Summer Camp Meeting

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: SCM

00:01 The hour is urgent, as darkness is dispelled by the light of
00:07 God's Word, a new day begins.
00:10 Jesus, the light of the world is shining.
00:13 Prepare your hearts to proclaim the final cry.
00:17 This is 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting.
00:23 Good evening and welcome to 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting.
00:28 Happy Sabbath!
00:30 What a privilege to be worshipping together as
00:34 brothers and sisters here on Sabbath, our theme, preparing
00:39 to proclaim the final cry.
00:41 It is my great privilege and honor to introduce the speaker
00:45 of the hour, Pastor Ryan Johnson.
00:49 We've worked with him here at 3ABN and our Dare to Dream
00:53 Network for probably over a decade.
00:57 He's an ordained minister of the gospel, serving as a pastor
01:01 for over a decade as well, but recently he joined the 3ABN
01:06 team.
01:11 manager of our 3ABN Dare to Dream Network, and his
01:16 beautiful wife, Anissa, ministers with him as well in
01:20 our Dare to Dream Network.
01:22 They have two children, Jalen and Carson.
01:25 What I like most about Pastor Ryan, he is a heart for God.
01:29 He loves the Word of God, and he loves sharing that with
01:35 people.
01:36 He has a pastor's heart, and you will be blessed this
01:38 evening as he shares, people need the Lord.
01:42 The harvest is ripe.
01:46 Before he shares, we're going to have music from Melody
01:49 Firestone and Tim Parton, People Need the Lord.
01:53 After they minister, the next voice you will hear is that of
01:57 our pastor and friend, Ryan Johnson.
02:22 In their eyes, empty people filled with care, headed who
02:34 knows where.
02:37 On they go through private pain, living fear to fear.
02:49 Laughter hides their silent cries.
02:57 Only Jesus hears.
03:04 People need the Lord.
03:10 People need the Lord.
03:15 At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
03:34 People need the Lord.
03:37 Until
03:41 we realize, people need the Lord.
04:01 We are called to take His light to a world where wrong seems
04:10 right.
04:12 What could be too great a cost for sharing life with one who's
04:23 lost?
04:24 Through His love, our hearts can feel all the grief they
04:33 bear.
04:35 They must hear the words of life only we can share.
04:49 People need the Lord.
04:54 People need the Lord.
05:00 At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
05:12 People need the
05:26 Lord.
05:27 We realize that we must give our lives for people need
05:48 people.
06:22 We had two medical emergencies here all today.
06:29 You know, I was backstage for the first medical emergency
06:35 that we had, sitting there talking to the sister when the
06:41 emergency hit.
06:44 And all of 3ABN came together.
06:48 There's a whole crew of people that you don't see all of.
06:50 They're wearing black shirts.
06:51 There's one right there.
06:53 You'll see them.
06:55 These guys are hard working and they're in the back.
06:57 And when the emergency hit, they all came together and
07:01 people were bringing whatever medical expertise they had.
07:04 And Sister Jill called 911 and it was all the hubbub that's
07:09 around an emergency.
07:11 And then there was a lull.
07:13 I was sitting there.
07:16 And I heard it.
07:19 I heard it.
07:21 The whisper of people praying.
07:26 When you stepped into the hall, there were people in the hall
07:29 with their hands up praying.
07:31 And I thought to myself, praise the Lord that this is a church
07:34 that knows how to pray.
07:37 Thank you, Jesus, that this is a church who knows where the
07:41 help comes from.
07:44 Aren't you ready to go home with Jesus?
07:47 Aren't you tired of this world?
07:50 Can't you just hear the trumpet as the song says?
07:54 Can't you just see your reflection as you walk clinkety
07:57 clink in your brand new heaven shoes on the sea of glass?
08:03 Can you not wait until you can think about all the things the
08:09 Lord has brought you over?
08:12 All the things the Lord has brought you through?
08:16 And you can say, freedom, freedom, victory in Jesus, my
08:25 Savior forever.
08:29 The sun is down, isn't it?
08:31 And the hours of another Sabbath have come upon us.
08:35 This wonderful precious time that we get to spend with our
08:40 Creator.
08:43 Can you imagine the first Sabbath from space?
08:48 The arc of the newly made world and that halo that the sun
08:53 makes when it goes down over the horizon to the other side.
08:58 And somewhere in the garden, the brand new couple are
09:01 getting to know each other and the birds are roosting.
09:04 And the animals are nesting for the first time.
09:08 And God looked at everything that He had made and He said,
09:12 that's good.
09:15 And rested on the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the
09:20 Sabbath day and holiday.
09:21 You know what?
09:21 Let's go there.
09:23 Let's go to Genesis chapter 1.
09:27 I'm going to begin in verse 1.
09:30 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
09:32 Amen.
09:34 And the earth was without form and void.
09:39 That word form in the Hebrew is tohu.
09:43 It means that it was shapeless.
09:44 It was ugly.
09:45 It was in an unfavorable geometric configuration.
09:49 It was out of shape.
09:50 You remember COVID?
09:52 You remember COVID.
09:54 We were stuck at home during COVID and I was sitting there
09:56 trying to minister over the phone.
09:58 And I gained an affinity for Cheez-its.
10:02 I'll fight you for some Cheez -its.
10:06 Man, you get a box.
10:07 I don't even pour them in my lap.
10:08 Just eat them out the box like that right there.
10:11 Trying my best to stay in shape.
10:12 But I tell you, when the band was lifted and we went
10:16 squinting into the sunlight, all those Cheez-its had me
10:21 without form.
10:26 I was in an unfavorable configuration.
10:31 Had some work to do on myself.
10:33 Come on church.
10:35 But the Bible says the earth was without form tohu and it
10:38 was void.
10:39 And that word is wabohu.
10:42 Tohu wabohu.
10:44 You know what?
10:45 That's not the only place that this description of the pre
10:48 -creation earth is given.
10:50 Tohu wabohu.
10:51 Just keep your finger there in Genesis chapter 1.
10:54 And I'm going to go over to the book of Jeremiah and listen to
10:58 what it says in Jeremiah chapter 4.
11:01 Believe that is.
11:02 I'm going to start reading in verse 23.
11:04 Jeremiah is talking.
11:16 It was dark.
11:18 Hmm.
11:27 The birds of the heaven were fled.
11:29 What in the world is Jeremiah talking about?
11:32 If you read it, Jeremiah is speaking prophetically about
11:36 what the earth would look like after the second coming when
11:41 Christ has come and gone.
11:43 The world is returned to a state very similar to what we
11:47 see in the very beginning.
11:50 Tohu wabohu without form and void.
11:52 It becomes clear that something a little bit more is being
11:56 described here.
11:57 Not just the geometric configuration of the earth.
12:01 Let's go on back to Genesis chapter 1.
12:03 In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
12:05 And the earth was without form.
12:07 Tohu and void wabohu.
12:09 And then it says darkness was upon the face of the deep.
12:15 This is what it looks like when Christ is not active in a
12:22 situation.
12:24 Your life can be without form.
12:27 And void.
12:29 And dark.
12:29 Are you with me?
12:31 Your marriage can be without form.
12:33 Oh, help me, Holy Ghost.
12:35 And void.
12:37 And I hate to say it, there's some dark marriages.
12:40 Your spiritual relationship can be out of shape.
12:44 The world is serving as a metaphor for what it looks like
12:48 before the Lord gets busy.
12:50 Help us, Lord.
12:51 Don't leave us in the dark, Lord.
12:53 Don't leave us shapeless, Lord.
12:55 Don't leave us empty, Lord.
12:57 And so I praise the name of the Lord that it goes on to say,
13:01 and the Spirit of God.
13:09 The Spirit moved upon the face of the waters.
13:14 That's what it says in my Bible.
13:17 Now in your Bible, it may say the Spirit of God hovered above
13:21 the face.
13:24 Now the original word there in the Hebrew is Marakhafeth.
13:28 This movement of the Spirit.
13:31 I love how Sister Jill was talking about the Spirit
13:33 earlier.
13:34 That word Marakhafeth, we don't have time to go there.
13:36 It shows up also in Scripture.
13:38 You can find it in Deuteronomy.
13:41 As God is described as an eagle, come on church, with the
13:47 wings stretched out, protecting God's people, brooding as we
13:52 are told.
13:53 Marakhafeth hovering.
13:55 Can you see the Spirit moving over the waters in the pre
13:59 -creation earth?
14:00 Can you see?
14:03 Have mercy.
14:05 Because you know we are living in an age where the Holy Spirit
14:08 is under assault.
14:09 Anybody ever notice that?
14:11 Jesus said he would send the comforter, sent the comforter,
14:14 and we have the nerve to say there is no comforter.
14:18 Preacher, get up and say I can see the Spirit moving.
14:20 I can see the Spirit working.
14:23 And somebody said there is no Spirit, so there is no work.
14:26 But I find that the Spirit defines himself right here in
14:30 these verses.
14:31 Let's look at it.
14:37 waters, hovered over the face of the waters.
14:40 Now the Spirit is a person, is not a force, but you can tell
14:45 the Spirit is applying a force to the water.
14:49 Is doing something to the earth.
14:53 So we have the force here and then it says moved upon and in
14:57 some translations it says moved across the waters.
15:00 And that denotes distance.
15:02 The Spirit was here and then the Spirit moved.
15:05 Now the Spirit is over here.
15:08 The Spirit is applying a force across a distance.
15:11 Now I wonder how many nerds we have out here because something
15:15 has been defined.
15:16 What do we call it in physics when you have force times
15:21 distance?
15:21 Anybody know?
15:23 Put that on the screen I pray so that we can see.
15:26 Force times distance is work.
15:33 Are you with me?
15:35 The Holy Spirit is at work right here in the beginning.
15:39 Well what kind of work is he doing, preacher?
15:41 That's a great question.
15:42 So I have a little illustration here.
15:45 This is Plato.
15:46 Man when I was a kid I would eat this up.
15:51 Even now I smell it and memories come back.
15:55 This is our earth.
15:58 Shapeless and formless.
15:59 Look now and then the Spirit of God is moving on the surface.
16:07 You know this isn't going, we need a Bible text.
16:10 Let me just put this down.
16:11 Turn with me to Psalms 139.
16:14 Now let's just see what the Bible says in Psalms 139.
16:19 If I can find it here.
16:22 The Bible says in Psalms 139 verse 7,
16:46 So we can tell from this scripture that the Holy Ghost
16:50 isn't just in one place.
16:51 The Holy Ghost is in every place.
16:53 Which means when the Holy Ghost is moving across the surface of
16:57 the water, he's moving across the whole surface at the same
17:01 time.
17:02 Look at this now.
17:03 The Holy Ghost is working and moving on the earth.
17:06 And when the Holy Ghost moves and works, look what you get.
17:13 Got a planet here.
17:17 Some shape is beginning to come into existence because the Holy
17:21 Ghost is moving.
17:23 Oh, I don't really have time, but I got to preach this sermon
17:25 right quick.
17:25 Is your life out of shape?
17:28 Go ahead and let the Holy Ghost move.
17:31 Is your marriage out of shape?
17:33 Let the Holy Ghost move and see what God can make of your
17:38 messed up situation.
17:39 I like the fact that the Holy Ghost didn't show up and look
17:43 at the messed up world and say, I can't do nothing with that.
17:46 But our God doesn't just see what is, but he sees what can
17:50 be by his grace.
17:57 And so the Holy Ghost is moving and he's moving and he is
18:01 shaping and he is forming.
18:02 And you begin to see the beauty of the earth coming out.
18:05 You see the beauty of a life coming out.
18:07 He's hovering over the water and the water is moving with
18:11 the Spirit.
18:12 The planet is moving with the Spirit.
18:15 And when everything is moving with the Spirit, when
18:17 everything is under the influence of the Holy Ghost,
18:21 then God said, let there be light.
18:31 And there was light,
18:37 but there was preparation before illumination.
18:45 See, we as people who tend to walk by sight don't really
18:50 appreciate things till the light come on.
18:53 When it gets pretty, when all of the waterfalls and the
18:58 diamonds are on the surface, then we appreciate it.
19:01 We don't appreciate it until the couple comes in church hand
19:04 in hand, until that sick person gets out of the hospital, until
19:09 that kid we've been praying for comes home off the street.
19:13 We don't appreciate it until our bank accounts are full and
19:16 there is bread on the table, but we don't realize that back
19:19 when we were flat broke and didn't know where the bread was
19:22 going to come from, back when mama was praying for that child
19:25 out there in the street, back when you were in the hospital
19:29 and the doctors were shaking their head in defeat, back when
19:32 the couple was at home fighting like cats and dogs, the Spirit
19:36 was moving.
19:38 Even when we couldn't see it, God was at work.
19:44 There's preparation before illumination, the Spirit.
19:51 And we're going to look at it.
19:53 Pray with me, Father in heaven, Lord, I ask that you hire Ryan,
19:59 and I ask that you would be with us as we examine how the
20:03 harvest is ready.
20:06 People need the Lord, and we tie it with the moving of your
20:10 Spirit.
20:11 Thank you, Lord.
20:13 In thy name we pray, let the church say.
20:15 Well, we're going to leave Genesis, and now we're going
20:17 over to the book of Jonah.
20:20 You know, we call Jonah a minor prophet, but that's just
20:23 because of the amount of works that we have here.
20:26 Jonah was all right.
20:28 Jesus talks about Jonah, doesn't he?
20:31 Did you know that Jonah is called one of the greatest
20:34 prophets there ever were in the Koran?
20:38 Yeah, there's brothers showing up in other religions.
20:42 Jonah shows up in 2 Kings as having been the prophet that
20:45 God sent to go and tell the king that God's providence was
20:50 with them if they would go and take over the land that
20:53 belonged to Israel.
20:54 Jonah did some work.
20:56 Jonah had a reputation, and I'm wondering if we can identify
20:59 with Jonah.
21:00 Let's get right into it.
21:01 Jonah, verse 1, Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the
21:05 son of Amittai, saying, Arise, and go to Nineveh, that great
21:11 city.
21:13 Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their
21:16 wickedness is come up before me.
21:19 Jonah is sent to Nineveh with a warning, that great city.
21:23 Now, we know the story of Jonah.
21:25 Many of us do.
21:26 We're going to go through it a bit.
21:28 Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh.
21:29 Why?
21:30 Well, some say because Nineveh was so wicked and he was
21:33 scared.
21:35 But if you read further down in Jonah, when the storm hits,
21:39 Jonah is not afraid to die.
21:42 If you go on to the end of Jonah, right, when he's angry,
21:45 Jonah says, just let me what?
21:48 Let me die.
21:49 Maybe not just that, he's chicken.
21:51 Jonah is a Jew.
21:53 The Jews have a bit of a reputation for not mingling
21:55 with others.
21:56 A sectarian group.
21:59 Maybe Jonah did not want to sully himself by hanging out
22:03 and eating potluck and eating veggie burger with those
22:06 Ninevites.
22:08 Come on somebody.
22:11 Did you know that Nineveh is the capital of Assyria?
22:14 Did you also know that it had been prophesied by Isaiah, kind
22:18 of did it, Hosea, Amos, that Assyria would be the tool the
22:22 Lord would use to bring Israel down because of their idolatry,
22:25 familiar with that?
22:27 Was Jonah a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea?
22:32 Did Jonah know that the Assyrians might be the ones
22:37 whom God would use to humble Israel?
22:40 Possibly.
22:42 Which means that when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, the
22:45 capital of Assyria, God was sending Jonah to people who
22:50 were the enemy.
22:52 The Lord ever send you to minister to somebody who hurt
22:54 you?
22:56 The Lord ever send you to minister to somebody who hurt
22:59 you?
23:02 Mercy.
23:03 Whatever the reason is, this is what it says here in Jonah.
23:06 Verse 3, the Lord sent him, it says, but Jonah rose up to flee
23:11 unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
23:13 We just read in Psalms how effective it is trying to flee
23:16 from the presence of the Lord.
23:18 Verse 4, but the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and
23:23 there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was
23:26 like to be broken.
23:28 Going to verse 8, and then they said to him, just jumping down
23:31 because the ship is there and being tossed and there's a
23:33 storm, they said to him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose
23:37 cause this evil is upon us.
23:39 Because you know, when things are going down and the signs
23:41 are evident, don't you know the world will come and ask for
23:44 answers?
23:46 It will.
23:46 You guys are Bible reading folk!
23:49 What does this mean?
23:51 And so they say to him, all of these things, what's your
23:54 occupation?
23:55 From whence cometh thou?
23:55 What is thy country?
23:57 And of what people art thou?
23:59 And Jonah said unto them, look at this, I am a Hebrew.
24:05 I'm a Seventh-day Adventist, come on now.
24:08 And I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea
24:15 and the dry land.
24:16 Okay?
24:18 We have enough evidence here.
24:19 Remember, what did they call, what did God call Nineveh, that
24:23 great city?
24:24 And look at the phrasing here, I fear the Lord, the God of
24:28 heaven, which made the sea and the dry land.
24:31 And also, Jonah is being sent to Nineveh to preach a sermon
24:36 of judgment!
24:37 Is this sounding familiar?
24:39 Tell you what, let's have a look.
24:41 Keep your finger in Jonah, and I'm going to Revelation chapter
24:43 14.
24:44 Is it alright if I do that?
24:45 I'm going to start in verse 6, the beginning of what we call
24:48 the three angels message.
24:49 Listen now, and I saw another angel, this is John talking,
24:53 fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel
24:56 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
25:00 nation, even the Ninevites, and kindred and tongue and people,
25:04 look at this, saying with a loud voice, what?
25:07 Who's with me?
25:08 Fear God!
25:11 Same thing Jonah said, interesting.
25:13 Give glory to him for the hour of his judgment!
25:17 Here it is, it's come.
25:18 Worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the
25:23 fountains of waters, verse 8, and there followed another
25:26 angel saying Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that what?
25:32 Great city!
25:33 Do you see the same word showing up?
25:36 Go back to the book of Jonah.
25:38 This means that God sent Jonah out into the world with a
25:43 version of the three angels message because they needed to
25:47 hear about the judgment, and Jonah said no.
25:56 Verse 12, and he said unto them, take me up and cast me
26:02 forth into the sea.
26:06 Rather die than live for Jesus.
26:10 So shall the sea be calm unto you, for I know that for my
26:15 sake this great tempest is upon you.
26:18 Verse 17, now the Lord had prepared a great fish to
26:22 swallow up Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
26:28 days and three nights.
26:30 The fish was more obedient than the preacher.
26:35 Alright, so Jonah is here going through his own little time of
26:38 trouble.
26:43 excuse me, at the end of chapter 2 it says, the Lord
26:45 spoke to the fish, it vomited out Jonah upon dry land.
26:49 Now chapter 3 begins, and the word of the Lord came unto
26:53 Jonah the second time.
26:54 Praise the Lord for second chances.
26:58 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying,
27:01 arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it
27:06 the preaching that I bid thee.
27:08 Verse 3, so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, praise the
27:12 Lord Jonah, according to the word of the Lord.
27:15 Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days
27:20 journey.
27:21 Now when I first read this I thought that meant that Nineveh
27:24 was three days away.
27:26 But actually what they mean is Nineveh was so big, it took
27:30 three days to go all the way across it.
27:33 Look at this, and Jonah, verse 4, began to enter into the city
27:38 a day's journey.
27:40 And he cried and said, yet forty days and Nineveh shall be
27:47 overthrown.
27:48 Now look at this, the preacher was doing what the Lord said
27:51 do.
27:53 He is preaching that version of the three angels message to the
27:55 world.
27:58 He begins after having been one day into a three day's journey.
28:03 Now watch this, verse 5, so the people of Nineveh believed God
28:10 and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest
28:16 of them even to the least of them.
28:20 And I used to think, praise the Lord.
28:23 The preacher went and preached the word and the people
28:26 believed.
28:27 That's kind of true but that's not the whole story.
28:29 Look what it goes on to say.
28:31 It says in verse 6, for word came unto the king of Nineveh.
28:41 And he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him
28:46 and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
28:51 The king repented.
28:53 Did it say that Jonah was standing in the king's
28:56 presence?
28:57 It said, word came to the king.
29:03 Word came to the king before the preacher got to the king.
29:08 Do you know what this means?
29:10 It means preparation before illumination.
29:15 God's spirit was working with the people of Nineveh even
29:18 before the preacher got there.
29:20 Let me make it plainer.
29:21 All of you all that are in community service, don't you
29:24 know that the Lord's been working with those people
29:26 before they show up at the church?
29:28 Every teacher that's in here, don't you know the Holy Ghost's
29:31 been working with those hard headed kids before they show up
29:34 in your classroom?
29:35 For the doctors in here, don't you know?
29:41 Now the title of this sermon is People Need the Lord.
29:47 The harvest is ready.
29:49 And people need the Lord.
29:50 We need to preach.
29:51 We need to do what the Lord said do.
29:53 We need to teach.
29:55 We need to minister.
29:56 We need to spread the health message.
29:58 But I just wanted to take a second.
30:03 Lest we thought it was us.
30:08 It's the Holy Ghost doing the work.
30:15 Also, go with confidence, friends.
30:19 Walk on out there and preach the word.
30:22 You know why?
30:23 Cause the Holy Ghost's been there first.
30:27 Go on and knock on some doors, call porters.
30:30 Holy Ghost already inside.
30:37 But I'd like to show you a quote from Christ Object
30:43 Lessons.
30:44 Can we get that?
30:46 This is a quote my dad showed me.
30:49 It says, when the fruit is brought forth immediately.
30:55 When?
30:56 Immediately he putteth in the sickle because the harvest is
31:03 come.
31:06 When the fruit is brought immediately he puts in the
31:11 sickle because the harvest is come.
31:14 Aren't you ready to go home with Jesus?
31:17 Aren't you tired of this world?
31:19 Aren't you ready to stand on the sea of glass in your brand
31:22 new heavenly shoes, see a reflection, shout Hosanna in
31:26 the name of the Lord and say freedom, victory in Jesus?
31:35 Well, the harvest is ready.
31:38 People need the Lord.
31:39 What's the holdup?
31:43 Well, there is a holdup.
31:48 We do need to preach and we should.
31:51 But there's something else.
31:54 Turn with me to the Gospel of Luke.
31:58 We're going to Luke chapter 5.
32:04 I'm going to start reading in verse 3.
32:08 It says it's talking about Jesus now.
32:12 Jesus is here at this early phase of his ministry.
32:17 I love the accounts of this and the desire of ages.
32:21 It says he entered into one of the ships which was Simon's and
32:28 prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land.
32:33 And he sat down and talked the people out of the ship.
32:38 I wondered when I read this, did that mean that the ship was
32:42 completely buoyant on the water or did they bring the ship in
32:47 close enough to the land so that, you know, it kind of had
32:50 a firm bottom.
32:51 When I read about it in the desire of ages, Ellen White
32:57 describes the swaying of the ship in the water as Christ was
33:05 teaching from the boat.
33:07 Can you see that?
33:09 How wonderful it is to sit with our Savior and the boat is
33:14 gently rocking.
33:17 You know what I think about?
33:20 The Pharisees sitting there on the land had this extremely
33:27 righteousness by works mentality and nobody wanted to
33:33 rock a boat.
33:37 Jesus preaching truth to power from a gently rocking ship.
33:45 Come on somebody.
33:48 And then what happens?
33:51 It says verse 5, and Simon, now let's go to verse 4, now when
33:56 he had left speaking he said unto Simon, launch out into the
34:00 deep.
34:02 Question, where are the fish?
34:05 In the deep.
34:08 It's okay to minister close to home where we're comfortable.
34:12 But the Lord calls us to launch into the deep.
34:17 The deep.
34:20 Into the places, the corners, the shadows where people need
34:27 to be shown the love of Jesus Christ.
34:31 Launch into the deep and let down your nets for a drought.
34:38 Verse 5, and Simon answered and said unto him, Master, we have
34:44 toiled all night.
34:46 Who toiled?
34:48 We toiled.
34:50 Whose work?
34:53 Their work.
34:54 Our work.
34:55 Come on now.
34:57 We have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.
35:02 This evangelistic crusade that we had was not as effective as
35:08 we thought it would be.
35:10 I remembered when I was a very young man there was an
35:15 evangelistic crusade they were having in South Carolina and I
35:18 was there helping.
35:19 And it was rough.
35:21 Not a lot of people came out.
35:22 I remember one night we took up offering and afterwards the
35:27 deacons are in the back and they're looking at what they
35:29 brought in.
35:30 And you think I'm kidding?
35:32 There was a dollar and fifty cents in the plate.
35:38 It's discouraging.
35:41 We've been toiling all night, Lord, and Jesus said go into
35:44 the deep.
35:45 Go at my command.
35:47 Go with the Holy Ghost.
35:50 And look what it says.
35:51 Simon Peter says nevertheless at thy word, see the
35:55 difference, at thy word I will let down the net.
36:00 And look what it says in verse 6.
36:02 It says when they had this done they enclosed a great multitude
36:09 of fishes.
36:12 Fishes of all kinds.
36:14 There was big fish, little fish, shiny fish, dull fish,
36:20 blue fish, red fish, all in the net.
36:24 Nobody said we don't want this kind of fish right here.
36:27 Jesus didn't say to make that distinction.
36:29 He said go into the deep, put down the net, and don't you
36:33 know that just as Jesus promises, he says if I be
36:37 lifted up from the earth I will draw all unto me.
36:40 See the metaphor.
36:41 See the metaphor.
36:42 The fish came into the net.
36:44 It filled the net.
36:45 It completely blew the expectations of the church
36:48 board.
36:51 And they were struggling.
36:52 But I want you to see what happened.
36:54 The Holy Ghost did what the Holy Ghost does.
36:58 Jesus did what Jesus does.
37:00 But it says in verse 6, their net broke.
37:08 Goes on.
37:10 And they beckoned unto their partners, which are in the
37:13 other ship, that they should come and help them.
37:15 And they came and filled both ships so that they began to
37:21 sink.
37:24 Yeah, the harvest is ripe.
37:27 But the church wasn't ready.
37:31 Have you ever considered that when we are experiencing
37:37 frustrating things, it's not them, it's us.
37:44 I don't know if you knew this or not, but fishermen in
37:47 ancient times spent most of their day repairing the nets,
37:51 getting the net ready to go out and fish.
37:53 They thought they were ready.
37:55 They had toiled.
37:56 They had experience.
37:57 And when the county came in, the nets broke.
38:01 And the ship began to sink.
38:05 Now, I would like you to compare that with a very
38:11 similar story.
38:13 Turn with me to the Gospel of John.
38:16 We're going to John chapter 21.
38:20 This right here is a joyous time after what had been a very
38:25 harrowing time.
38:28 Christ had been crucified.
38:31 The disciples had been, for the most part, holed up in a room
38:34 terrified.
38:36 And the Jesus on whom all their hopes had been built had been
38:39 killed.
38:45 Then the women in the garden came back, giving the word He
38:48 is risen!
38:49 He is risen!
38:50 And their hopes are beginning to build.
38:52 Oh, mercy!
38:53 The Lord is putting together a church.
38:55 There's a Gospel that needs to go into the world.
38:57 And we're here in the 21st chapter of John.
39:03 And the disciples are in a boat.
39:07 Look what it says in verse 5.
39:10 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat?
39:16 Got any food?
39:18 And they said to him, No.
39:20 Verse 6.
39:21 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the
39:28 ship, and ye shall find.
39:32 There is no argument here.
39:37 Nobody says here, but Lord, we've been out here all night.
39:41 It says they cast therefore, and now they were not able to
39:47 draw it for the multitude of fishes.
39:52 And look what it says in verse 10.
39:56 Jesus said unto them, Bring the fish which you have now caught.
40:01 And Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of
40:07 great fishes and a hundred and fifty.
40:09 That is a lot for a little boat.
40:11 And three, and for all there were so many, yet was not the
40:19 net broken.
40:21 What was the difference?
40:24 The difference was they had been through the experience of
40:28 the cross.
40:30 The difference was they had been through ministry with
40:33 Jesus.
40:35 The difference was on this side of Calvary, they were ready.
40:40 They had their hearts in the right place.
40:42 They had their minds in the right place.
40:44 When Jesus gave a command, they just did what Jesus said do.
40:48 And they were prepared for the fruit.
40:51 The fish came in, the boat didn't sink, and the net didn't
40:55 break.
40:58 Yes sir?
41:04 Net didn't break.
41:06 They were ready.
41:07 Have you ever considered that before we go out to preach the
41:11 gospel, we need to make sure that we have ourselves right
41:16 with Christ and that the work we have to do here begins right
41:20 here with the relationship we have between us and Jesus
41:25 Christ.
41:26 In fact, in fact, I'd like to put that quote back on the
41:30 screen from Christ Objects Lessons.
41:32 You'll notice I did not read the entire thing.
41:36 Let's go all the way through it.
41:37 May I have that quote?
41:40 When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he put it in
41:44 the cycle because the harvest has come.
41:50 And then it says, Christ is waiting with longing desire for
41:57 the manifestation of himself in his church.
42:06 When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced
42:12 in his people, then he will come to claim them as his own.
42:20 We ask the question, what's the holdup?
42:23 It might be us.
42:26 And Christ is working with us just as he's working with them.
42:32 The same spirit that is striving with people in the
42:36 community is striving with us and we need to be changed.
42:41 And it says that Christ is waiting to see his own
42:46 character in us.
42:48 And when he does, then he will come.
42:54 Oh, mercy.
42:55 Aren't you ready for Jesus to come?
42:58 Aren't you tired of this world?
43:00 Can you not wait to walk in your brand new heavenly shoes
43:04 clinkity clink on the sea of glass?
43:06 Can you not wait to put on your crown and then take it off
43:09 again and just throw it at the feet of Jesus?
43:12 Won't it be wonderful to think back on all that Christ has
43:16 brought us through and all that Christ has brought us over and
43:20 cry freedom!
43:23 Freedom!
43:25 Victory in Jesus Christ!
43:34 But it begins right here.
43:38 Let us not go here before we let the Holy Ghost deal with us
43:43 here.
43:47 And the Lord is just waiting to see his character reflected in
43:57 us.
43:58 Even as we go out and tell the world about his perfect
44:05 character.
44:07 How do we do that?
44:08 Well, you can preach like John Loma King.
44:12 Wish I could.
44:13 That brother got out there today with no preparation at
44:16 all.
44:20 Everybody is not called to do that, you know.
44:23 If you can't, do not be dismayed.
44:25 There's a sermon that you're preaching every day.
44:28 It's the way you live.
44:29 Go ahead and preach the truth to somebody by living the life
44:33 that Christ would have you live.
44:38 And when Christ sees himself reflected in us, he's just
44:43 sitting there waiting.
44:45 Just waiting.
44:47 I talked about my dad earlier.
44:49 I was talking to him about this message.
44:53 And we thought about this example right here.
44:57 There was a lady in our church.
44:58 Her name was Sister T.
45:01 Full name was Sister Faye Thompson but we called her
45:04 Sister T.
45:05 Can you tell I grew up in the South?
45:09 Man, Sister T had a ministry of cooking.
45:13 That lady could cook.
45:16 And I used to really like her cornbread.
45:21 She didn't always make it.
45:23 Somebody said, praise him.
45:24 Somebody knows.
45:26 But when she made it, there was great anticipation.
45:28 Cornbread is coming.
45:31 And Sister T would go and get the ingredients for the
45:35 cornbread.
45:37 Sister T is the master cook.
45:40 You can take those same ingredients and you can't make
45:42 cornbread like Sister T could.
45:45 Couldn't understand.
45:46 Do you know you can taste love in the bread?
45:50 How does that even work?
45:51 You can taste the love and care.
45:53 She'd put it in there.
45:55 So Sister T is going to make some cornbread.
45:56 What do you put in the cornbread?
45:58 Well, talk to me.
45:59 What do we have?
46:01 Cornmeal.
46:02 I hear that.
46:02 I hear flour.
46:05 Might get you an egg.
46:06 And you need some milk.
46:07 What kind of milk?
46:09 Okay, I heard somebody say almond milk.
46:11 Look, we in the south, all right?
46:18 Look, it is better for you.
46:20 I love almond milk.
46:21 It keeps me going.
46:22 It keeps me and my arthritis from acting up.
46:25 But I just got to tell the truth.
46:26 Sister T would get some buttermilk.
46:30 Young folks don't even know what that is.
46:32 There's milk and there's buttermilk.
46:34 What's the difference?
46:34 I don't know.
46:35 One's got butter.
46:36 I don't know.
46:39 Take them ingredients and put them out there on the cabinet
46:41 and just sit there and look at them for a while.
46:45 And then when the time was right, she would go and get a
46:47 pan.
46:48 Pan stayed down here.
46:49 Roll it out.
46:53 She would put everything out.
46:56 Meanwhile, the oven would be preheating.
47:01 You understand what I'm saying?
47:03 It would start getting warm in the kitchen.
47:07 And while it's getting warm, she's putting those ingredients
47:10 together.
47:11 Then she's putting the love in it.
47:12 You understand what I'm saying?
47:16 knuckles, just working it, putting it together like this,
47:20 mixing it up?
47:21 Because, you know, cornbread doesn't require dough.
47:23 That's just how I'm seeing it.
47:24 And she took it and she would pour that thing in the pan and
47:27 she would smooth it out.
47:30 Got to take it to the edges.
47:32 Because the edges is the good part.
47:34 Some folk just want to dip in the middle.
47:36 What's wrong with you?
47:41 Let it go to the edges.
47:43 Let it get to the right thickness.
47:45 Got to have the right depth so that the heat can do the heat's
47:48 job.
47:51 to the preheated oven and open it up and put the cornbread in
47:56 the oven.
47:56 Praise his name.
47:58 Shut that oven up.
48:00 And then we wait.
48:03 Now while we're waiting several things would take place.
48:06 Somebody making the table up.
48:09 That's what we call it.
48:11 Make the table.
48:12 You're setting the table.
48:13 You're putting the forks out.
48:14 If you were to come into the house and see the placings you
48:18 would know somebody's getting ready to eat.
48:21 But the bread wasn't done yet.
48:24 Sister T did not depend on how pretty the table was to
48:29 determine when to take out the bread.
48:32 Some other things were going on.
48:33 It was getting warm in the kitchen.
48:36 And when you walked in you could feel the heat.
48:39 You could begin to sweat and sometimes even in the winter
48:42 time.
48:42 It was a small kitchen.
48:43 You have to open up the window.
48:45 Let the cool air in.
48:46 If you were to go into that house you would feel the heat.
48:50 But Sister T did not use the ambient temperature as a metric
48:55 to decide when to take the bread out the oven.
49:00 You could smell the bread cooking.
49:03 If you were to walk into the house you'd say, I can smell
49:06 cornbread.
49:07 Somebody about to eat up in here.
49:09 But Sister T did not use the aroma of the bread as a metric
49:13 to determine when to take the bread out of the oven.
49:15 This is what she would do.
49:17 She would stand in front of the oven.
49:19 Come on somebody.
49:20 And she would take a look at the bread.
49:23 And she would watch that bread browning up really good.
49:27 And she would watch that bread rising up really good.
49:31 And every now and then she would crack the oven open and
49:34 get a good look with her own naked eyeballs.
49:37 Just looking at the bread.
49:40 And it wasn't until the bread was ready.
49:45 When she saw the character of the master cook reflected in
49:53 the properties of the bread.
49:56 Then she took it out.
49:58 And it was time to eat.
50:00 Come on somebody.
50:01 Don't you know that we have signs of the times.
50:04 And it's getting warm in the kitchen.
50:06 It is indicative but it is not diagnostic.
50:09 Yes, I can read the paper for those of us who still do that.
50:12 And I can see that things are happening and going down.
50:15 It indicates that the Lord is coming.
50:18 It is not diagnostic.
50:20 I can smell it.
50:22 Have mercy.
50:23 Just walking down the street.
50:25 The weather is not the way that it used to be.
50:27 Signs of the times are happening everywhere.
50:30 But don't you know that it's not until the master cook sees
50:35 that his bread is ready.
50:38 Amen.
50:40 When he sees us reflected the character then it's time to
50:46 come and take us home.
50:49 That Christ is watching us waiting on us to reflect his
50:57 character.
50:59 So yes the harvest is ripe and people need the Lord.
51:06 Let's go preach.
51:09 Shall we preach?
51:11 Amen.
51:12 Let's go teach.
51:14 Shall we do that?
51:16 Amen.
51:18 But what's the holdup?
51:21 Let us be a church that by his grace, by his grace exhibits
51:29 the character of Christ.
51:33 He's waiting on us.
51:41 Doug Batchelor was finishing up a crusade in Las Vegas, Nevada.
51:50 Whole lot of people that come in to see the preacher.
51:54 I was one of the helping pastors.
51:58 And he had given the baptism a call.
52:03 And there were people that came down.
52:06 There's one young lady.
52:07 I'm going to call her name.
52:08 Her name is Emily.
52:09 I hope Emily is watching.
52:12 After the service the pastors would go out and we would sit
52:15 down and we would counsel with the people.
52:19 Sat down with Emily and counseled with her.
52:22 She said pastor I want to be baptized.
52:26 She said pastor I'm ready to make the step.
52:31 I want to follow Jesus all the way.
52:33 Amen.
52:36 Emily didn't look like church folk.
52:42 Emily is a child of God.
52:46 And as we sat there going through the fundamentals and
52:51 preparing for that wonderful Sabbath when we would have a
52:54 baptism.
52:56 She said to me you didn't know it pastor.
53:01 But many years ago you were doing a baptism in this very
53:07 church.
53:09 And I was sitting in the back of the church.
53:15 I, pastor Ryan Johnson have this tradition.
53:21 At the end of every baptism I will look at the people and say
53:26 every single baptism is a testimony of what the Lord can
53:32 do in your life.
53:35 You see what has happened.
53:37 Maybe you want some of this.
53:41 And I had given that appeal.
53:44 And years ago Emily heard that as she went home and the Holy
53:51 Ghost began to work.
53:54 I didn't even know who she was.
53:59 She began to change.
54:02 It wasn't my job to change.
54:05 That's the work of the Holy Ghost.
54:08 Years later Doug Batchelor came in preaching the Gospel.
54:14 And there had been preparation before illumination.
54:20 And then she said the most profound thing.
54:23 You want to know what it was?
54:31 experienced the love of Jesus from all of the church members
54:38 here.
54:41 Preparation before illumination.
54:46 Holy Ghost doing his work, shaping and forming.
54:50 Pastor Batchelor coming in preaching the Gospel.
54:56 Emily going down in the water.
54:59 It was a great day.
55:02 My wife is here.
55:02 You remember that, Nissa?
55:05 She was shy and she didn't want to be baptized with everybody
55:09 else.
55:11 So we secured the church on a Sunday afternoon.
55:15 Just ten church folks standing around and a preacher and a
55:20 pastor standing in the water.
55:23 My privilege is said to her to baptize you now in the name of
55:26 the Father.
55:29 In the name of the Son.
55:31 In the name of the Holy Ghost.
55:35 And Emily went down in the water.
55:39 And brand new Emily came out.
55:45 But it was the love of Jesus Christ that she saw in the
55:51 church that made the difference.
55:54 Imagine if Pastor Batchelor had been preaching and we were just
55:57 mean.
56:00 She don't look like us.
56:03 This seat right here is preserved for people who look
56:07 Adventist.
56:07 Oh help me Lord.
56:10 But that was not the case.
56:14 And she went into the water.
56:16 And she came out a brand new preacher.
56:19 The Lord wants to use us.
56:22 And the Lord needs to change us.
56:25 So that we all together may stand on Heaven's shores.
56:34 Singing free at last.
56:35 Free at last.
56:37 Thank God Almighty!
56:40 We are free!
56:44 Father in Heaven empower us to go into the world.
56:52 And then use your power Lord.
56:54 Entering into us.
56:57 That we may be used by you.
57:01 Just as we are being saved by you.
57:05 In thy name we pray.
57:07 Amen.
57:08 You know God has plans for you.
57:10 You just walk with your hand in his hand.
57:13 And he will lead you to his destination.
57:16 He will.
57:17 And he has a destination.
57:19 May he bless you.
57:21 And as always my friends be encouraged.
57:25 God be with you.

Home

Revised 2025-06-07