Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM180015A
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00:49 Welcome back! And thank you for joining us,
00:52 if you're just now joining us around the world. 00:54 God has been blessing abundantly. I don't know about 00:57 you all, but I've been blessed this last hour; haven't you? 01:01 Hearing music that's bringing honor and glory to Jesus's 01:04 present truth - it's literally gonna be heard about the world. 01:08 We're so thankful for what God is doing, and thank YOU, each 01:12 and every one of you - some of you coming not only from America 01:14 but from around the world to be here and enjoy this camp meeting 01:19 with us. The music's been great, the speakers are amazing - 01:24 the subjects all on present truth - all on the three angels' 01:28 messages. We felt like this was a time that it needed to be done 01:33 because we feel like within our own church, sometimes, that we 01:37 take for granted the three angels' messages. We kinda 01:41 caught up in a rut of life, and we forget that God has given us 01:46 this movement, a message, to bring present truth to be a 01:51 light and a beacon on a hill to this world. And it's a great 01:55 responsibility, so, from time to time, I pray, "Lord, give me 01:59 that shot - whatever it is that I need - that spiritual shot to 02:03 wake me up so that I can go be a vessel of honor for You." 02:06 Tonight, it's with great privilege that I get to- I 02:12 shouldn't say introduce; I'm sure most of you know him - but 02:15 PRESENT to you tonight, Pastor Wintley Phipps. Pastor Phipps is 02:19 a pastor of the Palm Bay Seventh-Day Adventist church 02:23 there in Florida, but he's literally known around the 02:26 world; he travels and sings around the world - sang for 02:29 every president, I think, since way back from Jimmy Carter, but 02:33 God has given him a gift, and it's an unusual gift, but not 02:39 just the voice and the singing, but his ability to meet so many 02:43 people in, you might say 'high places,' and influenced them 02:47 with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm so thankful 02:51 tonight to introduce- and also, we ask him since he's not here 02:55 very often, instead of having other music, 02:57 normally we do this and we invite someone out to sing. I 03:01 said, "Could we impose on you to maybe be your own singer 03:05 tonight?" So it's my privilege to introduce Pastor Wintley 03:08 Phipps. [crowd applauds] 03:38 No need to fear 03:42 When times of trouble come 03:47 oppression storm 03:52 beats at your door 03:56 No need to fear 04:06 No need to fear 04:10 though evil seems so strong, 04:15 their pride and power 04:20 is not for long 04:24 Be still my soul 04:30 and trust in God; 04:34 and place your life 04:40 into His Hands, 04:43 for He will never, 04:49 never fail you 04:53 And in the morning, 04:58 you'll see His face 05:02 No need to fear 05:07 Don't fear 05:21 No need to fear; 05:25 the envy and the scorn 05:30 of those who boast 05:35 in what they own - 05:40 No need to fear, 05:46 for what remains 05:50 when life's brief day is done, 05:56 their glories are 06:01 a setting sun 06:05 But as for me, 06:11 of this I'm sure, 06:15 God will redeem 06:20 my soul from death; 06:24 and He will never, 06:30 never fail me 06:34 And in the morning 06:39 I'll see His face 06:43 [instrumental break] 07:07 And He will never 07:13 fail you 07:16 No one can tear you 07:21 from His love; 07:25 and He will never 07:31 forsake you 07:35 And in the morning 07:40 you'll see his face 07:48 No need to fear 07:56 Don't fear 08:17 Will you bow your heads with me. Our Father in heaven, as we open 08:25 Your Holy Word, I ask that You would cleanse me of all 08:31 unrighteousness. Fill my life with Your Holy Spirit's presence 08:37 and power. Speak to me, through me, and for me. And I promise 08:47 You, Lord, I'll always give You the honor, the glory, and the 08:52 praise. In Jesus' Name I pray, amen. Amen! 08:59 I don't know about you, but I love coming to 3ABN. 09:03 [audience amens] 09:05 I wanna thank my friend Danny of many years. I think Danny 09:14 knew me when I had hair. [audience laughs] 09:20 And thank Yvonne and all those who give leadership. If you have 09:30 your Bibles with you, I want you to go to the Book of Revelation; 09:34 Chapter 14, verse 13. 09:40 The Book of Revelation chapter 14, verse 13. 09:46 Thank You, God. 09:51 The Word of God says - 10:27 May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word. 10:33 This Scripture we have read inspired me to look once again 10:38 at the life of one of my favorite writers in the New 10:42 Testament, the apostle Paul. 10:47 His transformation on the road to Damascus was nothing short of 10:52 dramatic and breathtaking. Here was a man who, because of an 10:59 encounter with Jesus, went from fanatical fundamentalist to 11:08 radical believer. Here was a man who went from being a raging 11:15 maniac to a magnanimous preacher of righteousness. Paul was a 11:23 mighty vessel chosen by a sovereign God, who went from 11:30 being a bounty hunter for the Pharisees to patriarch of the 11:36 Christian church. Born of Jewish parents, reared in Tarsus, Paul 11:44 was schooled by the great teacher Galileo. His personality 11:50 was a force of nature. He was a man who could neither be ignored 11:56 nor denied. Paul was a magnificent mix of some of the 12:04 finest leadership qualities a man could have. Of brilliant 12:09 intellect, unflagging zeal and determination, unbridled 12:17 enthusiasm, unquenchable optimism. If you wanted 12:23 something done right the first time, you gave it to Paul. But 12:29 when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was changed 12:35 forever. He became a new creation - a man with new 12:41 motives. A man driven by one desire: to be like Christ. To 12:49 honor Christ. To live for Christ. To sacrifice any 12:56 advantage and privilege so that he might exalt Christ. I must be 13:02 honest with you - one of my favorite scriptures in all of 13:05 the New Testament is Galations chapter 1 verses 15 and 16- 13:11 written by Paul, where he says, 13:14 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my 13:18 mother's womb (allowed me to live), God called me by His 13:23 grace to reveal His Son in me. Oh, I love that scripture. 13:35 To reveal the character of Jesus in my life and in my character. 13:45 Friends, the preeminent goal and purpose of Paul's life was to 13:50 be like Jesus. And brothers and sisters, this ought to be the 13:57 preeminent purpose of OUR Christian lives - to resemble, 14:03 reflect, and reveal the character of Christ in our own 14:08 lives and our character. And over the span of his 30 years in 14:14 ministry, Paul never wavered from this spiritual trajectory. 14:20 Beaten and stoned, whipped and shipwrecked, hungry and thirsty, 14:25 weary and pained, he languished in prison cells, held in 14:31 dungeons in winter without cloak or coat, batted about on a 14:36 storm-tossed tea, bitten by serpents, chased out of town by 14:42 malicious people (who will chase you out of town) 14:48 [audience laughs] 14:50 Paul - Paul - my brothers and sisters, this was the preeminent 14:56 purpose of his life from which he never wavered to reveal the 15:04 character of Christ in me. Paul was even delivered in a basket 15:12 over a Macedonian wall. But he never wavered. "And it is my 15:16 prayer," said Paul, "that you would let this mind be in you 15:21 that was also in Christ Jesus." Paul traveled to fertile fields 15:27 and barren lands with this gospel. He thundered truth from 15:31 the crowded marketplaces of Asia. He proclaimed the second 15:36 coming on the jagged crest of Mars Hill. He preached 15:41 righteousness by faith on the steps of the temple of Diana. 15:46 His boldness stirred the calloused hearts of men. Until 15:52 one day, the word reached the emperor Nero - something had to 15:57 be done about Paul. Through the preaching of Paul, there were 16:01 many in Nero's inner circle who had converted to Christ. Some of 16:07 Nero's most hardened soldiers were now followers of Jesus. 16:13 Nero decided that Paul had to die, and because Paul was a 16:17 Roman citizen, it was not permitted for Paul to be 16:21 crucified. So the sentence was handed down - Paul was to be 16:27 beheaded. And as Paul stood there before the chopping block, 16:32 his face was not grimaced nor twisted by fear. It was not 16:40 gripped by uncertainty; instead, his countenance was filled with 16:46 hope and joy, confidence, and peace. Paul faced his death 16:54 holding onto the promise in Revelation 14 that all who die 16:59 in Christ are not only safe, but Jesus says He will raise them up 17:06 at the last day. As the sort of the executioner was about to 17:13 come down upon the neck of Paul, in words of triumpant joy, Paul 17:19 proclaimed, "For I am now ready- I'm now ready - READY to be 17:25 offered in the time of my departure is at hand; I've 17:29 fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I've kept 17:35 the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of 17:40 righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 17:43 me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also 17:47 that love His appearing. And just like it says in our 17:53 scripture in the Book of Revelation, blessed are those 17:59 who die in the Lord. 18:03 Paul closed his eyes and died in the Lord. 18:14 And as the Scripture says, he now rests from his labors and 18:22 his works follow Him. His ministry still lives on today. 18:30 Brothers and sisters, this scripture in Revelation is one 18:35 of the most comforting and reassuring scriptures in all of 18:39 the Book of Revelation. Blessed are the dead which die in the 18:46 Lord. In this scripture, God offers to His children 3 things. 18:53 God offers those who are in Christ, what I call a trinity of 18:58 gifts, He offers those who belong to Christ 3 promises. 19:03 The first promise: that those who die in the Lord are blessed. 19:09 Somebody say amen. [audience amens] 19:13 Why? Because they are safe. Like David said, "For thou wilt not 19:19 leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One 19:26 to see corruption." So when you die in the Lord, you're safe. 19:35 Secondly, God promises honor and reward for good works. Your good 19:43 works are seen and noticed by God. And thirdly, God promises 19:50 rest from our labors. Now, I don't know about you, but the 19:56 older I get, the more I see the need for rest. 20:01 [audience amens and laughs] 20:04 And may I say, rest is not a promise sufficiently appreciated 20:11 by the young. The last thing young people look for is rest. 20:20 Oh, but we old folk. 20:22 [laughter] 20:23 The older we get, the more heavenly this promise of rest 20:29 is; the more precious it is. Now notice I said the older WE get. 20:34 Because you see, when I was young(er), I didn't need much 20:43 rest. As a matter of- can I make an awful confession today? 20:47 I have a confession to make. I have done some foolish things in 20:51 my life, but perhaps none more foolish than the day I drove 20:55 non-stop 1,500 miles to see my lovely Linda Diane 21:05 and her beautiful face. There was no Facetime back then. 21:11 [eruption of laughter] 21:16 The only 'face time' I could get I drove 24 hours with no rest, 21:24 just to see the face of my Linda. Now, almost 50 years 21:28 later, I'm older and wiser now and, these days I drive a couple 21:33 of hours and I start lookin' for a hotel. You know? 21:36 [audience laughs] 21:41 But when you're in love, you don't feel the need of rest. Can 21:46 I tell you something I've learned about love and this is 21:48 just on the side, really; to me, love is not emotion. Love is 21:53 much more than emotion. To me, emotion is the booster rocket 21:58 that puts you into orbit. And once you're in orbit, you gotta 22:04 make the best of the trip. [more laughter] 22:12 And the Lord knew we would need a booster rocket, because if 22:17 most of us knew what the trip would be like, we probably 22:20 wouldn't go. 22:26 But God and His mercy left us with enough power to make us 22:31 safely home, amen? And that's just the way I see youth! Youth 22:37 is a booster rocket that launches you into the orbit of 22:41 life. And God knew that we would need that booster rocket 22:45 because if we only knew what growing old was like, we would 22:51 ask God, "Let us start with old age!" [laughter] 22:56 And let's work this thing back, the other way. And as we get 23:01 older, the booster rocket of youth falls off; the flame of 23:06 youth dwindles, and life becomes a struggle; a harsh struggle. 23:15 Moving becomes painful. [more laughter] 23:23 I like the quiet chuckle. [eruption of laughter] 23:26 When you wanna shout, that's the TRUTH, brother! 23:33 Moving becomes painful, walking becomes laborious, we long for 23:39 rest. Rest from pain and suffering; rest from injury and 23:44 ill health; rest from fear and worry; rest from anxiety and 23:49 distress; rest from bills and burdens; somebody say amen. 23:54 [Amen!] Rest from trials and temptations; rest from the 24:00 demands of immorality and sin, and I had to throw this one in- 24:05 rest from thieving, wicked people! [Amen!] 24:12 If ever there was a promise from Jesus, tailored for modernity, 24:18 tailored for the frenetic lives of modern man; it is this 24:24 promise of rest. It is a lost discipline - we get up early, 24:30 stay up late, pushing the envelope, burning the candle at 24:34 both ends, and I'm guilty as charged. I'm guilty, eh. 24:40 Last week, today, I was in the Amazon. In the rainforest in 24:46 Manaus, Brazil and, three days ago... Three days ago, brothers 24:53 and sisters, I was in Sao Paulo. Wednesday, I was in Boston. 25:03 Lord Jesus, help me. [audience laughs] 25:06 Yester- I went home, and then yesterday, I was in Washington, 25:10 D.C. And God helped with my wife this morning and flew to St. 25:16 Louis so I could come here. So guess what - I'm goin' home... 25:26 to get some rest! [laughter] 25:31 And don't anybody - don't let anyone - don't let anyone make 25:35 you feel guilty for gettin' your rest. As a matter of fact, 25:41 brothers and sisters, I spoke with a friend of mine, who is a 25:46 wonderful physician, the other day, and he said to me that they 25:52 have found out from research, brothers and sisters, that when 25:57 you get up in the morning, people who lay in bed for 26:02 another 20 minutes - just relax in bed - it recharged the onset 26:09 of all Alzheimer's. Research. 26:20 Ohh, I know what you gonna be doin' from here. [laughter] 26:30 So when the wife says, "Honey, come on!" you say "Leah, I just 26:33 gotta stay here a little bit!" [more laughter] 26:38 Rest is a gift from God. I think it was the philosopher 26:44 Paracelsus who said, - listen to this - "Man is ill because he is 26:51 never still." Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and 27:00 are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you; 27:05 learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall 27:09 find-" what? "rest... For my yoke is easy, and my burden is 27:16 light." Now in our scripture, God says we will rest from our 27:22 labors, and what is the labor from which God promises rest? 27:29 Is it laying bricks? Digging trenches? Well, there are at 27:34 least two kinds of labor I know of: temporal labor, or manual 27:39 labor. Manual labor is the kind of labor, you know, from which 27:43 you go to your home exhausted. Now, I must say to you, manual 27:48 labor is good. Amen. I thank God I've never been afraid of manual 27:56 labor. I remember as a student in the seminary, getting ready 28:01 to pastor my first church, we lived in the seminary in a 28:04 furnished apartment. And one day it dawned on me as we were 28:08 preparing to make our first church assignment to take it on, 28:12 we had no furniture...because we were living in a furnished 28:16 apartment since we were married, so I went down to the furniture 28:19 store, and I saw a beautiful sectional...you know? I almost 28:24 fainted, however, when I read the pricetag. At the time, back 28:30 then, was almost $4,000 and I was only making $600 a month. 28:35 Some figures you remember. So I decided I was gonna make my own 28:43 furniture. So I went down... Well, first thing I did, I went 28:50 back to the store with a ruler. With a tape measure. And I 29:00 walked and I said, "I wonder if this will fit in my house." 29:03 [audience laughs] 29:09 And I measured every piece carefully, and then I went- I 29:14 bought the plywood, I bought the foam, and I built an entire 29:21 sectional. It was hard work..but I got it done. All I needed was 29:28 the pattern. In these last days, brothers and sisters, however, 29:33 there is another kind of labor that God requires of his 29:38 children. The servant of God calls it "spiritual labor." Look 29:45 at this. Spiritual labor, toil, and burden bearing," she says- 29:51 what does it say? "SPIRITUAL labor," what does it say? 29:55 "Spiritual labor, toil, and burden bearing, is what will 30:00 give strength to the church of Christ." Now, what is spiritual 30:05 labor? Spiritual labor is when you work for the salvation and 30:12 transformation in the lives and characters of others and also in 30:17 yourself. The servant of the Lord says, "The great work of 30:22 life is," what? "character-building." 30:27 "Character-building. Character-building is the most 30:31 important work ever entrusted to human beings." 30:38 Now, I'm givin' you some new stuff tonight. 30:40 Character-building is spiritual labor. 30:49 Soul winning, brothers and sisters, is not just about 30:52 telling people the truth as we know it; it is also about 30:56 helping people to grow, to resemble, to reflect and reveal 31:01 the character of Christ. Spiritual labor is helping 31:06 people to be restored into the image and character of God. 31:13 Allow me to tell you tonight how important character-building 31:18 is. Look at this: "We are daily determining our destiny in the 31:28 future life by the cha-" it's almost hard to say it, isn't it? 31:34 By the what? "By the character we develop..." when!? "in THIS 31:44 life." And then look at this. "When Christ shall come, he will 31:50 not change the character of any individual. Precious, 31:57 probationary time is given to be improved in washing our robes of 32:03 character, and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. 32:08 So yes, brothers and sisters, we have been called to warn the 32:11 world of the beast and its image. Amen. We've been called 32:16 to warn the world that judgment is in session. But we are also 32:23 called to warn the world that, without the character of God 32:27 revealed in our lives, the soul of the Christian is in peril. 32:36 Yes, we have been called to warn the world of the man of sin, 32:40 but we are also called to warn the world that it is the 32:44 character formed in this world that determines our destiny for 32:49 eternity. Look at this. "Christ Himself will decide who are 32:56 worthy to dwell with the family of heaven." Amen! Amen! Amen. 33:03 "He will judge every man according to his words and his 33:07 works. Profession is as NOTHING in the scale." It is what? Who's 33:16 preaching this!? [audience laughs] 33:20 Do you understand what I'm saying? We don't hear this 33:22 enough. [Amen.] Character decides our what? [Destiny.] 33:30 Too often we see laboring for the kingdom as just public 33:33 evangelism. We see laboring for others as proclamation, without 33:38 the call to character transformation and restoration. 33:41 That's why we bring people in, and before you know it, they're 33:46 back out. Proclamation without the call to character 33:53 transformation and restoration is an incomplete gospel. 34:01 Proclamation without transformation is an incomplete 34:06 gospel. Listen, the servant of God says, "We are to be 34:11 justified by faith, and judged by our works." The very essence 34:19 of the gospel, brothers and sisters, is the restoration of 34:23 the image and character of God in man. So what is our spiritual 34:26 labor? It is to study the character of Christ and then 34:30 conform our conduct and our attitudes- yes, I said our 34:35 attitudes. I often jokingly tell people, "You are not gonna be in 34:40 heaven lookin' at angels sideways, saying to them, "Now, 34:43 what did you say to me?" [eruption of laughter] 34:48 That's NOT happening. 34:54 What is our spiritual labor? What is our work? We have- check 34:57 this out - "We have a great work to do-" "We have a great-" what? 35:02 "work! to do," to what? "to remove every defect of character 35:08 and be a constant light to those around us, reflecting" what? 35:15 "the character of Jesus," who is the... "light of the world." 35:20 And look at the next one. "Every soul who is seeking to become a 35:25 joint heir with Jesus Christ-" is that you? [Yes.] I said, is 35:29 that YOU? [YES!] EVERY soul who seeks to become a joint heir 35:33 with Jesus Christ must consider that his," or her, "special work 35:38 during this testing period is to" what? "study the character 35:43 of Christ" and do what? "conform to that character." He cannot do 35:48 this in his own strength. [Amen.] But through the abundant 35:52 grace given of God, what can be made? Daily improvements can be 35:57 made. Now, did you know that without Christlike character 36:01 revealed in us, we cannot even preach with credibility or 36:06 authenticity. Look at what the servant of God says. "A 36:11 Christlike life is the most powerful argument that can be 36:17 advanced in favor of Christianity. Men will believe 36:22 not what the minister preaches, but what the church lives." 36:27 Could that be one of the reasons the world is not hearing us 36:31 today? You know, an old preacher said to me, "Brother, you can't 36:35 talk what you don't know; you can't lead where you don't go." 36:40 In other words, it is really hard to sell people on what 36:44 isn't working for YOU. I'm doin' my best to hold- to be 36:53 diplomatic in my language and in my words. I heard a man say one 36:58 day, "Brother!" he said. "It's hard for a bald man to sell 37:02 hair-growing cream." [laughter] 37:13 If your gospel, that you go week after week listening to in 37:19 church, is not making you more like Jesus... 37:28 If your faith isn't making you like Jesus - and I'm talking 37:31 about when it counts - you know, when you're stressed, when 37:36 you're hurt, when you're disappointed; why would somebody 37:42 want to join what isn't working for you? Just 'cause you say 37:48 it's right? How can we testify to the liberating grace of God 37:53 while we're still in the grip of Satan's power? No one will hear 38:00 us. Becoming like Christ, revealing Christ - this is the 38:06 Christian's mission in the world. Look at this - "The 38:10 Christian's mission in the world is to" what? "reveal the 38:14 character of Christ, to represent the Lord to the fallen 38:20 children of men." Too often, churches - and we've been part 38:25 of them - they focus on what I call the '3 B's.' The first B is 38:30 'believing.' Our idea of evangelism is getting people 38:34 to believe what we believe. We focus on the believing. The 38:42 second B we focus on is 'belonging.' We want to get you 38:47 to join. We want to get you in that pool once you get your name 38:51 on the rows. Believing, belonging, and the third B is 38:58 'behaving.' [audience laughs] 39:03 We want you to comport to what our accepted norms of behavior 39:10 are; and we leave out the last B - 'becoming.' We do not focus 39:18 on helping people to grow to become like the character of 39:22 Christ. Because you see, brothers and sisters, too many 39:26 who wanna be WITH Him... don't wanna be LIKE Him. 39:34 And as I prepared for this message and I studied, I found- 39:38 look at this. This blew me away. This blew me away. "As a child 39:42 and youth," check this out, "Jesus worked with His father 39:46 Joseph, and learned" what? "the carpenter's, or builder's, 39:50 trade." This was significant! "His trade was significant." 39:54 Why? Because "He was the character builder, and as such 40:02 all His labors were perfect." Look at the next one. "Into all 40:07 His secular labor He brought the same perfection as into the 40:12 characters He was transforming by his divine power. He is our 40:18 pattern." Brothers and sisters, it was significant that Jesus 40:23 was a builder because He came to build character. [Amen!] 40:30 How awesome is that? - to learn to live like Jesus and help 40:35 others to grow, resemble, reveal His character - that's the 40:39 greatest work you could be doing. And we must learn to live 40:43 like the Lord. To live like the Lord, we must learn to live IN 40:47 the Lord - live in the constant grip of the Lord. So, being an 40:51 Adventist Christian means more than just goin' to Sabbath 40:54 school, and attending church services and potlucks, and... 41:00 and teaching Bible, or giving our testimony... It means 41:05 studying the character of Christ - conforming every day - 41:13 evermore to His character. Scriptures tell us, "Blessed are 41:17 the dead which die in the Lord, that they may rest from their 41:21 labors and their works to follow them." The Bible NEVER said that 41:26 your works earn you a place in heaven. But the Word of God DOES 41:33 say that our works will follow us. Your works do not EARN you 41:43 heaven, but they will follow you. Even after we die, our 41:46 works speak for us; they follow us in our influence. Servant of 41:49 God said it this way, she said, "The blessing of good works will 41:53 follow us into the eternal world." You know, I've been 41:59 blessed for over 20 years to minister to children whose 42:04 parents are in prison. I found it in ministry over 20 years ago 42:11 because almost 70% of the children who go to prison come 42:15 from the children of prisoners. And I said, "We must do 42:20 something to be a blessing," and one of our key efforts in this 42:24 ministry is building character in the lives of these young 42:28 people. Because let me tell you something, brothers, sisters - 42:33 any of you who own businesses, you know we hire for skills but 42:38 fire for character. You know wherever you see crisis, 42:44 wherever you see loss, wherever you see setback, there is a 42:48 direct line to some deficit of character. I've noticed 42:54 something- and I'm gonna ask God for great wisdom as I share this 42:59 with you - I noticed something since I've been doing this 43:03 ministry; I've actually heard people suggest that they're not 43:07 going to invest in ministry here in America because they get more 43:13 baptisms for their money oversees. I've heard that. 43:20 Because, it's a- you know, it's a bigger bang for their buck. 43:24 But please know we must contribute to the work of God 43:27 around the world. But never should we neglect ministry in 43:33 our own backyard. And so, you know, God- as I study, God comes 43:39 up with these beautiful things- I mean, shows it to me. Look at 43:42 this. I came across this statement from the servant of 43:44 God. Here's why. "The youth in this country require more 43:51 earnest spiritual labor than in any other country." Did you see 43:58 that?! The youth in America - in THIS country - require more 44:04 earnest spiritual labor than in any other country we've ever yet 44:08 visited. Why? She said because "the temptations for young 44:12 people in this country are strong and numerous." So, yes, 44:22 one of the reasons we baptize more abroad, says Ellen White, 44:25 is that the temptations for young people in this country are 44:28 strong and numerous. Did you know that people 70 years and 44:31 older read an average of an hour a day? But people in America 44:37 today between the ages of 15 and 45 read an average of 7-10 44:42 minutes a day. We are looking at the demise of long-form paper 44:47 reading. Everything is being Twitter-ized. But I say we 44:54 should never neglect ministry at home amongst our young 44:58 people! [Amen.] I have never met a true disciple of Christ that 45:03 said, "Let me invest in ministry where it is easier to reach 45:07 people." That kind of thinking is not acceptable to God. God is 45:15 not counting heads; He is weighing hearts. This is not a 45:19 business where you go only where you get the best return. If 45:24 Jesus had that kind of thinking, He would've told Noah, "Don't 45:28 waste your time." Preaching for over 100 years... Nobody is 45:33 gonna listen to you. If Jesus had that kind of thinking, He 45:36 would've never gone looking for Paul! Or for me, for that 45:42 matter. Or for you. Aren't you glad Jesus went looking for you 45:49 precisely because He knew the devil had you? [Amen.] He 45:53 precised it because He knew it would be hard to reach you. I 45:56 believe God will hold us accountable if we abandon the 45:59 future of our young people in this country because it's "too 46:02 hard to work for them." The Book of James says, "Pure religion 46:08 and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the 46:14 fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself 46:18 unspotted from the world." I believe the children we serve 46:21 with fathers in prison are fatherless, and their mothers 46:26 are modern-day widows. And neither should we neglect the 46:30 upper class. Listen to this: "If our efforts are so conducted as 46:34 to include the upper classes, we shall be more successful in 46:40 reaching the lower also." Amen. But before I leave you, I want 46:46 to share with you two perspectives...that have 46:50 helped me to keep living close to the Lord. Jesus said, "Love 46:58 God with all your heart." The Word of God says, "Don't lose 47:04 your first love." I want you to know my life changed when I 47:09 started to understand that it is important not just to love God, 47:14 but to be in love with God. I've come to the point in my life 47:22 where I can unabashedly say that loving God is my greatest 47:28 romance. [Amen.] So much so, I can tell you honestly, when I 47:36 bow my head to pray, and I close my eyes, there in the darkness 47:40 I feel like a blind woman waiting on the arrival of her 47:45 lover. I can't see His face, but I can sense His presence. And I 47:53 can hear His voice. And loving God...is my life's greatest 48:02 romance. [Amen.] I want you to know that helps me stay close. 48:13 "Blessed are those who die in the Lord." You gotta stay IN the 48:17 Lord. [Amen.] But to stay in the Lord, you got to live IN the 48:21 Lord. You gotta learn to live LIKE the Lord. You gotta live 48:25 close to the Lord. You gotta love the Lord with all your 48:29 heart. And then, finally, the second thing that has helped me 48:37 stay close to the Lord - I was a teenager working with a great 48:42 evangelist by the name of Dr. E.E. Cleveland. And one day, in 48:49 the middle of one of his campaigns, he said to me, "Son," 48:53 Oh, I tell you, he said, "SON," he said. He said "I've learned 48:57 how to pray every hour on the hour." That moved me and I 49:05 started trying to learn how to do that, and I found it 49:08 difficult to remember every time the hour was coming around. And 49:12 when people would buy these expensive watches, I bought 49:15 these cheap digital watches that would vibrate every hour, and it 49:19 would remind me to pray. And after 3 or 4 years of the 49:23 vibration, I didn't realize it, but I didn't need the watch 49:26 anymore 'cause I was praying on the hour and IN the hour, and 49:30 before the hour. That man changed my life because he 49:35 taught me the power of living in constant, unbroken communion 49:43 with God. Tell you the truth, I even went out and built an app 49:51 for myself. It's called "Divine Alerts." Yeah, you can get it. 50:00 But I built it for me. Every hour, it sends me a message from 50:06 the scriptures. Every hour, it sends me a message from the 50:09 servant of God. It's more than just a morning devotional. It's 50:16 learning hourly to commune with God. And I've strengthened my 50:23 relationship with the Lord so much because of hourly 50:29 communion. Before I leave here, I'm gonna show with you some 50:31 things, the servant of God, it says about hourly communion 50:34 with God; listen to this - she says, "You may be in hourly 50:38 communion with heaven." Look at this - "Christ wants us to 50:44 learn..." Thank you, God, "the power of hourly, constant, 50:51 unbroken prayer. Christ..." look at this, "has 50:58 provided means whereby our whole life-" our whole life, "may be 51:07 an unbroken communion with Himself." And so, I tell people, 51:19 "Everything else in life is a distraction." When the 51:27 distraction is over, go back to the most important thing in your 51:33 life, the most important thing in my life, is communion with 51:37 God. Look at this: "It is only by personal union with Christ, 51:41 by communion with Him daily, hourly, that we can" do what? 51:47 "bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is by communion with 51:53 Him, daily, hourly - by abiding in Him - that we are to grow in 52:02 grace." Hallelujah. "If you keep Christ before you day by day, 52:07 and hour by hour, and moment by moment, you will be trying to 52:14 exemplify His character." Hourly communion with God prepares you 52:20 to join those who are covered by that promise: "Blessed are those 52:25 who die in the Lord," because if the enemy takes your life at an 52:33 inopportune moment, he may be taking your life while you are 52:38 having communion with God. 52:49 And I give you one more. "The true object of education is 52:55 to restore the image of God in the 52:57 soul. In the beginning, God created man in His own likeness. 53:00 He endowed Him with noble qualities. His mind was 53:04 well-balanced; all the powers of his being were harmonious. But 53:07 the fall and its effects have perverted these gifts. Sin has 53:10 marred and well-nigh obliterated the image of God in man. It was 53:15 to restore this that the plan of salvation was devised;" did you 53:20 know that? "and a life of probation was granted to man. To 53:24 bring him back to the perfection in which he was first created; 53:31 this is the great object of life - the object that underlies 53:36 every other." Before I leave you, a young man- I read the 53:45 story of a young man who was in a terrible car accident. He lost 53:49 his left arm. His family, to encourage him, signed him up for 53:54 Judo class. They didn't think he was going to do well, but the 54:01 Judo teacher said, "I will teach him, and only teach him, one 54:04 Judo move, month after month. One Judo move." They entered him 54:08 into the tournament. He won his first matches. Everyone was 54:12 amazed. He went off, kept going up, till he went to the 54:15 championship. And lo and behold, he won the championship. On the 54:21 way home, he said to his teacher, "How is it that I won 54:26 the championship and you only taught me one move?" The teacher 54:31 said, "Well, you see, you have mastered- almost mastered one of 54:36 the most difficult moves in all of Judo, but more importantly, 54:42 the only known defense for that move is that your opponent has 54:49 to grab your left wrist." [audience laughs] 54:55 "And you don't have a left wrist." I want you to know, the 54:59 enemy has many moves; he has many strategies and tactics, but 55:06 we have our winning move. We have a winning move. Be like 55:13 Jesus in character. Resemble, reflect, reveal the character of 55:23 Christ. Let this be your focus until you see Him face to face. 55:37 And should you die in the Lord, He will raise you up in that 55:45 last day. Blessed are those who die in the Lord. They shall rest 55:54 from their labors, and their works follow them. Will you pray 56:03 with me? 56:08 My Father in heaven, I thank you so much for this blessing. I 56:15 know the enemy did not want this message preached, but in Your 56:19 power and in Your grace, I tried to deliver it. Someone listening 56:25 today - this may be the most important word they've ever 56:30 heard. Give them the commitment and the desire to live in 56:38 Christ; to live for Christ. Till the return of Jesus, may this be 56:49 our mission to become more like Christ - to resemble, to reflect 56:55 and reveal the character of Jesus. This is my prayer 57:02 tonight. Amen. [Amen.] Amen. [audience applauds] |
Revised 2018-07-12