer there? Do you open your class with prayer? 43:14 Do you end the class with prayer? Or you just say, 43:17 "I pray in my heart"? How are they going to know there's extraordinary prayer 43:20 for them if nobody's praying for them audibly? You're the voice. 43:26 It's your nuclear weapon. 43:31 How about a Sabbath school teacher? 43:34 Are you having extraordinary prayer? 43:37 Elders of this church, are you having extraordinary prayer 43:41 in this season of the battle? What are we doing? 43:46 Think this is just going to happen because we believe it 43:48 will happen? 43:49 It will not happen. It will not happen. What are you talking about, it? 43:54 Whatever you want. Revival. You put any name tag 43:57 on it you wish. It will not happen without extraordinary prayer. 44:01 I happen to agree with Timothy Keller. He's spot on. 44:05 Extraordinary prayer. And your Pathfinder club, extraordinary prayer. 44:09 Is that what we're getting? 44:13 The Academy, extraordinary prayer? The college? 44:18 Extraordinary prayer? You want revival. If we don't use our weapon, 44:25 how do we engage the battle? And how in the world and in God's name does Jesus win the 44:30 war if you won't use your weapon? True story. 44:37 There's a reporter that came out of World War II. He had Army rank as a 44:42 U.S. Army reporter. His name, Colonel Samuel Lyman Marshall. 44:46 He interviewed hundreds of soldiers in World War II and after World War II, and he came 44:51 up with a battle theory that changed military books -- unbelievable -- on warfare. 44:57 The book started to circulate. The generals were absolutely flabbergasted. 45:03 "This can't be true." But the book said it is true. And in fact, describing 45:09 the Battle of Normandy, Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944. The wave coming across 45:17 the English Channel that will eventually bring the war in Europe, 45:21 World War II, to an end. He describes in his book "Men Against Fire", that in the 45:26 Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach, only one out of five soldiers fired their guns. 45:34 One out of five. Where were the other 4/5? As I say, the generals were 45:40 absolutely appalled. He died in 1977. The book changed a military 45:46 strategy. But after he died, somebody said, "Something's not right 45:49 here." They went back and examined it and found out that he had made 45:53 it up. He had taken one battle, the battle of Makin. 46:00 And from the figures in that battle, he extrapolated this will be true for all battles. 46:06 And it was wrong. Kind of silly, isn't it? I mean, the idea that people 46:11 would go into war and not use a weapon given to them. That is so silly. 46:17 But then how many of us struggle through every day? How many of us struggle 46:20 through the long, dark nights without any meaningful engagement of the battle, 46:24 without even taking the weapon upon our lips? Well, you're crazy. 46:30 Why would you wake up in the morning knowing you're in a war? You've been born into this war. 46:34 Why wouldn't you use that weapon immediately? The hosts will flee! 46:41 Yeah, it is kind of silly to have nuclear power at the tip of your lip 46:49 and not exercising it. Wow. You want a revival around here? 46:56 You want to see the windows of heaven opened up so wide that we won't have room enough to 47:00 receive it? Then start using, start using your prayer power. 47:05 Fire those prayers to Jesus. Just fire them. He'll handle it from there. 47:10 Give him reason. Give him permission to intervene in your life. 47:16 And let him, let him do his work in our midst. Jesus, son of David, 47:24 have mercy on me. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on us. 47:32 Please. Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, 47:39 have mercy on us. I'm gonna invite you guys to come forward. 47:45 I'm calling an audible right now. I want you to come forward. 47:47 Hope Wallace is nearby. Just come forward. I want to sing "Just As I Am." 47:53 That was a beautiful song that you let us sort of surprise you. 47:59 Thanks for doing it. 48:02 You know what I want to do? I'm going to give an altar call right now. 48:06 Don't worry about the guys. They'll be here in time. I'm going to have an altar call 48:10 right now. If it occurs to you that this entrusted gift of prayer has 48:19 kind of sat on the shelf of your life and the shelf of your heart and you'd like to give 48:28 that entrusted gift, fresh power in your life and in the lives of those that you lead, 48:37 the lives of those that you play with, you live with. 48:47 These guys are going to sing "Just As I Am" without one plea. I'm going to invite you to come 48:54 forward. Okay, hold on. I'm gonna invite you to come 48:57 forward, and by coming forward, and by coming forward, you're saying -- because I'll come 49:01 forward with you. And this is not a call for everybody to come forward. 49:05 But I know I need to use that power, that nuclear power, more than I do. 49:12 So why not today, just say, "Hey, come on before we go home and have dinner, let's make a 49:16 decision." 49:19 Let's rededicate ourselves. So that's the invitation. Now, if there's somebody here 49:25 who has never come to Jesus, never publicly said, "Yeah, I want Jesus." 49:29 "I want him to take charge of my life." I want to invite you to come. 49:33 From the back of the balcony to the front of this church. Doesn't matter where you're 49:36 sitting right now, you're watching online, you can make the decision, but I want you to 49:40 do the walk. The walk will be important for you. 49:45 Some of you here have not been baptized, and I don't know. You're saying, "Well, you know, 49:49 I've just been putting it off and I'm not ready yet." Why not make a decision today? 49:55 Don't go into this battle without the power that your saviour has for you. 50:01 So I'm gonna invite you to come forward, as well. It's a beautiful song. 50:04 We just sang it a moment ago. You've never come to Jesus. You need him to be baptized. 50:09 You won't be baptized today. We'll just work with you. Take the time you need. 50:15 And you'd like to activate this gift of prayer, this nuclear gift, against the 50:22 forces. I'm gonna invite you to stand up, step on everybody's toes, 50:28 and come here to the front. And I want to pray with you. I'll be down here to meet you. 50:34 I'm not going to have everybody stand because it's hard. It's hard to step over you and 50:40 around you. So just stay seated. Close your eyes. 50:43 Let me have a prayer, and then we'll go. Okay, let me have the prayer, 50:45 and then you guys lead us. Jesus, please. 50:51 You've given us everything we need in that gift of yourself, at Calvary. 50:57 As the fellas sang just a moment ago, the blood. Now the gift of prayer 51:03 to access Calvary's nuclear power. Grant that to us. 51:10 Privately, collectively, just grant it to us. As we sing this beautiful 51:19 little hymn, "Just As I Am." 51:24 ♪♪ >> Second verse. 53:15 >> Fifth verse. 54:11 >> So, dear God, we come. We come to you. You're everything we ever 54:21 needed. You're everything we truly desire. 54:28 And we must have you, Jesus. We come just as we are. We didn't do some quick change 54:38 artistry to make us look different or the same. It was when we started walking 54:45 forward. But you want us just as we are. You won't leave us just as we 54:51 are. And that'll be your work, Holy Spirit. 54:56 For the nuclear power of prayer to bring what our hearts have always wished and longed for, 55:03 prayed for even. Every man standing in front of you. 55:08 Every woman standing in front of you right now. You know. 55:14 Put your strong nail-scarred arms around them. Hold him close. 55:21 Hold her close. And we'll go with you. Wherever you lead us, 55:26 we will go with you. 55:30 And would you mind shining out of our hearts to the people back at home 55:35 that we'll see in a few minutes? Would you mind just kind of reflecting out of our speech? 55:42 I don't know. Just do what you do. Pass it on, Jesus. 55:49 Pass it on, Holy Spirit. Just as we are, we've come. And just as it is with you now, 55:56 we leave with you with quiet confidence and blessed hope. In the name of Jesus, let all 56:06 the people say amen. And amen. God bless those of you 56:11 who came forward. If you made a decision when you were coming forward about 56:15 baptism or I want to come back to Jesus, just let one of us know, will you? 56:20 You can go to the connect card. 281-2345. 56:24 One, two, three, four, five. 56:25 Go to the connect card 269, and indicate there, "Hey, 56:28 Dwight, this is what I was coming forward for." 56:31 I'll get all of that. Coming forward for baptism, there will be a box you can 56:34 check. I'll get it. Just check it. It'll be sent to me, and we'll 56:38 be in touch with you electronically. All right, God to go with you. 56:43 The best is yet to come. 56:47 >> Before you go, let me take an extra moment to share with you 56:50 an opportunity to get into the Bible in a fresh, new way. 56:54 All across this planet, more and more people are hearing 56:56 the call to examine scriptures for themselves. 56:59 If you felt drawn to learn more about God's word, but you don't know where to 57:02 start, or you're just looking for a more in-depth examination of Bible truths, then I have 57:07 something right here that I believe you're going to enjoy. I want to send you a series 57:11 of guides to get you started. This one's entitled -- you see it right here -- "Why Does God 57:15 Allow Suffering?" Each guide begins with a story, an introduction of the subject. 57:20 Then, through a series of focused questions, 57:23 you'll be learning portions of the Bible you may never have 57:25 known before. And when you're through, 57:27 you'll be able to share with others some of these 57:30 inspiring scriptural truths for yourself. 57:32 Just call our toll free number. It's on the screen right now. 57:35 877 -- You see it there. 877 and then the two words 57:39 "His will." Friendly operators are standing 57:42 by to send these study guides to you. 57:44 So once again, that's 877-HIS-WILL. 57:47 Call that number. And then again, join me 57:51 right here next week at this same time. 57:59 ♪♪ 58:08 ♪♪ 58:18 ♪♪ |
Revised 2023-03-07