3ABN On the Road

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Mike Ryan

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000960


01:00 Good morning ASI family, good morning.
01:04 This is a special privilege for me to
01:08 introduce to you the speaker of our worship
01:11 service Elder Michael Ryan.
01:17 Elder Ryan currently serves as General Vice
01:22 President of the General Conference, Director of
01:26 Strategic Planning for the World Church
01:30 and he also Chairs the GC Missions Committee.
01:38 Elder Ryan is uniquely qualified to deliver
01:44 God's message to us today.
01:47 Having served 16 years in Overseas Mission
01:51 Service with his wife Genie and 15 years as
01:56 Director of Global Missions.
02:02 For ASI Dr. Ryan has been a true loyal supporter,
02:13 his passion and focus from the first time I met
02:17 him has always been on how better to share
02:22 Christ to the masses of the world.
02:28 He has been an invaluable resource and
02:30 friend to many others in ASI leadership when ask.
02:38 Mike and Genie are the parents of two grown
02:42 daughters, two son-in-laws and one granddaughter.
02:48 Elder Ryan, on behalf of our ASI family both
02:53 here, those watching on television and perhaps
02:56 online I welcome you this morning to the
03:00 pulpit for our service, thank you.
03:16 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:20 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:24 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:29 The time is drawing nigh.
03:33 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:37 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:40 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
03:45 The time is drawing nigh.
03:49 Children, don't get weary,
03:53 Children, don't get weary,
03:57 Children, don't get weary,
04:01 'Til your work is done.
04:06 Children, don't get weary,
04:10 Children, don't get weary,
04:14 Children, don't get weary,
04:18 'Til your work is done.
04:22 Christian journey soon be over
04:26 Christian journey soon be over
04:31 Christian journey soon be over
04:35 Christian journey soon be over
04:39 Christian journey soon be over
04:44 The time is drawing nigh.
04:47 Christian journey soon be over
04:51 Christian journey soon be over
04:55 Christian journey soon be over
05:00 The time is drawing nigh.
05:03 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
05:07 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
05:11 Keep your lamps trimmed and burning,
05:18 The time is drawing nigh.
05:43 Thank you for that special number,
05:45 actually my favorite part of ASI is the part
05:50 of the program where the children
05:51 come up and perform.
05:52 Do you like that? Yes.
05:54 I was speaking at a camp meeting recently
05:58 and a little boy came flying down the Isle and
06:02 threw his angel wings at his mother and he says
06:04 I am not wearing those on the platform.
06:08 And then I thought well that's interesting,
06:10 so then I watched him disappear and about two
06:14 seconds later he came flying around the corner
06:17 and ran back and grabbed those wings
06:21 and he said I am wearing them.
06:23 He says all the rest of kids have them.
06:27 You need to understand that kids have the right
06:29 to change their mind. I heard about the teacher
06:34 who asked the class did you go on summer
06:38 vacation and little Johnny said yeah,
06:42 he said we went to Minneapolis,
06:43 Minnesota and she said that's wonderful.
06:46 Can you spell that, he thought about that for
06:49 second, he said, come to think of it,
06:50 he said I think we went to Iowa.
06:55 The church needs young people who have
07:01 the right to change their mind.
07:06 This morning I wanna take just a thoughtful
07:09 few minutes to consider the evidence of the
07:13 world versus the evidence of the word. Lets pray.
07:24 Our Father in heaven we have come to your
07:28 sanctuary today to receive a blessing
07:34 and we are confident that we will.
07:37 Because we've invited your Holy Spirit to be
07:40 here today, in our hearts, in our minds and
07:45 give us that which we need.
07:48 In Christ name we pray amen.
07:53 I was traveling in northern India,
07:57 visiting a number of new churches that had
07:58 been established and we came to this little
08:01 village and they actually hadn't built a church yet.
08:05 And so we were worshiping in the Head
08:06 Elders house and as we came in I noticed that
08:10 the place was packed. The entire living room,
08:13 the bedroom, kitchen, people outside the doors
08:17 looking in the windows and it was just stuffed.
08:21 So we kind of worshiped and saying
08:23 and prayed and spoke together and finally as
08:26 the worship came to an end I asked the Head
08:28 Elder, how did the church become
08:32 established in this village.
08:34 He looked at me and said oh! I was hoping
08:36 that you would ask me that.
08:38 And then he told me, he said you know one day
08:40 he said I got up and he said my son was sick
08:45 and the next day my son grew just a little bit
08:49 worse and the next day he was worse,
08:51 and the next day he was worse and after a
08:52 couple of weeks he couldn't even get out of bed.
08:55 He said one day my uncle came to me
08:59 and he said what all have you done,
09:01 he said well he said we have taken him to the
09:03 doctor, to the hospital, to the specialist.
09:05 As a matter of fact its gotten to the point
09:07 where we called in the, the healer and he came
09:11 but there absolutely is nothing
09:13 that's been affective. We have tried if all the
09:15 evidence says that its impossible,
09:19 then the uncle kind of smiled at him and he
09:21 said well you know he said there is a young
09:24 man who has come to our village and he said,
09:29 he claims to be a worshiper and to know
09:35 the creator of the world. And he said there have
09:38 been people in our village who had not
09:41 only been blessed spiritually but they
09:43 have been blessed physically.
09:45 He said I think you have to bring your son,
09:46 he said oh no I can't bring my son, he is too sick.
09:54 The uncle said I think you should come,
09:56 he will pray for your son. And so they agreed
10:00 upon a time and on that time that young man
10:02 said I got my bicycle he said, I rode through the
10:05 village I went out that dirt road I went on the
10:07 asphalt road several kilometers and I came
10:09 to the village of my uncle. He says I came into that
10:11 village, he says and there I met this young man.
10:14 He invited me and he says well he said I only
10:16 know one thing to do, he says and that's to
10:18 pray to the creator of the world.
10:20 He said we got down on our knees, so I thought
10:21 well you know he might pray for five or 10 minutes.
10:24 He said but he prayed for 10 minutes, 15, 20,
10:26 25 minutes, he said after about 30 minutes
10:29 of praying specifically for my son.
10:33 He said, okay we can stand up now,
10:35 he said I believe you should go home.
10:38 He said I am just impressed that the Lord
10:40 has answered our prayer and your little boy is
10:42 going to be standing on the front porch to meet you.
10:45 He said you can't imagine, he said the
10:48 hope that began to fill my heart, he said my
10:51 uncle and I we ran off that porch,
10:53 we jumped on our bicycles and we began
10:55 to ride down that asphalt road.
10:57 He said I was quite a bit younger than my uncle,
10:59 he said I out rode him, he said I got to the dirt
11:02 road I made the turn. He said we were,
11:04 we were going as fast as we could.
11:06 He said I came through the village, came
11:08 around the spirit tree and he said when
11:11 I came around that tree passed the corner of the
11:13 barn, he said I stopped the bicycle.
11:16 He says because on the front porch was my son.
11:22 He said after that he says
11:23 the spirit tree was cut down,
11:27 he said and we began to study about
11:29 the God and the creator of the world.
11:33 And then he looked at me and he smiled
11:34 and he said I want you to remember this.
11:37 He said never the less always trust him,
11:42 never the less, always trust him.
11:44 There's an interesting story if you will open
11:45 your Bibles found in Luke the 5 chapter
11:48 and I want to just run through this just a little
11:50 bit not read every detail of it.
11:52 It's a story that's familiar to us.
11:54 It starts in verse 1 and basically the first few
11:58 verses they all say that Jesus was preaching
12:02 and he stepped out on the boat of Simon Peter
12:06 and he said Peter would you mind pushing
12:07 the boat out a little bit. And those first few
12:13 verses they indicate that really there is no record
12:17 of what Jesus was preaching about.
12:20 All it says in those first few verses is that Jesus
12:23 came to an end of his preaching.
12:25 He was preaching about the gospel.
12:29 He was preaching about hope,
12:32 and he came to an end of his preaching
12:35 and then it records that Jesus said to Peter,
12:38 Peter, push your boats out into the deep
12:44 and let your nets down for a catch.
12:49 Now it doesn't really record everything
12:53 probably that Peter was thinking.
12:57 Because I am sure that as Christ said that,
12:59 that suggestion fell on the ears of many people.
13:03 And I can just imagine being a companion of
13:05 Peter and working on the nets, cleaning them
13:08 and then all of a sudden I hear this hey take the
13:10 nets back in, dump them in the
13:12 water again and for a catch.
13:17 And I'm sure there is quite a few people that
13:18 probably were thinking you got to be kidding.
13:22 It doesn't really record what Peter exactly was
13:28 thinking but there is an indication of what he
13:31 was thinking in verse 5. Because we look at
13:34 verse 5 Peter said he looked at Jesus and
13:37 Peter said, Lord we have been fishing all
13:42 night and we have caught how much zero.
13:49 We haven't caught anything,
13:52 I'm sure he was thinking look,
13:53 why don't I stick with the fishing,
13:55 you stick with the preaching.
13:56 He said because you don't catch fish in the
13:58 day time you catch fish at night.
14:04 But there is that little word,
14:08 that little word that comes in there that
14:10 I love in the King James version because it says
14:14 Peter said never the less.
14:19 Because you have asked me we will go out and
14:23 cast our nets into the deep, never the less and
14:27 of course we know the rest of the story they pushed
14:29 the boats out they cast their nets into deep.
14:31 They caught so many fish that when they
14:32 began to pull them in the nets the nets tore,
14:35 they put them in two boats. He called his partners
14:37 the boats began to sink, but you know it doesn't
14:41 indicate that Peter was part of that action
14:42 because it said that Peter was found at the
14:44 feet of Jesus and he was there he said Lord,
14:47 I am a sinful man and you know that was the
14:50 time that Jesus said look come with me
14:55 I will make you fishes of men,
14:59 never the less I believe with all of my heart
15:03 that now as never before in the history of
15:06 our church we need a never the less generation.
15:13 This morning I would like to speak with you
15:14 about three aspects of the Christian journey.
15:18 God calling his people to a never
15:21 the less experience. The first aspect that
15:24 I wanna talk to you about is that never the
15:28 less to believe that the gospel, the hope of the
15:32 gospel includes you and it includes me.
15:36 Number two, I would like to talk to you about
15:38 the fact that we need to live and believe God's
15:42 word the Bible. And number three,
15:46 I would like to talk with you about never the less
15:50 regardless of the evidence of mission.
15:53 He's calling us to be his witness.
15:57 Lets take a look at the first item, you know
16:00 not too long ago I was looking at some
16:02 information that was generated from a
16:05 research project conducted at Andrews University,
16:08 it was a world survey and there was pieces of
16:11 that information that caused me a little
16:13 concern, one area that caused me a little
16:16 concerned as I looked at that it said I discovered
16:19 that there was a large percentage
16:21 of Seventh-day Adventist around the world.
16:24 That I was comfortable with, that indicated that
16:28 they were not confident of their salvation.
16:32 He said I am not, I am not, I don't have the
16:34 assurance of my salvation, that I have no
16:38 idea who is in the audience today.
16:41 There maybe some here today who said well,
16:43 I am not real confident. Pastor, you don't know
16:46 my background, I want to review just a little bit
16:49 if I can the character and personality of God.
16:52 I wanna call those of you that have the
16:54 question today to a never the less
16:56 experience to say because he said I trust him.
17:00 First look at some text, open your Bibles to
17:02 Isaiah, the first chapter and verse 18.
17:04 What is they say, it says come on lets be
17:07 reasonable, lets talk together.
17:09 I don't care if your sins are like scarlet,
17:12 I will cleanse them and I will give you
17:14 righteousness and I will clean them up.
17:18 When you look at Romans the 8th chapter
17:21 and you start reading in verse 35 and to the end
17:24 of the chapter there, Paul begins a
17:27 description of my relationship with Jesus.
17:31 He indicates that there's not anything that can
17:33 separate us from Jesus love, nothing.
17:36 Find it in there, he goes through a description,
17:39 height, depth, principalities of
17:41 darkness, this and that, tragedies;
17:43 nothing can separate you from God's love
17:46 that's what it says. I also like the text in
17:52 Ezekiel the 18th chapter starting in verse 20,
17:57 it indicates that every man woman
18:00 will die for their sins. You won't die for your
18:02 son's sins or he for yours, but you're gonna
18:04 die for your own. But when you look
18:06 at verse 21 it says that if you will accept my plan
18:11 that you will live according to what
18:13 I have asked you to do, I will forgive those sins
18:18 and I will give you life and not death.
18:22 And then the news gets even better in verse 22
18:24 because it indicates there that if you will
18:27 take that life that Jesus will not
18:30 recall those sins anymore.
18:33 Is that good news, now these aren't my words
18:36 they happen to be what the Bible says.
18:39 Most popular text in the world John 3:16,
18:41 For God so loved the world that he gave his
18:43 only begotten Son that what,
18:45 whoever believes in him they are not going
18:47 to perish but they are going to have eternal life.
18:50 I also like the description that John
18:53 the Revelator gives, you look at chapter 6 of the
18:56 book of Revelation and there is a description
18:59 there of the opening of the 6th seal.
19:02 Now I don't plan to get into the opening of the
19:04 seals today but it really is a descrition of the
19:07 world at the end of time. Great tragedies are
19:11 happening all over the place
19:12 things are in turmoil, the leaders of the
19:15 world are living in fear, they're asking that the
19:17 mountains fall on them. Matter of fact in verse
19:20 17 it says who then shall be able to stand,
19:25 well I'm happy that John doesn't leave us
19:26 hanging in the air because as you come
19:30 down in chapter 7 you find that John is in
19:34 vision and he's standing around the throne of God.
19:41 And there's an Elder that comes up to John
19:43 and the Elder says who are these people that are
19:46 dressed in white robes and John said well,
19:49 I don't really know you know the answer to that
19:51 better than I do, why don't you tell me.
19:54 And then the Elder says to John,
19:56 John these are the people who came
20:00 through that great tribulation, we just read
20:02 about in chapter 6, the end of the world.
20:05 And he said they're standing here today for
20:07 one reason, they are standing here because
20:11 they took their dirty, filthy rags and they
20:14 washed them in the blood of the lamb
20:16 and Jesus gave them life and not death,
20:20 that's why they're here.
20:24 You know regardless of the evidence we need to
20:29 say never the less I'll trust him.
20:32 I've had people come to me and they will say
20:34 but Pastor you don't know my background,
20:36 while if you just know the things that I've
20:38 done, if you have any idea what I've been into
20:42 you wouldn't be up preaching like this.
20:44 Friends, this is not my words, we need
20:47 generation in the church that accepts the fact
20:49 that Jesus has paid the sacrifice.
20:53 He has paid the sacrifice and if you
20:55 happen to be one of those here seated
20:58 that have that little doubt I challenge you to
21:01 have a never the less experience.
21:03 I want to come to item number two.
21:09 I want to talk about living by the Bible.
21:16 How then shall I live, how am I going to live,
21:23 you can be assured that for every truth there is
21:25 in the Bible that the devil has a deception.
21:28 There is another way, he will make sure that
21:30 there is evidence that leads you another way
21:32 or there is no evidence for what
21:34 God want you to do. You know I can't help it
21:36 turn to the Book of Hebrews in chapter 11
21:39 and just review some names very quickly
21:42 with you, you can flip over in your
21:44 Bible to Hebrews 11, Noah
21:51 thought it had never rained, never the less.
21:56 He spent a 120 years preaching
21:59 and building an ark. Abraham promised
22:04 to be the father of a great nation, never the
22:08 less he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac.
22:11 Joseph though he was the second citizen of
22:15 Egypt and surrounded by the power and the
22:18 glory and the wealth never the less he gave
22:23 instructions to his family, he said when
22:25 I die take my bones with you,
22:29 I am going with God's plan.
22:31 I think of Moses who the heir to the throne of
22:35 Egypt, again everything that the earth could
22:39 offer was his. Never the less he refused
22:43 to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
22:48 I think also of the Israelites they had never
22:51 seen a sea open up but never the less when it
22:56 opened up they walked through
22:57 those columns of water. The Israelites had never
23:01 seen a wall tumble down when people
23:04 shouted but never the less they circled that
23:08 city seven times, they blew the trumpets and
23:11 they shouted and the wall came down.
23:14 I think of Elijah in the midst of no evidence
23:20 that there was going to be a drought never the
23:23 less he told the King it's not going to rain.
23:26 And then a few years later in the evidence
23:30 that there was no rain coming he stood before
23:33 the King and said, never the less it's gonna rain.
23:37 People who prayed were to be fed to the
23:41 lions, never the less Daniel he prayed three
23:46 time a day, turn in you Bibles with me if you
23:50 will to the 2 book of Timothy, I want us to
23:55 look at chapter 3 and verses 1 to 5.
23:58 Just to kind of scan through that.
24:01 Its interesting as this passage begins that Paul
24:04 says this passage refers to the end of time,
24:08 that's what it says, look at it, read it,
24:10 at the end of time. I like to believe that we
24:13 are living at that time right now.
24:15 At the end of time and then Paul begins to
24:19 describe what will be considered to be
24:23 ordinary living and I think we've all read
24:26 this passage. He begins to say that at the
24:29 end of time is gonna be perilous times,
24:31 people are gonna love themselves,
24:33 they gonna be covetous, boasters, proud,
24:34 blasphemers, disobedient, without natural affection,
24:37 you can go on down through the list there.
24:39 Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God
24:44 and you can read the list of the description that
24:47 Paul says this is going to be ordinary living.
24:50 Its how people are going to say that you
24:52 have to behave. Its going to be the
24:54 thing that you have to do. You know its interesting,
25:00 we live in a world that wants it both ways.
25:05 They want to enjoy the wisdom of the world
25:09 and yet they want to be found as people who
25:11 have a reputation of being people of the word.
25:14 They want to have it on both sides.
25:16 I am reminded of a little boy whose behavior had
25:18 become such that the teacher had to ask him
25:21 Johnny, what's the definition of a lie.
25:24 Johnny said well, he said a lie is an
25:27 abomination on to the Lord and a
25:28 very present help in time of trouble.
25:33 We want to have it both ways,
25:36 we want to have it both ways.
25:38 Recently I got a new Webster's dictionary
25:42 and as I was kind of looking up some words
25:44 I suddenly came across the word in run, in run.
25:50 Now when I said that word I saw a number of
25:52 you go yeah you shook your head and I was
25:54 expecting to read a definition and said a
25:56 company that went bankrupt.
25:57 But you know that's not the definition they gave,
25:59 they used it as a synonym for dishonesty.
26:03 A lack of integrity, in the dictionary
26:06 that has become ordinary behavior.
26:10 You know what interesting as you come
26:11 down to the end of that passage
26:12 2 Timothy verses 1 to 5, Paul in one translation
26:17 says but never the less, from such stay away.
26:23 That's not what God is calling us to, that's not
26:26 the lifestyle that he is calling us to.
26:29 You know the Bible it warns us of those who
26:33 would so embrace the idol of their own thinking.
26:39 Their own supposed knowledge that they
26:42 cast aside the treasures of God's word and they
26:47 take on the wisdom of the world.
26:51 In the world today there is a great debate on
26:53 origins and creation. You know Richard
26:57 Dawkins can write his book entitle The God
27:01 Delusion, Christopher Hitchens can write his
27:04 book God Is Not Great, Jerry Coyne,
27:11 Why Evolution Is True, Sean Carroll,
27:16 The Making of the Fittest, and they can fill
27:20 their books with the theories
27:23 of radio metric dating. Stacked sequence,
27:29 heat dissipation, plate tectonics and they
27:33 can describe those theories in the statistical
27:37 language of being significant at the 0.05
27:40 level, T scores and canonical correlation
27:43 and two way analysis of variants,
27:45 but never the less the world was created in six
27:50 literal contiguous days, amen.
27:54 God's word he's calling us to a never the less
27:57 experience, take it, read it,
28:01 place it in your hearts.
28:05 I want to talk to you about the third area,
28:12 God has called us regardless of the
28:16 evidence of mission to be his witnesses.
28:24 I've had opportunity to be part of a lot of
28:28 discussions regarding church growth.
28:30 And I've had people come up to me and say
28:31 well I really don't have any talents, I don't have
28:34 any wisdom, I don't have any gifts in this
28:38 area, God hasn't blessed me what can I possibly do.
28:40 Do yo know our neighbors, do you know the kind
28:44 of environment I live in, its impossible.
28:48 All the evidence that's collected says
28:50 you can't do this. You know this morning
28:52 I am happy to be a member of a church
28:55 that have had pioneers to this movement they
28:57 have had a never the less experience.
29:01 They have set that example for us,
29:03 can you imagine those early pioneers just a
29:05 few of them studying the Bible.
29:07 You know William Miller going through
29:09 the truce and Ellen and James White and those
29:11 those early pioneers and as they study this
29:14 and wow we have got to proclaim
29:16 this to other people. Can you imagine as
29:18 they looked out into the nearest town,
29:21 the nearest city, the state, the united,
29:24 what were they thinking? I recall some of those
29:27 stories Joseph Bates, this is at an early time
29:32 he was developing a little pamphlet on the Sabbath.
29:36 It was at a time when really he had some
29:39 questions about Ellen White being a prophet
29:42 and Ellen White had some questions about
29:44 his theory on the Sabbath. That's how early I am
29:47 talking about, and as he was working on his
29:49 little tract his wife came into him and she says
29:52 dear we don't have any flower.
29:54 Could you buy some, oh! Sure I will be glad to.
29:56 He went down to the store reached in his
29:58 pocket pulled out a little coin and it was the only
30:01 one he had and the guy said well that will buy
30:03 five pounds of flower. He got that took it home
30:06 and when he handed it to his wife, she looked
30:07 at it and she burst into tears and she said,
30:11 is this what we have come to.
30:15 You were a sea captain that sailed the world,
30:17 when you brought home flowers it was by the
30:19 barrel full and she left the room.
30:23 As she continued working on that little
30:24 track he was impressed to go
30:26 down to the post office. Got up went down
30:29 there, postmaster said sure enough you have a
30:31 letter but you own me five cents postage.
30:35 Well I don't have five cents, well I know you
30:39 I'll trust you, no, no, he said you open it up as
30:43 I am impressed that there is money there.
30:45 That postmaster opened up the letter and it was
30:47 the $10 bill with a note it said I am impressed
30:49 that you have sacrificed all for the gospel
30:52 and you need this money. Well Joseph Bates went
30:57 down to the grocery store and he brought a
31:01 wagon load of grocers. Don't try that with $10 now,
31:07 and he said deliver to this address and
31:09 when you get there he said there will be a lady
31:11 who says you have the wrong address.
31:13 He snuck in the back door and continued to
31:15 work on his track and sure enough after a
31:18 short time his wife came blowing into the
31:20 room and she said there is someone
31:22 delivering groceries, I told them they have
31:24 that wrong address. I don't exactly what
31:28 happened, but I can only imagine that there
31:31 he stood up, he embraced his wife and
31:34 they had a never the less experience.
31:42 I have also been in the archives of General
31:44 Conference, had the privilege of reading
31:46 letters from those early converts that were up in
31:50 the North Eastern part of the United States
31:52 and they spread out across America.
31:54 They wrote letters to Ellen and James White,
31:56 come to Iowa, come to Montana to Oregon to
31:59 California to Oklahoma, Kansas.
32:02 We have started a group of believers here,
32:05 help us organize the church.
32:08 I think of the comment that Ellen White made,
32:12 she says this work will go forward but its
32:14 gonna go forward in the spirit of sacrifice.
32:18 In the spirit of sacrifice, the Three Angels
32:21 message Revelation 14, that message spread
32:24 across America. About the 1880s
32:29 it came to the attention of our church leaders
32:32 that Matthew 28 didn't say go to the United
32:36 States, but it said go to the whole world.
32:40 Take this message to everybody,
32:42 every kindred, nation, tongue, any culture,
32:44 you can take it every where.
32:47 When you look at that generation there was a
32:49 generation that provided us with an
32:50 example of an never the less experience.
32:52 It echoes down through time and it calls us today.
32:57 I think of people like Abraham Luria,
33:00 he was a shepherd and a woodcutter that lived
33:03 in Sacramento or San Francisco.
33:06 He came so do some evangelism meanings
33:09 and there he night by night gave his heart to
33:11 the Lord Jesus Christ and he became
33:13 convinced that Jesus was coming again.
33:16 He was coming soon and so then after he was
33:18 baptized, he wrote a letter to the General
33:20 Conference which I have held that a letter
33:21 a copy of it in my hand. And he said, send me as
33:26 a missionary to Asia, he said its come to my
33:29 attention that there is not anyone in Asia that
33:31 knows this message, send me.
33:33 I also read a letter that came back from the
33:35 General Conference and basically
33:37 it said two things. One, you are too old
33:41 and number two, we don't have any money
33:44 and that's a common message from the
33:45 General Conference. We don't have any
33:49 money, did that stop Abraham Luria,
33:52 it didn't stop Abraham Luria,
33:53 he sold all the things he had, he went down by
33:55 his own tickets. He got on a boat he
33:57 sailed to Manila, Singapore, Bangkok
33:58 settled in Hong Kong there he printed his own
34:01 literature, he developed Bible study guides,
34:02 he worked year after year and pretty soon he
34:05 wrote a letter to the General Conference he
34:06 said send a missionary, because even though
34:09 the evidence said I couldn't go and the
34:12 evidence said it was impossible never the
34:14 less God's provided a harvest, amen.
34:19 Today if we were worshiping in Hong Kong
34:22 instead of here, I can take you out to a lonely
34:24 hill side and show you the grave of Abraham Luria,
34:28 he never came home. He lies there in that port
34:31 city on the edge of that great nation of China
34:36 where just about 15 years ago we had 18000
34:38 active members. Today nearly 400,000
34:42 and in Asia more than two million
34:45 Seventh-day Adventist. Would Abraham Luria
34:47 say the sacrifice was worth it never the less,
34:51 would you say that. I also think of that
34:54 farmer in the state of Kansas, his name was
34:56 George Ripple. The pastor came by
34:59 to visit him and they prayed together,
35:03 then George said you know the Lord placed
35:05 a burden on my heart. He said there is no,
35:08 no members no one that knows the Three Angels
35:11 message on the continent of South America.
35:14 I think the Lord wants me to do this,
35:16 they separated the Pastor went to pastor
35:18 his other 16 churches and they never met again.
35:23 Because George Ripple sold everything,
35:24 took his family to New Orleans, they bought
35:26 tickets on a boat and they went to Buenos
35:28 Aires, Argentina. And in 1894 when he
35:30 put his foot on the continent he was one
35:32 Seventh-day Adventist for 35 million people.
35:36 All the evidence said is not possible how can
35:38 you do this, you're just one person.
35:40 Not long ago I was at River Platt College
35:43 and I asked him take me up to that little church,
35:45 I wanna see it. We drove up there
35:48 I got out, went into the church, is not big
35:52 stepped out of the church went over to the
35:53 cemetery and walked down the road and there
35:56 I stood at the foot of the grave of George Ripple.
36:01 I realized that George Ripple and his wife
36:03 they never went home. They gave their life that
36:05 this message might be known on the continent.
36:09 South America as I stood through that day
36:11 I couldn't help but wonder what it would
36:13 be like George Ripple could be alive today,
36:16 what would be it like. I like to take him to the
36:19 city of St. Paul and stand on the hill and
36:21 there to realize that there are more than
36:23 1000 Seventh-day Adventist churches in that city.
36:26 To realize that there is 1.3 million members in
36:28 Brazil, to realize that there is
36:29 800,000 members in Peru.
36:34 To make that realization would you say that the
36:36 sacrifices worth it, somewhere he had a
36:38 never the less experience. He and his wife they lie
36:42 in a grave in South America in Argentina
36:44 they are waiting for Jesus to come and its
36:46 not gonna be long and we're gonna meet Him.
36:48 Was it worth it never the less, I also stood at
36:52 that cemetery the north east portion of it at
36:55 Solusi college and I have stood there at the
36:58 graves of the early pioneers and I recalled
37:01 how they sold everything they had in
37:03 the North Eastern part of the United States.
37:05 They took boats to South Africa, now they
37:07 brought covered wagons and oxen.
37:10 And they traveled many miles across
37:12 South Africa into Zimbabwe,
37:14 City of Bulawayo went 20 miles east of the city
37:16 and there they established Solusi
37:17 Training Institute. And as I stood there that
37:20 day I couldn't help over to be like how exciting
37:23 if they were alive. What would they say
37:25 if they realize that there are 5 million members
37:28 on the continent, about nearly 6 million on the
37:30 continent of Africa. Graduate schools and
37:33 churches, hospitals, would they say the
37:38 sacrifice was worth it, never the less,
37:44 never the less. I believe that God's calling
37:48 a generation to never the less experience.
37:52 I know that you know there are people her
37:54 from all over, probably the world and I had
37:58 people come to me and say I don't know.
38:00 You know its really difficult
38:03 in our neighborhood, its really difficult in this
38:05 particular area. In the last six months
38:09 I have been on a little itinerary in planning
38:12 sessions for certain countries in which we
38:15 do not have Seventh-day Adventist.
38:18 I am not going to name those countries on
38:20 television, it doesn't do our members any good
38:23 over there, but I think most of you know
38:26 where they're at. And its very easy to
38:29 come out there and to meet people who go,
38:31 oh that's impossible all the evidence says,
38:33 you can't do this. Don't you know we
38:34 been trying to do something here for 100
38:36 years, never the less, lets put a plan together.
38:41 You know we have talked about 15 years
38:42 ago going to the 10/40 Window and we were
38:48 going to place an emphasis there is a
38:49 church I want to give you just a little report
38:51 on that, just very, very brief.
38:55 We had nine percent of our
38:56 membership in that window.
39:00 In 1990, in the past 15 years the membership
39:04 inside that window has grown 240 percent
39:08 while the membership in the rest of the world
39:10 has grown 87 percent. And so I am just telling
39:14 you that God is performing miracles
39:18 when we place ourselves into spirit of sacrifice.
39:22 Incidentally I want to thank you,
39:26 I want to thank ASI for playing a role in
39:30 making a lot of that happen.
39:32 Thank you, I want to thank you as Seventh-
39:34 day Adventist church members for your
39:36 faithfulness and ties and mission offerings.
39:39 Some of you say well is that really make a
39:40 difference, I wanna tell you it makes a huge
39:42 difference because in that spirit of sacrifice
39:46 God performs miracles. And today I can tell you
39:50 of thousands of thousands of new
39:52 congregations that are worshiping
39:53 in the 10/40 Window. Among them the
39:55 Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhist,
39:56 the animist, the communist and there
39:59 they are for the first time somebody a little
40:01 worker or a layman has gone there and they
40:04 have written history in heaven because they
40:06 had a never the less experience.
40:09 You want to be part of that, you want to be part
40:11 of that, I wanna call you to that this morning.
40:16 A new generation to have a never
40:18 the less experience. Let me conclude
40:22 by just tell you little story,
40:24 I was in Northern Mexico and we had
40:28 gone there because we wanted to visit 12 new
40:32 churches that had been established.
40:34 The work is not easy in North Mexico
40:38 and we had come to a camp meeting where
40:40 the 12 churches were coming together
40:44 and it was a retired worker that had gone
40:47 there and established these 12 churches.
40:52 And I suppose that day they were about 1200
40:54 people there and they were going to have
40:58 quite a day of it, singing, praying,
41:00 preaching but one of the special events that they
41:03 were going to baptize 47 people.
41:06 And it just happens to be the culture in that
41:08 particular area that when you have a
41:10 baptism that each person is going to be
41:12 baptized stands before the microphone and
41:14 they give a little testimony.
41:16 And so I was there seated on the front row
41:18 and this long line and they began to give their
41:20 little short testimonies. Well just after one or
41:23 two people this great big guy stood in front
41:26 of the microphone. He was bigger then
41:28 I was and kind of gruff and he said,
41:32 well there are a lot of you that are
41:33 surprised to see me here today.
41:35 He says let me tell you how this happened,
41:38 he said I was in my house one day he said
41:41 I was drinking a beer and he said I heard this
41:44 little knock on the door. I opened up the door
41:48 and here stood a little boy about this tall and
41:50 under his arm he had a great big Bible and he
41:53 said to me not hello, how are you?
41:57 Good afternoon, his first words were mister,
42:01 do you wanna study the Bible with me.
42:06 And he thought well what harm can there be
42:08 in studying the Bible, but this little guy
42:10 he said I opened up the door ushered him in
42:14 and he said you know day after, day after,
42:15 day the little boy came back and studied with
42:17 me I gave my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ
42:19 and never the less I am gonna be ready when
42:22 Jesus comes, amen. You know the amazing
42:26 part of that was of those 47 people there were
42:28 7 people who gave the same testimony about
42:30 the same little boy, amen. At the end of that
42:33 baptism Elder Miranda stood up and he said it's
42:35 a custom here to invite anyone else who would
42:37 like to prepare for baptism.
42:39 Who is it that would like to prepare.
42:43 I turned around to see if there might be someone
42:45 that would come forward and to my great
42:48 shock there was a little boy this tall on the
42:50 second row who had stood up seven times in
42:53 recognition then came up to the front and said,
42:55 yes, I wanna be baptized.
42:57 And then I found out you can't baptize people
43:00 in Mexico unless you're 12 he was a 11 years old.
43:04 Never the less, a generation called to that.
43:09 Friends, I don't know, I don't know you're
43:14 situation here this morning,
43:18 but if you need the confidence that Jesus
43:20 has forgiven you I beg you to claim that never
43:23 the less experience. If some of the theories
43:27 of the world and practices as if made a
43:29 little in roads into your life,
43:30 I pray that you will say no I will have a never
43:33 the less experience. I am going to live
43:34 by God's word, I am gonna believe what he
43:36 teaches and if you been called to mission which
43:41 every person here as because that's what this
43:43 church is about. I would ask you to have
43:46 a never the less experience,
43:47 I don't care what the evidence is.
43:48 You can all be stacked up at never
43:50 the less trust Him. This gospel of the
43:52 kingdom shall be preached in all the
43:54 world for a witness Jesus is coming,
43:57 never the less, never the less,
43:59 never the less, amen.
44:11 Let us stand as we sing trust and obey
44:14 for there is no other way, let us stand.
44:20 When we walk with the
44:22 Lord in the light of His Word,
44:27 What a glory He sheds on our way!
44:32 While we do His good will,
44:36 He abides with us still,
47:54 What an inspiration, lets bow our heads.
47:58 Abba Father, it has been good to be in your
48:01 house this morning. Our hearts have been
48:04 stirred and they have been thrilled, they have
48:07 been challenged. We want to respond
48:10 to your call, we are thankful that as we look
48:13 around the world and we see so many
48:15 negative things, things that would discourage
48:17 us and causes to doubt. You have challenged us
48:21 this morning to say never the less at that
48:25 word I will act. I will do what you
48:28 ask me to do even if its looks impossible,
48:31 even if others don't understand.
48:34 Lord we ask that you would fill us with your
48:36 spirit, we thank you for the
48:38 challenge that we received.
48:41 We confess our humbleness,
48:43 our weakness our sinfulness,
48:46 we are thankful for your mercy,
48:48 for your grace and for your cleansing power.
48:52 Fill us with your spirit Lord, we long to see
48:55 this work finished. We long to reflect
48:58 your character and your glory
49:00 so that we may go home. We long to see you
49:03 coming in the clouds of glory.
49:06 For this we pray in the
49:07 wonderful name of Jesus, amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17