Participants: Charissa Fong
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001041
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01:01 Okay, well, I think we're almost all seated.
01:04 This is what they usually call the graveyard shift 01:07 because you've all eaten and the temptation 01:10 will be during this message to close your eyes 01:12 and meditate on the words that are being spoken. 01:16 Do your best to keep them open, okay. 01:18 I'll try and help you as much as I can. 01:20 Let us just bow our heads once more 01:23 and ask the Lord to lead us as we study the Bible together. 01:27 Loving Father in heaven, thank You so much 01:30 for everything that You have done here today 01:33 and in our hearts 01:34 and as we have gathered once more this afternoon 01:37 to study the Bible together, we invite the Holy Spirit 01:41 to take the message of Holy Scripture 01:44 and to make it real to us this afternoon. 01:47 I pray that You would help our spiritual imagination 01:50 to pick up and to take note of what is going on here 01:54 and I pray that the lesson which we learn 01:56 from the study of Your Word 01:58 be one that would be life changing, 02:00 one that we will walk out and put into action 02:02 as we leave the church later. 02:05 We ask this now 02:06 and we ask it in the name of Jesus, 02:08 whom we love, amen. 02:11 My subject this afternoon, I have entitled We Do Not Well. 02:17 And the story begins like this. 02:20 The Syrian army had surrounded the city of Samaria. 02:24 There was a very, very serious siege going on 02:27 so much so that the people inside the city of Samaria 02:32 were literally starving to death. 02:35 This is a good sermon to preach after we've all being fed 02:37 because otherwise you'd be sitting there 02:39 getting hungry on me, 02:40 but I invite you to take your Bibles 02:42 and turn with me to read the story, 02:45 just to set the table a little bit. 02:47 Come over to the Book of 2 Kings. 02:49 And in 2 Kings I would like you to notice with me chapter 6 02:54 and listen to how the Bible describes 02:57 just how serious this famine was. 02:59 2 Kings Chapter 6 03:02 and we will read from verse 25-29. 03:07 2 Kings Chapter 6, we begin reading verse 25. 03:14 If you're there say amen. All right, that's good. 03:18 It says here, "And there was a great famine in Samaria, 03:22 and indeed, they besieged it, 03:24 until a donkey's head was sold for 80 shekels of silver, 03:29 and one-fourth of a kab of dove's droppings 03:32 for five shekels of silver. 03:35 Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, 03:40 a woman cried out to him, saying, 'Help, my lord, O king.' 03:44 And he said, 'If the Lord does not help you, 03:47 where can I find help for you, 03:49 for the threshing floor or from the winepress?' 03:53 Then the king said to her, 'What is troubling you?' 03:56 And she answered, 'This woman said to me, give your son, 04:00 that we may eat him today, 04:02 and we will eat my son tomorrow. 04:04 So we boiled my son and ate him, 04:07 and I said to her on the next day, 04:08 give your son, that we may eat him, 04:11 but she has hidden her son.'" 04:14 Now I don't know about you 04:16 but I don't function too well without food. 04:19 I know it may not look like I eat a lot 04:22 but when I'm hungry, my mood changes 04:25 and I just can't do anything until I've eaten. 04:28 I believe I get this gene from my dad, 04:31 he's part-- well, he's Samoan 04:33 and Samoans are happiest when they're fed, amen. 04:37 So whenever I go traveling, for example when I come here 04:42 the first thing my dad asks me when I call him on the phone 04:45 is not, you know, how's everything going 04:47 or how are you doing? 04:49 He asks me, what are you eating? 04:50 'Cause that's all he's interested in. 04:52 So I have taken to photographing my food 04:55 everywhere I go just because I know 04:56 that's all he's gonna be interested in 04:58 when I see him again. 05:00 But, friends, at least I have food 05:02 to photograph in a little while 05:04 whenever I'm hungry. These leprous men 05:07 are facing a very, very different situation. 05:10 The insanity and the horror of the famine 05:14 that is gripping this city of Samaria is so great, 05:17 mothers are boiling their children. 05:21 That is just terrible. 05:22 And you what, the sad thing is is that 05:25 Moses told the people, in Deuteronomy, 05:28 if you read the Book of Deuteronomy, 05:30 he said that, if they forsook God, 05:32 if God's people forsook Him then they would end up 05:36 experiencing things just like this. 05:38 It is a sad day when God's people 05:41 turn their backs on Him. 05:44 Listen to what Prophets and Kings says 05:45 concerning this famine, Mrs. White writes, 05:49 "Never had Israel been brought into 05:51 so great a strait as during this siege. 05:55 The sins of the fathers were indeed 05:57 being visited upon the children and the children's children." 06:01 But, friends, in the midst of a day of utter 06:04 and complete hopelessness, 06:06 God's prophets spoke a word of hope. 06:08 We find what Elisha says in Chapter 7. 06:11 Let's read together from verse 1. 06:14 Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. 06:18 Thus says the Lord, tomorrow about 06:21 this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, 06:25 and two seahs of barley for a shekel, 06:28 at the gate of Samaria. 06:30 So an officer on whose hand the king leaned 06:32 answered the man of God, and said, 'Look, 06:35 if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?' 06:39 And he said, 'In fact, you shall see it 06:41 with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.'" 06:45 And now we reach the story 06:48 which I am dying to share with you this afternoon. 06:50 Let's read verse 3, 06:52 "Now there were four leprous men 06:55 at the entrance of the gate and they said to one another, 06:59 'why are we sitting here until we die?'" 07:03 Friends, we don't know their names 07:06 but we know their crisis. 07:08 This miserable, wretched, leprous congregation 07:13 of four men is shut outside the city gate. 07:17 They are shut outside from all contact with society 07:21 and they're dying. Not only are they dying 07:24 from the rotting, diseased, corruption of their flesh, 07:29 but they're dying 07:30 because they're starving as well 07:32 and they're starving simply because nobody in the city 07:36 has any garbage to let over the walls to feed them. 07:39 They never gave the lepers good food, 07:41 they just gave them the scraps that 07:43 they weren't interested in. 07:45 And the famine so great, of course nothing 07:47 has been coming over the wall. 07:49 But, friends, as they sit there outside the city gate 07:52 and they look at each other with these bloodshot eyes, 07:56 they say to one another in hoarse whispers, 08:00 why sit we here until we die? 08:04 You know that's a good question to ask. 08:07 Oh, that we too would be done 08:10 with doing nothing, amen. 08:12 Oh, that we too would rather move forward 08:14 than stand still. 08:16 Oh, that we would fear sitting down 08:18 and doing nothing. 08:20 Why sit we here until we die? 08:24 There is power enough in that question, 08:26 that thought, that ought to start 08:28 a great revival among God's people. 08:31 Everyday thousands are ruined by inactivity, 08:35 instead of singing that good old hymn 08:38 like a mighty army moves the church of God, 08:42 we have changed the words 08:43 and we're singing a hymn that sounds more like this, 08:45 like a mighty tortoise moves the church of God, 08:49 brothers and sisters we are treading 08:51 where we've often trod. 08:53 We're not making any progress. 08:55 Notice with me verse 4, "If we say," they continue, 09:00 "'We will enter the city, the famine is in the city 09:03 and we shall die there. 09:05 And if we sit here, we die also. 09:08 Now therefore, come, let us surrender 09:10 to the army of the Syrians. 09:12 If they keep us alive, we shall live, 09:15 and if they kill us, we shall only die.'" 09:19 I love how the cogitation 09:22 of these four men ends in action. 09:25 They didn't just think about it 09:27 and then let that thought pass them by, 09:30 not only they thought about it and then they moved forward 09:32 and did something on that action. 09:35 How many good decisions 09:38 get murdered in the pews of our churches 09:40 before the people leave the building 09:42 because they choose not to act upon the conviction 09:46 that comes to their hearts as the spirit is speaking? 09:50 Verse 5, "And they rose at twilight 09:53 to go to the camp of the Syrians, 09:55 and when they had come to the outskirts 09:57 of the Syrian camp, to their surprise"-- 10:00 How many people were there? 10:02 "No one was there. 10:04 For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians 10:07 to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses, 10:12 the noise of a great army, 10:13 so that they said to one another, 10:15 'look, the king of Israel has hired against us 10:18 the kings of the Hittites 10:20 and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!' 10:23 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, 10:26 and left the camp intact, their tents, their horses, 10:30 and their donkeys, and they fled for their lives." 10:35 This is absolutely incredible. 10:38 When God delivers, He really delivers His people, amen. 10:44 But notice here what unbelief is doing to God's people 10:48 because unbelief is holding the people 10:50 in the city of Samaria captive. 10:52 This is what Spirit of Prophecy says, it says, 10:54 "Every failure on the part of the children of God 10:58 is due to their lack of faith, every failure." 11:02 Samaria sits in the twilight, shut up 11:06 and it's as though the men inside 11:08 are locked inside an iron cage 11:10 because they believe that they are surrounded by an enemy 11:14 when that enemy has taken fright 11:17 because they have been scared off by an imaginary army. 11:20 Isn't that amazing? 11:21 This is the most amazing picture. 11:23 And because that army has taken off, Samaria, 11:27 while the people are going to bed at night 11:30 covering with fear and starving because they have no food, 11:34 just outside the walls of their city 11:39 lies an abundance of a hundred thousand men, 11:42 an abundance that belonged to an army 11:44 of a hundred thousand men 11:46 and it's just sitting there, nobody is touching it. 11:49 Friends, God is able to work in mysterious ways, amen. 11:54 He goes above and beyond our highest expectations. 11:59 Nothing is impossible for God. 12:02 I heard a story just recently and I know it's true 12:05 because they shared at the Adventist Media Network 12:08 and everything that comes 12:09 through there is usually very true. 12:12 We had a delegation go from the AMN 12:15 and they went to Brazil to investigate 12:17 how our media network over there operates 12:21 and they came back with an incredible story. 12:23 There was an Adventist student in Brazil, 12:26 he was at a secular university and an exam which he had to sit 12:30 was being offered on Sabbath. 12:33 So he asked if they could change the day 12:35 from Sabbath to another day and the university, 12:39 the professors or whoever he-- 12:40 the board that was taken to said, 12:42 no, we can't change the day. 12:44 Well, word of this got 12:46 to a very wealthy Adventist in Brazil. 12:49 When he heard about this problem that 12:52 the student was facing, 12:53 he went ahead and bought the university. 12:57 He then sacked the staff that prevented the student 13:00 from having his exam changed 13:03 and the student was able to sit their exam. 13:05 So God, nothing is impossible with God, 13:08 if there is a mountain He can move it, amen. 13:11 And He moved it for the city of Samaria 13:13 but the funny thing, 13:14 the ironic thing about this story is that 13:18 even though God has just liberated His people, 13:21 in perhaps one of the most amazing ways 13:23 that God had ever worked for His people 13:25 in all of human history, right here, 13:28 because they had a famine of faith in their hearts, 13:32 they continue to live in a way 13:38 that doesn't show that they have any idea 13:41 of the God that they are serving. 13:43 The famine of faith in their hearts mirrored the famine 13:47 that they were experiencing in their stomachs. 13:51 Notice what we see now, verse 8, I love this. 13:55 "And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, 13:58 they went into one tent and ate and drank, 14:01 and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, 14:04 and went and hid them, and then they came back 14:07 and entered another tent, 14:08 and carried some from there also, 14:10 and went and hid it." 14:15 The curtain rises in verse 8, upon a new scene 14:20 and in my minds eye I like to imagine things 14:22 when I read them in the Bible, 14:24 like to watch like a Bible movie in my mind. 14:27 In my minds eye I can see 14:29 these four lepers stealing silently and softly 14:32 in the twilight into this enemy camp. 14:35 I mean, they've got nothing to lose. 14:37 If they sat outside the city walls, 14:39 well, they're gonna die 14:40 and if they go into the Syrian camp, 14:42 well, at least the Syrians might be merciful 14:45 but if they die, well, it was nothing, nothing new. 14:48 But anyway I can hear them as they come into this camp 14:51 and they're trembling, 14:52 softly Simian, your tread is so loud, 14:56 you'll wake the dead if you keep walking like that. 14:58 Yeah, cut it out, guys. 15:01 If they're sleeping, let's not wake them up. 15:04 So as they continue to tiptoe into the camp, 15:08 they didn't realize that they could've walked as loudly 15:12 as they pleased for there was no one inside. 15:15 There's an interesting verse in the Book of Proverbs, 15:17 Proverbs 28:1, it says this, 15:20 "The wicked flee when no one pursues, 15:24 but the righteous are as bold as a lion," amen. 15:29 Well, they come to the first tent 15:31 and one of them, one of the lepers he enters 15:34 that tent very cautiously expecting at any moment 15:37 for a sentry to come and strike off his head 15:40 or at least call him to attention. 15:42 But not a voice is heard. 15:44 The sound of horses can be heard 15:46 as they pull against the chains that bind them 15:48 but apart from that everything is still quiet. 15:52 Guys, guys, come over here, come in here and see this. 15:57 There is nobody home. 15:59 And then another voice comes back, 16:01 you've got to be kidding. 16:02 Are you serious? 16:04 Nobody's in the tent. 16:05 Yes, come in here and see, come quick. 16:08 And so cautiously all four ragged lepers 16:14 step inside this tent 16:16 and sure enough, the tent is empty. 16:20 And what is even more remarkable 16:22 about this whole experience 16:24 is that right there in front of them 16:26 sitting on the table is a hot meal, 16:29 ready and waiting for them, nutmeat stew. 16:33 They can't believe it. 16:35 And so they needed no discussion to decide 16:39 what they would do with the stew, 16:40 they just sat down and ate and ate and ate 16:43 until they were full. 16:45 They looked around them in the tent and they could see, 16:47 wow, there's some really nice Syrian garments in here, 16:51 so they started to dress themselves 16:53 in the Syrian robes. 16:55 And as they looked around further they saw that 16:57 there was gold and silver, spoils of war 17:00 just lying around the tent. 17:02 They said, guys, let's bank this 17:05 and so they took all of these things 17:08 and they banked their bounty the old fashioned way. 17:11 The Bible says they told us they went and hid them. 17:14 In ancient times they'd go dig a hole 17:16 and bury it, that's how they banked it. 17:18 You just would want to remember where you put it, wouldn't you? 17:21 Anyhow, after they finished in the first tent, 17:25 they decided, well, let's try another tent 17:28 and so they again, they cautiously step 17:31 along to a second tent, they look inside 17:35 and again they find that the second tent is empty also 17:39 and again there is a meal sitting, 17:42 waiting, ready for them. 17:44 Tova, chocolate so good ice cream, 17:48 ginger beer, vegetarian pizza, 17:51 all the things that I really love. 17:52 They're all just sitting there on a table 17:54 inviting them to come and eat 17:57 and so they eat until they content 17:59 and they eat and drink 18:00 and carry away as much gold as they can. 18:04 You and I cannot begin to imagine 18:07 the delirious joy that must have overwhelmed 18:12 these four guys in such abundance. 18:16 On and on throughout the night 18:19 they continue this process, they ate and ate 18:22 and took and took as much as they could carry 18:25 how the tables have turned. 18:27 They woke up that morning without a cent, 18:30 they were starving, they literally went 18:33 from rags to riches. 18:35 They were now dressed in some of the finest robes 18:38 that could be found, all in a single day. 18:42 When God provides He really provides 18:45 and He provides like God. 18:48 Friends, faith, we can take a little note from this, 18:51 that faith is always a venture, like for these lepers, 18:55 it was a venture for them to step into the Syrian camp 18:59 but faith is always a venture that God honors. 19:02 God always honors faith and faithfulness. 19:07 And I want you to just pause here 19:09 and reflect, I can't help 19:11 but notice as I think on this story, 19:13 how true it is of the gospel when you think about it. 19:18 Because we too, the Bible tells us 19:20 in the Book of Isaiah, in Isaiah Chapter 1 it says, 19:23 the whole head is sick, we are spiritual lepers 19:26 apart from Jesus, we suffer with the leprosy of sin 19:30 and there have been many lepers who come to God or at least 19:33 before they come to Him they are afraid of Him 19:36 because they think that God will not be merciful, 19:38 that God will not be gracious, 19:40 that He will want to destroy them 19:42 and so it keeps them back. 19:43 But when that sinner takes a step in faith towards Jesus, 19:48 when they come to Jesus 19:49 and accept Him as their personal savior 19:52 and forever friend, what do they find? 19:54 They find amazing grace, they find blessed assurance, 19:59 they find wonderful peace, amen. 20:02 They find more than they could ever imagine 20:05 and the Bible tells us that He exchanges our rags 20:10 for His robe of righteousness, amen. 20:13 And in light of an offer like that coming from Jesus, 20:16 why would we want to hold on to our own rags. 20:19 This is why the Bible says in Isaiah 55:1, 20:23 the Bible says, "Ho, everyone who thirsts, 20:27 come to the waters and you who have no money, 20:30 come, buy and eat. 20:32 Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money 20:35 and without price," amen. 20:37 Ephesians 3:8 says this, it talks about 20:40 the unsearchable riches of Christ. 20:44 Now Google is a very good search engine 20:47 but it cannot search fully the riches of Christ 20:51 that God makes available to those 20:53 who accept Him and love Him. 20:56 When I do that, that was a amen moment. 20:59 Don't miss the amen moment. 21:00 All right, let's read together verse 9, 21:03 "Then they said to one another, 'we are not doing right. 21:09 This is a day of good news and we remain silent. 21:13 If we wait until morning light, 21:15 some punishment will come upon us. 21:18 Now therefore come let us go 21:20 and tell the King's household.'" 21:24 The Bible doesn't tell us how many tents 21:27 they went through before they finally had 21:30 this amazing thought strike them. 21:33 But suddenly it occurs to them 21:35 or at least it occurred to somebody, 21:37 guys, what we're doing isn't patriotic? 21:42 In fact, guys, what we're doing, it is scarcely human. 21:46 How can we sit here enjoying a feast 21:52 and hoarding wealth untold. 21:56 When our friends, our family, our loved ones, 22:02 our people are starving to death 22:05 just a stone throw away from where we are. 22:10 And this thought just they cannot shake it. 22:13 Suddenly pictures as they reflect on 22:15 what they're saying here, pictures of Samaria 22:18 and the people there of the hollow eyes 22:20 and the hideous meals 22:22 that they're eating there come to mind. 22:25 They remember the king 22:27 who has sackcloth under his royal robes. 22:30 In fact, the Hebrew of the passage 22:33 could be translated like this, 22:35 it could be saying this is a day of good tidings 22:38 and we hold our peace, that is a sin. 22:45 And if we continue before morning like this, 22:47 then some punishment may come upon us 22:50 because of what we're doing. 22:52 Now it's interesting as I did a little bit 22:54 if research on this passage, 22:56 I find this moment in the story, 22:58 one of the most remarkable. 23:00 But as I've done a little bit of research, 23:02 I discovered something interesting in that 23:04 is if you read the writings of Josephus, 23:07 Josephus tells us that he believes one 23:11 of these four lepers was a man by the name of Gehazi, 23:15 the foremost servant of Elisha, 23:18 who had received the leprosy from Naaman, 23:20 remember that story? 23:21 This touch is very interesting, if this is true. 23:24 And so Jewish white writings continue 23:28 to go on further to say that 23:29 they also believe that the three men 23:32 who are with Gehazi were possibly his sons. 23:36 So if that is true, if this is Gehazi 23:38 who has already been punished because of greed, 23:41 well, it would make sense to me that 23:43 he was most probably the one 23:45 upon, well, for whom the penny dropped first. 23:48 He was the one that woke up to what they were doing first. 23:51 And as they realized and they sat 23:53 and they pondered this incredible thought, 23:56 We do not well when this is a day of good news. 23:59 They realized that something needed to be done 24:02 because if they were to delay now, 24:04 well, if they were to hold this secret 24:07 for just a matter of 24 hours, 24:10 hundreds might die of starvation 24:12 within the walls of the city. 24:14 This was a message that demanded urgency. 24:19 And, friends, I hope you're realizing that 24:21 there is a very strong application coming through here 24:25 for you and I right now this afternoon, 24:27 because we have a King's household as well. 24:30 We are part of the King's household. 24:34 And it is a great company, a multitude 24:36 that exists all around the world, 24:39 they live in every corner of this planet, 24:42 they're in Brisbane, they're in Sydney, 24:45 they're in New Zealand, they're in China, 24:47 they're in the islands, they're in Africa, 24:49 they're in every country of this world. 24:52 People need to hear the message of salvation 24:56 and the secret which we know, 24:58 we know about this wonderful bounty that 25:01 God has prepared for those who love Him. 25:04 It is up to us to go and tell. 25:07 We who know best the grace of Christ 25:11 and who know what God can do 25:13 for those who have been defiled by the leprosy of sin. 25:17 We have a story that must be told 25:20 and we heard his message about how-- 25:22 that is a story that we should tell this morning. 25:24 We do not well to hold our peace in times like this. 25:30 Verse 10, so they went 25:33 and they called to the gatekeepers of the city 25:36 and told them saying, "We went into the Syrian camp 25:39 and surprisingly no one was there-- 25:41 not a human sound only horses 25:43 and donkeys tied, and the tents intact." 25:46 And the gatekeepers called out 25:48 and they told it to the King's household inside. 25:52 I do not know of a finer illustration 25:54 of what it means to be a preacher, 25:57 of what it means to be witness, 25:59 of what it means to be a Christian. 26:02 We were not called to philosophize or theorize, 26:06 we were called to be witnesses, 26:08 we were called to go to a dying world, 26:11 a world that is starving for lack of the bread of life 26:15 and say there is a way to be saved 26:17 and Jesus is the only way. 26:21 We have that message, we are witnesses, 26:23 we are heralders, we are proclaimers. 26:26 And you might not think that 26:27 God could use you to be a witness 26:30 but friends, God often uses the most unlikely people. 26:34 A good witness is just like a sign, 26:37 a sign in order to be effective it doesn't matter 26:40 if the sign is old or young, pretty or ugly, 26:44 it just has to point in the right direction 26:47 in order to be understood 26:49 and if you are continually living a life 26:52 that is pointing to Jesus, 26:54 then you are a good witness, God can use you. 26:57 I will never forget, 26:59 at the time when I was at an AYC in Cannes 27:02 and Pastor Torres, some of you might know 27:04 Pastor Louie Torres, he got up 27:06 and he was preaching a sermon 27:07 on how rejects make good evangelists 27:11 and as he was preaching his sermon, 27:13 he looked down and he saw me in the audience 27:15 and he said take Miss Fong for example, 27:18 if God can use her He can use anyone. 27:21 I didn't know whether to be flattered or flattened. 27:23 But it's true, God uses anybody 27:28 and that is exactly what we're finding here in the story. 27:32 We must not keep the gospel to ourselves 27:35 and that's-- the gospel means good news. 27:38 Do we have good news to share? 27:40 I mean we've spent the last few days listening 27:43 to wonderful messages about what God offers to us 27:47 in His word so we have a story to tell. 27:50 Yes, what the lepers did, 27:52 I want you to know too, was a bold thing, 27:56 but note that they did what they did unanimously 28:00 and they did it instantaneously. 28:02 You say, Charissa, why do you say 28:04 it was a bold thing for the lepers 28:07 to go back to Samaria and tell this good news. 28:11 Well, keep in mind lepers weren't 28:13 exactly the most popular people in town, 28:16 they were social outcasts. 28:18 They were cut off from their community. 28:20 In fact, many of their families probably within the city 28:24 have held funerals for these guys 28:27 because as far as they're concerned 28:30 they're dead to them. 28:32 And so for them to go back to a city 28:34 that has despised them, 28:36 to a city that has shut them off, 28:38 that has cut them off, that has shut them out, 28:41 that took courage but it took compassion. 28:44 But they went back 28:46 because they had a sense of duty, 28:50 they felt upon them rested the duty of saving Samaria 28:54 and for that they wasted no delay 28:56 because as the sun reddened the sky 29:00 they knew that lives were at stake. 29:02 To waste time was to sacrifice life. 29:09 So they rose up and went and told. 29:13 Now here's where this message gets its feet. 29:16 Because if, for this story, 29:19 if these men felt such a solemn sense of duty 29:24 to announce their news to a perishing city, 29:29 how much more should we feel a sense of duty 29:34 to share our news with a perishing world. 29:39 As Edmund Burke once said, he said, all that is necessary 29:43 for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. 29:48 Now if we were to translate this story 29:50 into a modern day parable 29:52 and suppose there was a community 29:54 in outback of Australia and within this community 29:57 there was one man who had a whole cupboard full of, 30:01 let's say, canned baked beans, 30:03 tin baked beans and nobody else had any food, 30:07 we would think that what that guy did 30:10 if he didn't share his food with everybody around him 30:12 because they were dying of starvation, 30:15 we would think that what he was doing 30:16 was inhumane, correct? 30:18 We would think that guy was really, really bad 30:21 and we'd want some justice, go and share your baked beans. 30:24 But listen, Ellen White says this, 30:27 when you think about that the sin of Simons 30:31 when you know something 30:32 she says in Testimonies Volume 8, 30:35 she says, Christians are daily repeating this sin. 30:42 A little boy was traveling with his parents one day 30:46 and they were traveling along this mountainous road 30:50 and as they were driving along this road, 30:52 suddenly a car sped up and overtook them, 30:56 and as the car sped up and overtook them 30:58 there was a bend in the road 30:59 and another car came around the corner, bang. 31:02 Cars collided and it was a very, very bad accident, 31:06 the little fellow he saw a body flying one way. 31:09 I mean, it was really bad. 31:11 Well, the family kept driving 31:13 and nobody really had much to say, 31:16 it was a very sobering sight that this family had witnessed, 31:19 but as they continue to drive, they got home that night 31:23 and the parents they tried to comfort him, 31:26 tried to say things that would put him at ease 31:29 and they put him to bed, 31:31 but as time went on it was very apparent that 31:33 the little fellow just wasn't going to sleep. 31:36 So his father went into the room 31:38 and said, "Son, why don't you try to sleep?" 31:40 And the little boy with his eyes wide open, 31:43 he broken to tears and he said, "Daddy, 31:46 when people die can we sleep?" 31:52 If we believed as strongly that men and women 31:56 without the bread of life that comes to us in the Word, 32:00 that comes down from heaven. 32:01 If we believed that to keep this to ourselves was a sin, 32:05 then wouldn't we too be more earnest 32:08 and more urgent in sharing our faith with other people. 32:12 We would struggle to remain silent. 32:15 As I read the Spirit of Prophecy, 32:17 I have found some really good quotes 32:19 and I've been struggling to try and choose the ones 32:22 that I thought was most appropriate 32:23 because there's so much. 32:25 Listen to this, "My brother, my sister, 32:28 is it nothing to you to know that everyday souls 32:32 are going down into the grave unwarned and unsaved. 32:37 Ignorant of their need of eternal life 32:39 of the atonement made for them by the savior. 32:42 Listen to what Spurgeon said, 32:44 I was telling my workshop the other day that Spurgeon, 32:46 one of the greatest Baptist preachers of all time, 32:49 one of the greatest preachers I think of all time, full stop. 32:53 He was a man who was so consumed 32:55 with a love for Jesus, 32:56 he had a passion for souls and it gripped him. 33:00 I told them in my workshop that Spurgeon 33:02 was so consumed with his love for Jesus 33:04 that one night he broke out 33:06 into a sermon on Jesus in his sleep. 33:10 His wife woke up, took notes, handed them to him 33:14 when he woke up the next morning 33:16 and he went down for the tabernacle 33:17 and preached the sermon. 33:19 That's how much Spurgeon loved Jesus. 33:21 You go-- you can Google 33:22 his sermons online and read them 33:25 there's some gold in what he has to say. 33:27 But listen to what he says. 33:29 Now, I'm gonna use some old English. 33:30 "If sinners will be damned, 33:33 at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. 33:36 And if they will perish, let them perish 33:38 with our arms about their knees, 33:40 imploring them to stay, if hell must be filled 33:44 at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions 33:47 and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for." 33:54 A minister conversed with a man 33:57 who was professing to be a Christian. 33:59 He asked him, have you united with the church? 34:02 Have you joined the church of God 34:03 and he said, well, no, I didn't think 34:05 there was a need to, 34:06 the dying thief never joined the church. 34:09 Well, the pastor continued, he said, well, 34:12 have you talked to your neighbors about Christ, 34:14 do you talk to them about the gospel? 34:16 He said, why no, the dying thief 34:19 never talked to his neighbors abut Jesus. 34:22 Well, the pastor said, do you go on missions then? 34:24 Do you give money to missions if you don't talk to people 34:26 maybe you support the work of the church? 34:29 The man said, no, the dying thief 34:32 never supported missions, why should I? 34:35 And that's when the minister said, 34:36 well, my friend, the difference between you 34:39 and the dying thief is that he was a dying thief, 34:41 you're a living one. 34:44 I think some of us have been robbing God of a service. 34:47 I mean, there are souls out there 34:49 that needs somebody to say something to them, 34:52 to be a helping hand to them and we are just robbing God 34:55 of an opportunity to save a life, 34:57 because we refuse not to lift a finger. 35:01 We have got to lay our lives down 35:04 for the purposes of God. 35:06 This is not about a picnic. 35:09 This is not about a happy Sabbath every week. 35:12 This is not an invitation to continuously good times. 35:16 You and I are living in the middle of a war. 35:19 Lives are at stake. 35:22 There is an eternal destiny 35:23 for every human being on the planet 35:25 that is weighing in the balance, 35:27 we need to do something. 35:29 The time demands action. 35:32 I can't help but think of a sermon 35:34 that I heard of a preacher 35:36 by the name of the Carter Conlon, 35:38 shortly after September 11 and the attacks, 35:41 we all know about those. 35:42 He said this, "My mind is forever branded 35:46 with the story that I heard of police officers 35:49 from the city of New York, as people were fleeing 35:52 from a crumbling building 35:55 there were police officers and firemen 35:57 and others who were running towards the building saying, 36:00 run for your life, at their own peril. 36:04 And in some cases he said, I believe that they knew 36:07 that they were going to die but there was a sense of duty. 36:11 Oh, that our sense of duty would not be any less 36:15 for your kingdom than were these firemen 36:18 and police officers who are running in 36:20 to a burning building to save lives. 36:25 Would to God, that the church of God 36:27 would realize the urgency of the hour in which we live. 36:34 Christ's Object Lessons, page 303, 36:36 "Multitudes are perishing. 36:39 But how few of the professed followers 36:41 of Christ are burdened for these souls. 36:44 The destiny of a world hangs in the balance, 36:47 but this hardly moves those who claim 36:50 to believe the most far-reaching truth 36:52 ever given to mortals. 36:54 There is a stupor, a paralysis, upon the people of God, 36:59 which prevents them from understanding 37:01 the duty of the hour." 37:03 Sometimes I wonder if perhaps, that God had, 37:06 if He had told us that the gospel was a secret, 37:10 maybe it might have spread more quickly 37:12 'cause we're good at sharing the secrets, aren't we? 37:16 But you know what, ants, I think when the Bible says, 37:19 "Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and be wise." 37:22 Ants make the best evangelists. 37:24 If you ever leave something on your kitchen sink, 37:27 all that takes is for one ant to find your marmite sandwich 37:33 because we all like marmite. 37:35 And you would-- that one ant 37:37 finds the marmite sandwich and that ant goes back 37:40 and it bumps into every friend that they can find 37:42 and tells them, there's a sandwich over here 37:45 and they all come and have a party 37:47 around your sandwich. 37:49 You know what? 37:50 Evangelism is like the ant, 37:52 and evangelism is like the lepers, 37:55 evangelism is just one beggar 37:57 telling other beggars about where they found bread. 38:02 1 Corinthians Chapter 9, let's go there. 38:04 1 Corinthians 9:16. 38:11 1 Corinthians 9:16. 38:22 This is the words of Paul. 38:25 Listen to the passion with which he writes, he says, 38:28 "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast 38:32 of for necessity is laid upon me." 38:35 He had this burden for souls. 38:37 "Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." 38:43 He had this burden to preach. 38:45 And you know what? 38:46 Sometimes when we preach, 38:48 when we share, when we witness, 38:50 we may not see the results of our activity straight away. 38:53 But come over to Isaiah Chapter 55. 38:57 This is the verse that I claim often. 38:59 Isaiah 55:10 and 11. 39:04 Isaiah 55:10-11. 39:13 "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, 39:16 and do not return there, but water the earth, 39:19 and make it bring forth and bud, 39:21 that it may give seed to the sower 39:24 and bread to the eater. 39:25 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, 39:29 it shall not return to Me void, 39:32 but it shall accomplish what I please, 39:34 and it shall prosper in the thing 39:36 for which I sent it." 39:39 I just want to share a couple of stories 39:41 that make these verses real for me. 39:46 I'm very privileged to be joined this afternoon 39:48 by some family members, I've got my aunt 39:51 and uncle here and my mum's here. 39:53 I've got my grandparents here and that's very special. 39:56 We have been-- when I come to Queensland, 39:59 I go to my grandparent's house and I have a holiday. 40:02 I mean, as soon as I come to Queensland it's the same, 40:05 every time it's the same, I just feel this peace. 40:08 Come over me, I'll leave all my problems in Sydney. 40:10 But, now I'm gonna go back there soon but anyway, 40:14 but I came to my grandparent's house 40:16 and this week I-- we were spending 40:18 some time together and we were sharing, 40:21 one evening, we were talking about 40:23 how we came into the message 40:24 and grandma was telling her story 40:27 and I hope if I get anything wrong, 40:30 she's right there she'll correct me, 40:31 but there was a man that must have gone door knocking 40:35 to appeal for missions. 40:36 And I think my grandma's mum, so my great grandmother 40:39 she made a donation and they left an Appeal 40:43 for Missions magazine in her home, 40:45 my great grandmother's house. 40:47 And that magazine, grandma tells me, 40:49 in those days was a lot thicker than the Signs of the Times. 40:52 It was like this big and it was large 40:55 but when my grandma went to her mom's place 40:58 and she saw that magazine there, something inside her 41:02 just said to her you must have that magazine. 41:04 You've got to have it. So she asked her mom 41:07 could she take it and her mom said 41:08 sure she could have it. 41:10 She took it home and she read it 41:12 and in the back of that magazine 41:14 was a little form that you could fill in 41:16 and send away for a correspondence 41:18 Bible study course. 41:20 My grandma started studying the truths of the Bible 41:23 through a correspondence Bible study course 41:26 and that wasn't easy for her 41:28 because my grandpa who is sitting here-- 41:30 he was a very dedicated catholic man 41:34 and that caused some problems in the home, 41:35 but grandma, she continued to study the word 41:39 and she said, this is the amazing thing, 41:41 but one night she was feeling really troubled 41:44 about what was going on 41:46 and the trouble that all of these new truths 41:48 were causing and she was so nervous 41:51 but she sat there on her bed 41:53 and she said to us, she said she felt, 41:55 as she sat there she felt like these arms 41:58 came around her and a voice spoke to her 42:00 and said, "Don't worry, don't worry." 42:03 The next day, guess what, 42:06 she discovers the truth about the Sabbath 42:08 and as she discovers the Sabbath truth, 42:10 it began to shine a light on all other truth. 42:14 Suddenly everything began to fall into place 42:16 and later she went forward in baptism, 42:19 became a baptized Seventh-day Adventist 42:22 all because somebody went to her mom's home 42:26 and left the magazine there. 42:29 That's all they did. 42:30 And now grandma is in the church 42:31 and now grandpa got baptized and my great grandmother, 42:35 she came around as well. 42:37 And you know what, I wouldn't be here, 42:39 I wouldn't be here, if that man hadn't gone 42:42 and left that magazine at that house. 42:45 You and I just don't know, what the little things 42:47 that we do, the little witness that we do, 42:49 will do for somebody else, I think heavens going be 42:52 a really wonderful place to visit 42:54 when we get there, but you might say, 42:56 well, Charissa that's easy for you to say 42:59 but sometimes I just don't feel like witnessing. 43:02 Well, I tell you what? 43:03 God can work with people like you as well 43:06 because He works with me like that. 43:09 I think I might have shared this once before 43:11 but I'll share it again. 43:12 I was coming back from a youth conference in Guam, 43:16 sorry in Pohnpei which is in Micronesia. 43:18 Do you know about that, Micronesia? 43:20 I don't even know Micronesia existed till I went there. 43:23 But got back from this wonderful time 43:26 we had there, God really moved, 43:28 it was a wonderful program, came back to Guam 43:31 and then I flew from Guam to Cairns, 43:33 and I landed in Cairns at 11:30 in-- at night. 43:38 And when I landed I was so excited 43:40 to be back in the country, to be back in Australia, 43:42 I could use my money, I could use my phone, 43:45 I could plug my charger in the wall without an adaptor. 43:47 There's just no place like home. 43:50 And I came off the plane and I heard my name 43:53 come over the loudspeaker it said 43:54 "Charissa Fong, will you please come 43:56 to the baggage department, immediately." 43:58 And I was so thrilled because I thought to myself 44:00 they're welcoming me home as well. 44:03 Well, it turns out I'd left my iPad on the plane 44:06 so I went, got the iPad and then I came down 44:09 and I needed to go over to the domestic airport 44:12 to catch my flight to Sydney, the next morning 44:15 and so I looked over but it was late at night 44:18 and I didn't want to walk over there by myself. 44:20 Because even though I could, yeah never mind, 44:23 so I just didn't go there by myself and I saw a man 44:26 in the distance dragging a suitcase 44:28 and he was an older man, I thought to myself 44:30 well he looks safe so I'll follow him. 44:33 I followed him at a distance, 44:34 we went into the domestic airport 44:36 and nobody was around, 44:38 just the cleaners so I felt great. 44:40 I went and found a seat next to a power socket on the wall, 44:44 plugged my phone in, began texting my family 44:46 and friends, "don't worry, I'm nearly home." 44:49 You can be excited, telling them. 44:51 Anyway, this man came and there are heaps of seats 44:56 available in this airport, but he came and he sat 44:59 right next to me, just two seats between us in this airport 45:03 and I was a little bit annoyed because I'm thinking, 45:05 you know this is night time, 45:07 we don't really want to talk right now 45:08 there's plenty of seats for you to choose from. 45:10 You didn't need to come and sit next to me but he did. 45:14 Anyway, I smiled at him 45:16 and continued texting my friends 45:19 and then he said to me, "So, ah, where did you come from?" 45:22 I said, "I've just come from Pohnpei," 45:24 kept texting, he said, "Ah, so did I." 45:26 "So that's interesting," kept texting. 45:29 He said "What were you doing in Pohnpei?" 45:31 "Oh," I said "I was at a youth conference." 45:33 "Oh, who is the youth conference, 45:35 where was it held, sorry where was it held." 45:36 I said I was in the Seventh-day Adventist school 45:38 and kept texting. 45:40 He said, "Oh, yeah, what's-are you Seventh-day Adventist?" 45:42 I said, "Yes," kept texting. 45:44 "What's a Seventh-day Adventist?" 45:46 And I was in the middle of the text message, 45:48 it was midnight and I didn't feel like talking to him. 45:52 I mean my mission trip had ended 45:54 when I landed in Cairns. 45:55 I thought my mission was over 45:57 but you know what, when we serve the Lord, 46:00 every trip we take is a mission trip. 46:02 Because you meet starving people everywhere, 46:04 but I wasn't thinking straight. 46:06 I'm not telling you to copy me, I'm telling you what not to do. 46:10 So he asks me, "What is a Seventh-day Adventist" 46:13 at midnight and so I love it when people ask this question 46:17 because I get so excited, I never know where to start. 46:20 So I stopped texting and I said to him, 46:22 "Well, are you a Christian?" 46:24 He said, no, but, oh sorry he said yes. 46:27 And I said, "Well, what kind of a Christian?" 46:28 He says, "I'm not really with any religious persuasion, 46:32 but I've read the Bible through from cover to cover." 46:35 So I knew that he was seeking. 46:37 Anyway, we began this conversation 46:40 in the airport, I began talking to a man 46:42 that I didn't even want to talk to. 46:45 We talk for four hours, 46:47 we finished at 4:30 in the morning. 46:49 We went back and forth and we did everything, 46:52 I don't know what-- you heard me, 46:53 I was in the panel here a minute ago 46:55 had nothing really to say, 46:57 but I don't know I couldn't stop talking 46:58 to this man in the airport. 47:00 I don't know where all the words came from. 47:02 I didn't know I knew so much, we talked about the Sabbath, 47:05 we talked about the state of the dead, 47:06 the Second Coming, heaven and hell, the millennium. 47:09 We talked about Revelation 3, Revelation 20, 47:12 Revelation 14, Daniel 2, Daniel 7. 47:15 It was the most unconventional Bible study ever, 47:19 but that man he listened the whole time. 47:22 About 2 o'clock in the morning, 47:23 he started to fall asleep on me. 47:26 I said, "oh, Lord please, 47:28 this is the most amazing conversation 47:29 I've ever had with anybody, would you please wake him up." 47:33 And that's when the Lord reminded me 47:36 that I had some choc-chip cookies in my bag, 47:40 which I had bought when I was in Pohnpei 47:42 'cause I was craving processed food 47:45 and I had eaten the whole packet, except for two. 47:48 So I said to this man, his name was Wayne, 47:50 I said, "Wayne, would you like a cookie." 47:51 He said, "Oh, yes." 47:52 So he had one, I had one we both woke up and kept going. 47:56 It was just the most amazing conversation 47:58 and as Wayne was talking and we were talking, 48:02 he said to me at the end of that conversation 48:04 that he believed that our conversation 48:07 had not been an accident. 48:08 He believed that it had been a, he didn't use these words 48:11 but it was to the effect of a divine appointment 48:14 and he also said to me that 48:16 "what you say, I've talked to a lot of people, 48:18 but what you say makes sense." 48:22 And you know what? 48:23 Our message does make sense. It makes a lot of sense. 48:28 And, friends, when you meet people, don't be like me, 48:32 don't be like me and feel tired, 48:34 someone else you have to witness to. 48:35 No, have an urgency in your soul, 48:38 here is a dying person that needs the bread of life, 48:42 here is somebody that I can bring to Jesus. 48:45 Listen to what Testimonies Volume 8 says one line, 48:48 "Christ gave himself for sinners." 48:53 Let that taught sink into your mind. 48:55 Jesus gave himself for sinners. 48:59 Are we as a people asleep? 49:02 "Oh, if the young men and young women 49:04 in our institutions who are now unready 49:07 for the Lord's appearing, 49:09 unfitted to become members of the Lord's family 49:11 could only discern the signs of the times. 49:15 What a change would be seen in them." 49:18 Friends, I believe that 49:20 we are seeing some incredible things 49:22 that are happening in our world right now, 49:24 and I don't want to take away, 49:26 I could, that's a whole other subject, 49:28 so we won't go there, 49:29 but you're watching the headlines 49:31 you're seeing what's happening in the religious world. 49:33 We are so close, the table is set, 49:37 everything is ready to go, 49:38 God is just holding back the winds of strife. 49:41 Because He is waiting for more people 49:44 to come to know Him 49:46 and He's counting on us to share that news. 49:49 In closing, there was a flight that crashed into a river. 49:55 It was the-- it plummeted into Boston River 49:58 on the 13th, January, several years ago 50:01 and as it did, there was a man that was flung out of the plane 50:05 and he was flaming around in this icy cold water. 50:08 Well, a helicopter pilot came over and he was offering, 50:12 you know, a lifebuoy to people 50:14 in the water, to try and get them up 50:17 and he got the buoy to this man 50:19 that was flaming around in the water, 50:21 but as soon as that man got that lifeline 50:25 guess what he did? He took it and he gave it somebody else. 50:29 So they winched that person up, dropped it again to him, 50:33 he took it gave it to someone else, 50:35 five times they dropped that lifeline to this man, 50:39 five times he took it, gave it to someone else. 50:42 When he came back the sixth time 50:44 the man was gone, he drowned, he was gone. 50:47 We do not know what he was-- 50:49 who he was rather but we know that this man 50:52 represents what Jesus has done for us. 50:55 He gave himself for the lives of all of us, 51:00 we owe it to others to do something for them too. 51:03 I want to finish right here 51:06 and I would like to finish with an appeal 51:08 and that is, God's house is full but his field is empty, 51:14 who will go and work in His field? 51:18 Would you just close your eyes with me 51:20 as I finish with a word of prayer. 51:23 Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for Your word, 51:25 for the story of these four lepers 51:28 and how you provided for them a deliverance that was divine. 51:32 All they saw it was deliverance from famine 51:34 but you gave them clothes, and food, 51:36 and gold more than they could've imagined. 51:39 I pray, Lord, that as we reflect on this 51:42 and on the burden that they had to share 51:44 the news with their city, 51:45 may this story too inspire within us, 51:48 a necessity of sharing the gospel 51:51 with those around us in this community 51:53 because, Lord, if we hold our peace, we do not well. 51:57 I pray that this conviction 51:58 will stir us to action and I thank You Lord 52:01 for hearing our prayer in Jesus' name, amen. 52:04 We're going to sing, 52:06 we're gonna try and sing a song called 52:08 "My House is Full, But My Field is Empty." 52:11 May the words of this song speak directly to your hearts. 52:25 There is peace and contentment 52:30 In my Father's house today 52:34 Lots of food is on His table 52:40 And no one is turned away 52:44 There is singing and laughter 52:49 As the hours pass by 52:54 What a hush calms the singing 52:59 As the Father sadly cries 53:07 My house is full 53:11 But my field is empty 53:16 Who will go and work for Me today 53:25 It seems my children 53:28 All want to stay around my table 53:35 But no one wants to work in my field 53:52 Push away from the table 53:58 Look out through the windowpane 54:02 Just beyond the house of plenty 54:06 Lies a field of golden grain 54:11 And it's ripe unto harvest 54:16 But the reapers, where are they? 54:20 In the house 54:22 Oh, can't the children 54:25 Hear the Father sadly say 54:33 My house is full 54:38 But my field is empty 54:43 Who will go 54:45 And work for Me today 54:51 It seems my children 54:54 All want to stay around my table 55:00 But no one wants to work in my field 55:10 My house is full 55:14 But my field is empty 55:19 Who will go 55:21 And work for Me today 55:27 It seems my children 55:30 All want to stay around my table 55:37 But no one wants to work in my field 55:47 No one wants to work in my field 55:57 Who will go and work 56:02 In my field 56:11 Amen. |
Revised 2015-03-26