New Perceptions

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: NP

Program Code: NP180428A


00:00 ♪♪ [ Piano plays ]
00:10 >> I'm just gonna ask real quick -- First of all, happy
00:13 Sabbath. >> All: Happy Sabbath.
00:14 >> Amen. Now, it's such a beautiful
00:17 Sabbath, but specifically for me 'cause this week was a little
00:20 bit tougher for me. It was the last week before
00:24 finals exams. This was the time of the week
00:26 where everything was just piling up.
00:29 In the beginning of this week, I'm not gonna act like I was in my perfect happy mind.
00:34 I was a little bit down. But I believed in God when -- [ Sighs ]
00:38 I believe that, because He's done it before, He's gotten me through so many weeks like this,
00:43 that He would do it again. So when I say happy Sabbath, it's a beautiful Sabbath.
00:48 Can we say that one more time? Can we just say, "Happy Sabbath"?
00:51 >> All: Happy Sabbath. >> It's a beautiful day where I can just rest and just praise
00:54 Him and just declare His glory and how indescribably wonderful He is.
01:01 Can we sing that?
01:02 "From the heights of heights." [ Congregation sings ]
01:12 ♪♪ Sing it with us.
01:19 ♪♪ ♪♪
01:38 ♪♪ Sing it with your heart!
01:47 ♪♪ We have an amazing God.
01:57 Just listen to what you're singing to.
02:04 ♪♪ God, You are.
02:15 ♪♪ I love this part. "Who has..."
02:24 ♪♪ ♪♪
02:36 This God who imagined everything into existence.
02:43 ♪♪
02:53 "None can..." Sing it with your heart, come
02:56 on.
03:02 ♪♪ ♪♪
03:18 Sing it to Him!
03:24 ♪♪ You're singing this, declaring
03:27 who God is. With all of your heart.
03:36 ♪♪ And You are God.
03:51 Just listen to what you're singing about Him.
03:58 ♪♪ ♪♪
04:18 ♪♪ Can we just state it and just
04:21 declare that?
04:28 ♪♪ ♪♪
04:40 Our God is so amazing! Can we just sing that to Him?
04:49 ♪♪ ♪♪
05:01 Our God is so great. He madeeverythingwith just a
05:05 single thought. There's nothing too strong for
05:08 our God. "All powerful."
05:15 ♪♪ ♪♪
05:26 I love this next part. "Incomparable."
05:29 [ Volume lowers ]
05:35 ♪♪ Whoo!
05:40 Do you understand what... We don't even see the depths of
05:45 ourownhearts, and God knows everything we're ashamed of but
05:48 still loves us. Keep singing that.
05:54 Ah!
05:58 My sinful heart. You don't love me just enough,
06:03 but You love me just the same. Can we sing that one last time?
06:11 Just sing it to Him.
06:18 ♪♪ ♪♪
06:31 Somebody needs to hear that, just the voices.
06:33 Somebody needs to hear that. "Incomparable."
06:38 This is for someone.
06:45 ♪♪ ♪♪
06:57 Amen. Amen.
07:05 [ "Agnus Dei" plays ]
07:12 This is the song I imagine we're gonna sing in heaven, when we just pour our crowns down to
07:17 Him, when we're shielding our faces. This song is so simple because
07:24 all you can just say is just, "Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty reigns."
07:30 Holy are You, Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Lamb. Sometimes, I don't even need to
07:37 ask God for anything. All I just do is praise Him, praise Him because I know He's
07:42 taking care of my problems before I even ask. Can we do that when we sing this
07:47 song? Can we just simply praise Him, not asking anything, just praise
07:52 Him because it's already done?
07:58 "Alleluia."
08:04 ♪♪ Sing it to Him.
08:14 ♪♪ Imagine being right in heaven,
08:24 God before him, just declaring to him.
08:32 ♪♪ "For the Lord."
08:48 ♪♪ Just sing it to Him 'cause it's
08:52 His song.
08:58 ♪♪ ♪♪
09:18 ♪♪ Sing to Him!
09:28 ♪♪ ♪♪
09:43 Sing it to Him.
09:48 ♪♪ ♪♪
10:08 ♪♪ ♪♪
10:19 Sing that again.
10:24 ♪♪ ♪♪
10:44 ♪♪ Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
10:48 [ Song ends, "Total Praise" plays ]
10:56 ♪♪ This is your song for Him.
11:05 ♪♪ Sing it to Him.
11:10 Our help comes from Him.
11:17 ♪♪ We all have things that we need
11:20 to give to God.
11:27 ♪♪ ♪♪
11:39 Don't worry about anyone around you.
11:42 Don't worry about anything you see.
11:44 Don't worry about feeling insecure.
11:47 Give God the praise that's on your heart.
11:50 This is you and God. Sing it to Him.
12:01 ♪♪ It's your time with God.
12:12 ♪♪ ♪♪
12:32 ♪♪ Sing, "Lord."
12:39 ♪♪ Just give it to Him in this
12:50 moment. I don't know what's on your
12:52 heart, what you need to tell Him, but tell Him right now.
12:55 This is your time with God. It doesn't matter how long it's
12:59 been since you talked to God. It doesn't matter how long.
13:02 You're here right now. You're here right now with Him.
13:06 You're here right now.
13:13 ♪♪ Sing it to Him.
13:20 ♪♪ Lord, You're so good.
13:28 No matter what we're going through, You can take care of
13:30 it, God. Somebody needs to hear this,
13:34 God. Somebody needs to hear this.
13:36 I believe in Your power. I declare Your power in the Name
13:40 of Jesus.
13:46 ♪♪ [ Applause ]
13:59 ♪♪ ♪♪
14:16 Give it to God right now. Don't worry about the people
14:20 around you.
14:27 Amen.
14:32 ♪♪ Such a powerful, mighty God we
14:44 have. All we can say is amen to Your
14:47 glory and Your Name.
14:54 ♪♪ ♪♪
15:12 [ Flourish ] Hallelujah!
15:15 [ Song ends, applause ]
15:19 >> Happy Sabbath to you. Is this the last Sabbath of April?
15:22 It is! This is the last Sabbath at Andrews University, except they
15:25 start May Express in just a few days, and then they'll go plowing right through the
15:29 summer. And you have a few more weeks at your schools, I know.
15:32 I know you do, but it's nice to see you on this beautiful, beautiful -- as Chaplain José
15:38 said, "At last, a Sabbath in spring." Nice to have you. God bless you.
15:44 Say, I was in Thailand just a few days ago, and so we're in
15:49 this beautiful "Garden of Eden."
15:53 I'd never been in a place like this, and there were a bunch of missionaries with their
15:57 children -- over 200 of them -- and we were meeting together and worshiping every day, and
16:01 they're just getting rested and refreshed from the Adventist Frontier Missions
16:05 global retreat. They came from all over the world, and I want to show you a
16:08 beautiful place that they went to. This is in Chiang Mai, the
16:11 second-largest city in Thailand. So there's some of the places where they were staying.
16:16 Let's see the dining room. Oh, there's a -- Look at all those lily pads.
16:20 You can see some of them budding. But I must tell you this, boys
16:23 and girls. It was like a garden. It was like the Garden of Eden,
16:26 and I saw animals there. I saw animals, very strange animals, but I'm gonna show them
16:32 to you, and I want to see how good you are in spotting animals, okay?
16:36 So you have your eyes ready to go? Look at these two screens.
16:39 Here we go. First animal, please. Oh, there he is.
16:42 What is that? >> Bunny rabbit? >> A bunny. You nailed it.
16:46 It is a bunny. Can't you see that bunny? Look at those floppy ears and
16:51 that eye just watching. Very good. Well, do you know what that
16:54 bunny's made out of? Let's see another one. We'll find out.
16:57 Oh! I bet you can't recognize those. >> Together: Elephants!
17:00 >> Those are elephants. Do you see the mommy elephant and the little baby holding on
17:03 to the mommy's tail? Oh, look at those elephants. Those are all bushes.
17:08 You see the bush here? The elephant comes right up out of the bush, and the gardeners,
17:13 hundreds of gardeners, who just shape the branches until it turns into the shape of an
17:17 elephant. Let's see the next one. You won't get this one.
17:20 Oh! Out of -- [ Indistinct shouting ] Can you see the dolphins?
17:24 Boy, you got good eyes. I didn't think you'd see those at all, jumping over the water.
17:28 They're made out of -- It's just a growing bush. Oh, you're not gonna get the
17:32 next one. I know you won't get the next one.
17:34 Yeah! >> Together: Dinosaur! >> Oh, I'm sorry.
17:37 [ Chuckles ] You got it. Yeah, look at that dinosaur. "Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
17:43 >> It's made of a bush! >> What? >> It's made out of a bush.
17:46 >> It's made out of a bush. You're absolutely right. Let's see if this next one is
17:49 made out of a bush. Ooh! More -- What are those? >> Together: Bunnies!
17:54 >> Hey, listen, if somebody could shape your life and grow your life and turn your branches
18:00 this way and that way, would you want to be made to look like a bunny?
18:05 >> Together: No! >> Would you like to look like a dinosaur?
18:08 >> Together: No! >> How 'bout an elephant? >> Together: No!
18:12 >> Do you know what? Jesus says, "I'm the vine, you're the branches.
18:16 I'll train you until you look like... me!"
18:20 He says, "You'll look just like me." I don't want to grow up and look
18:23 like an animal, do you? >> Together: No! >> I want to grow up and look
18:27 just like Jesus. He says, "I can do it. I'll be the vine, you be the
18:32 branches, and I will train your little life to look just...like...me."
18:37 How many want Jesus to just keep working on us till we look just like Him?
18:42 Yep. Me too. And, Jovan, you got me before the service began.
18:50 I had you on hold. Come on. Come on up. Jovan, grab a microphone when
18:54 you come. There's got to be one somewhere. There it is.
18:58 We're gonna pray with Jovan. He's gonna lead us in prayer. He's gonna thank Jesus for
19:02 [Whispering] shaping us into His own likeness. [ Normal voice ] Let's close our
19:05 eyes and fold our hands. Jovan? >> Dear God, we give You thanks
19:09 for bringing all of us together as a family, and we ask that You bless all of us who may be going
19:14 through hard times and ask You to bless everyone who is sitting here today.
19:18 And we give You thanks for having us all together as we worship You, dear Father.
19:23 >> Amen. >> In the Name, we pray. Amen. >> Amen.
19:25 Beautiful prayer, Jovan. You can be saying that as you go back to your seat now with
19:30 Jovan. Just say, "Thank you, Jesus. You're a wonderful Savior."
19:34 Bless you. Happy Sabbath, everybody.
19:40 >> Oh, God, we are glad to be alive. We are glad to be here.
19:43 We are glad to know that it is Your house and this is Your presence.
19:48 We linger just a little longer. If You have a word for us, now would be the time to send it
19:53 through, clean out the distractions and the clutter, get through to our hearts.
20:00 Somebody's gonna get called to do the impossible through You. And we want to know, "Are You
20:09 thinking about me? Are You thinking about him, about her?"
20:13 Speak, Lord. Your servant heareth. In Jesus' name, we pray.
20:19 Amen.
20:21 Speaking of joy and attitude, a joyful attitude, somebody wrote
20:25 this. It says, "Author unknown."
20:27 Probably by that famous author "Anon E. Moose." [anonymous]
20:31 [ Laughter ] This is just 10 lines long, but let me share it with you.
20:35 "There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed that she
20:40 only had three hairs on her head." It can happen.
20:44 "'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today.'"
20:46 [ Laughter ] "So she did, and she had a
20:48 wonderful day. The next day, she woke up and
20:50 looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on
20:53 her head. 'Mm,' she said, 'I think I'll
20:56 part my hair down the middle today.'"
20:58 [ Laughter ]
20:59 "And she did and had a grand day. The next day, she woke up and
21:02 looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
21:05 'Well,' she said, 'today I think I'll wear my hair in a ponytail.'"
21:07 [ Laughter ] "And she did, and she had a fun, fun day.
21:11 The next day --" [ Gasps ] "The next day, she woke up and
21:13 looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
21:16 'Yippee!' she exclaimed. 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'"
21:20 [ Laughter, applause ] That's the deal with attitude -- attitude, attitude.
21:26 Attitude of joy. Yes can do. That's what we're calling it
21:29 around here, the "yes can do" attitude. I love the way that popular
21:32 writer Chuck Swindoll put it. We open this little three-parter that ends right now -- we opened
21:37 it with Swindoll's words.
21:39 Put it on the screen for you again.
21:41 Take a look at this. Isn't this something that just
21:43 kind of pump you up? "This may shock you," Swindoll
21:45 writes, "but I believe the single most significant decision
21:49 I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude."
22:19 Attitude. Living with a 'tude.
22:22 That's the kind of 'tude I'd like to have, yes can do.
22:26 It's what we've been reflecting on together --
22:28 "Yes Can Do: How to Live With an Attitude," "Yes Can Do: How to
22:31 Pray With an Attitude," and today, "Yes Can Do: How to Dare
22:35 With an Attitude." Some of you are gonna go out of
22:37 this place, and you are gonna be confronted with an impossibility
22:40 that anybody else without your conviction and attitude would
22:43 turn back and say, "I quit. It's over.
22:46 I'm not going ahead."
22:48 But because of what God is gonna say to you in His Word today, you're gonna realize, "I can go
22:52 over that." Yes can do. I was amazed how many verses in
22:57 the Bible really have "can do" in it. [ Chuckles ] I started a
23:00 collection of them. We opened up with the famous Philippians 4:13.
23:04 "Ican doall things through Christ --" Let's read these out loud.
23:07 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Here was the second one --
23:11 Deuteronomy, Moses praying to God.
23:18 And now today. Oho, you're gonna love this one. Job.
23:21 We're talking about Job, who went through hell in his book. We're talking about the same
23:25 Job, chapter 42, the last words in the Book of Job, from the lips of Job.
23:30 Can you believe this? Go back to the book before the Psalms, and it's Job, and find
23:35 the last page of Job. That would be Job 42. Take a look at this.
23:39 I'm in the New International Version. Whatever translation you have or
23:42 what you got on your phone's fine by me. Didn't bring any of that, grab
23:46 the pew Bible in front of you.
23:48 Job 42:1. And verse 1 simply reads, "Then
23:51 Job replied to the Lord --" Well, we got to get on to verse
23:54 2. Here it is.
23:55 "I know that You --" What? "You can do all things; no
24:00 purpose of Yours can be thwarted."
24:04 "I've been to hell and back, and one thing I know, and that is,
24:10 oh, God, you can do all things." [ Chuckling ] Wow.
24:15 "You can do." And that's exactly -- By the way, that's exactly what
24:20 Jonathan believed, and because he did, you are about to experience one of the most
24:23 stunning attitude-adjustment stories in all of sacred literature.
24:27 You may have never heard this story before, but it's in the Bible.
24:30 But before we go to the story, I want you to [Exhaling sharply] focus your eyes on a picture.
24:34 We'll put it on the screen for you. Take a look at this picture.
24:38 Can you believe that? Take a look at that. That, my friends, is the
24:42 Wadi -- that's Arabic for "valley" or "ravine --" that's the Wadi Suweinit.
24:47 It's a deep gorge that ran beneath the ancient Philistine garrison at a place called
24:53 Michmash. That's it, the ravine between two cliffs.
24:57 Now, keep looking at this picture because, on either side of the picture, you'll see
25:00 cliffs. On the north side of the picture -- that would be the
25:03 left side of the picture -- you'll see a cliff that they called Bozez.
25:06 And on the right side of the picture -- that would be the south side -- you'll see a cliff
25:10 called Seneh. Take a good look at it because right here, 3,400 years ago, a
25:16 young prince and his armor-bearer changed the course of history.
25:22 Come on. Let's look. 1 Samuel 14. Find it in your Old Testament,
25:26 1 Samuel 14. Unbelievable story. 1 Samuel 14.
25:32 We'll begin in verse 1. "One day, Jonathan --" Oho.
25:35 That's the young prince. "One day, Jonathan, son of Saul,
25:38 said to his young armor-bearer, 'Come, let's go.
25:41 Let's go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.'
25:45 But --" Shh! [ Whispering ] He did not tell
25:47 his father. [ Normal voice ] You know why?
25:49 Because his father is moody, mercurial, newly crowned
25:52 King Saul, who is so insecure in his administration that he's
25:56 required this ragtag army to hang around in his sight, he's
25:58 got them under his thumb, and, "Nobody leaves without my
26:01 permission." "Shh! We won't tell my dad."
26:06 Verse 2.
26:14 "...among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod."
26:16 That's the clothing of a high priest.
26:18 "He was a son of Ichabod's brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas,
26:21 son of --" the famous high priest Eli -- everybody knows
26:24 Eli -- "the Lord's priest in Shiloh.
26:26 No one was aware that Jonathan had left."
26:28 Now verse 4. "On each side of the pass that
26:31 Jonathan intended to cut across to reach the Philistine outpost
26:34 was a cliff --" we just saw that picture -- "one was called Bozez
26:37 and the other was Seneh."
26:46 Where Saul is camped. Put it on the screen again. Take a look so now you can
26:51 picture this. The boys are on the right side of the picture, all right?
26:54 That's the south side. At this moment, they're behind a boulder.
26:59 They have no binoculars, no little telescope. They have to shield their eyes.
27:02 They're looking around the rock, and Jonathan is saying, "Hey, see.
27:05 [ Whispering ] Look, look, look. That's it, other side. We'll have to go up the north
27:09 face, but up atop, you see the garrison there, the soldiers. Shh, shh, shh! There they are."
27:14 [ Normal voice ] As they survey the scene, you could see the two of them scanning the north face.
27:20 "Where would we go?"
27:21 Then Jonathan speaks. Verse 6. "Jonathan said to his young
27:24 armor-bearer, 'Come, come. Let's go over to the outpost of
27:27 those uncircumcised men." That's code language for pagan.
27:30 "Let's go to those pagans. We're gonna go to that
27:33 fortress." "Perhaps the Lord will act in
27:36 our behalf." Oho, this is something else.
27:45 Hey, listen, ladies and gentlemen, don't you just love that kind of an attitude?
27:47 Yes can do! I mean, here he is. "Bro, I think we can do it.
27:55 We'll go down this cliff, and then we'll cross the ravine, and we'll call them.
27:59 [ Whistles ] We'll get their attention. And then we'll go up.
28:04 We'll climb up the north face all the way to the top." [ Scoffs ]
28:11 Can -- "Listen, by way I got it figured, there are only two of us -- 600 back with my dad, but,
28:15 listen, what's that matter? 2, 600 -- doesn't matter how many God needs.
28:18 He can do it by two, He can do it by many. He can save Israel."
28:24 And then notice verse 7. The armor-bearer responds. You put yourself in the
28:27 armor-bearer's place, and you've just heard this proposal."
28:30 The armor-bearer says in verse 7, "Yo, prince..."
28:41 You know why that man is responding that way?
28:42 I'll tell you why.
28:44 Because people love hanging around a leader with a "yes can do" attitude.
28:47 People love to follow somebody who says, "Yes can do. We can do it."
28:50 If the leader's wimpin' around, if the leader's whining around -- "The circumstances are
28:54 poor for us. We're just not gonna make it. I'm so sad that the story has
28:58 turned out this way." Nobody wants to hang around with a leader like that.
29:01 You want to hang around with somebody, you hang around with a man or a woman that believes,
29:05 "We can do this in the power of God. We can do this.
29:08 Let's not turn back. Let's keep going forward. We'll go up that rock."
29:13 "Yes, sir. I'm with you all the way." "Patriarchs and Prophets," by
29:18 the way, tells us that, when they're hiding behind that boulder before they go down,
29:21 the boys bow down on their faces before the God of Israel.
29:25 Put "Patriarchs and Prophets" on the screen for you.
29:28 "With earnest prayer to the --" capital G -- "Guide of their
29:31 fathers, these two young men agreed upon a sign by which they
29:34 might determine how to proceed." Now, I got to tell you
29:37 something. This sign is ingenious.
29:39 It is a gutsy sort of sign. You're gonna have to admit this.
29:43 And Jonathan now says, "I'm thinking we ought to do this." "Are you serious?"
29:47 Lookit. Go down to verse 8. So, Jonathan, after they pray, says, "Okay, look, look, look.
29:52 Come on, then. Here's what we do. We'll cross over toward them and
29:56 let them see us." So that's that whistle. [ Whistles sharply ]
29:58 "We'll call them. They'll have to see us." Now, look.
30:02 "If they say to us --" verse 9 -- "'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we
30:07 are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us, boys, and we'll teach you a
30:13 thing or two,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them
30:19 into our hands.'" Hit the pause button right there.
30:23 I want you to catch something that you don't catch the first time you go through this, and
30:26 that is that Jonathan -- You know what he'snotsaying? Jonathan is not embedding a
30:32 coward's retreat into any strategy that they're imagining. Jonathan is not saying, "If they
30:40 say, 'Yo, boys, come on up here...'" Jonathan is saying, "Look...
30:47 no matter what they say, we're holding this ground." Do you notice that, ladies and
30:53 gentlemen? There is no escape. "If they say, 'Yo, boys we're
30:57 coming down,' that doesn't mean 'get out of here.' No, we're holding this ground,
31:01 no matter which way they respond." Jonathan is convinced he will
31:07 engage the battle. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing.
31:13 No way out. "We fight to the death." [ Exhales deeply ]
31:20 Sure you want to follow a leader like that? [ Scoffs ]
31:27 I love that picture, by the way. You know why I love it? Because it's a picture of the
31:31 church, that's why. There's a line Jesus speaks, and we've totally gotten the line
31:34 wrong, and you'll see what we've done with it. Do you remember when Jesus
31:37 turned to Peter and He turned to his disciples and said, "Hey, I want to tell you something"?
31:40 Let's put it on the screen here, Matthew 16:18. Jesus says, "I will build My
31:44 church," all right? "I'm the church builder. You're not the church builder.
31:48 You're not the church builder. I will build My church --" and now notice this.
31:51 Jot this down in your study guide, please. "And the gates of Hades --"
31:55 write in the word "gates," because that's a key. "And the gates of Hades will not
32:01 overcome it." Now, Jesus could absolutely be no clearer.
32:06 Do you know why? Because the gates never go to battle.
32:09 Gates never go to war, do they? No, it'sarmieswho go to war. The only time gates ever appear
32:15 in a story of a battle is when the enemy has retreated to behind its gates and the chasing
32:21 army is at the gates, pounding on the gates to get the enemy. That's what Jesus is describing
32:27 here. This is not a defensive posture. This is anoffensivestance.
32:34 "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."
32:39 The church battering against the gates of hell, against the gates of the kingdom of Satan --
32:45 battering against those gates, battering them open so that they can rescue those being held in
32:50 that fortress. That's the picture of the church.
32:53 This is not a coward's picture. This is not hell coming to us and just beating us back and we
32:59 have nowhere to go now. It's the exact opposite. Amazing.
33:05 Just like Jonathan. We're gonna engage. "I don't care what they say, I
33:09 don't care what their response is -- we engage them!" And that's what Jesus is saying
33:15 to you and me. "Don't you worry about how the enemy responds.
33:18 Don't you worry about the enemy's countermoves. Engage him.
33:22 You engage him for me." And guess who will be with us always, even to the end of the
33:28 age. Yeah. Once upon a time, Ellen White
33:34 was shown a picture of the endgame battle. You got to see this.
33:39 I'll put it on the screen. It's in your study guide. You need to fill it out.
33:43 So, she's looking on, and here's what she sees.
33:46 "The battle raged. Victory alternated from side to
33:49 side." One time, oh, there went it.
33:51 Oh, no, there went it. "Now," she says, "the soldiers
33:53 of the cross give way." It looks like they're being
33:55 beaten back. And then she quotes
33:57 Isaiah 10:18, "As when a standardbearer fainteth."
34:00 He drops the flag. But hold on, hold on, hold on.
34:03 Their apparent retreat was but to gain a more advantageous
34:07 position." Sometimes, you are driven back,
34:10 but do you understand this?
34:12 God cannot lose. Do you understand? It is humanly, divinely
34:17 impossible for God to lose. He can't lose. He always wins. It sometimes looks like we're in
34:24 retreat, but He says -- [ Shushing ] "You watch where you -- You're
34:28 coming around a corner here. You'll be perfectly positioned now."
34:33 He doesn't lose. Keep reading.
34:36 When they realized that, "Shouts of joy were heard.
34:39 A song of praise to God went up, and the angel voices --" oh, we
34:43 have help, like your voices, the angel voices join...
34:50 "united in the song, as Christ's soldiers planted His banner on
34:54 the walls of fortresses --" now, jot this down -- this is
34:57 unbelievable -- "on the walls of fortresses till then --" jot in
35:01 those two words. Until then, these had been
35:03 fortresses held by the enemy. Do you know what "till then"
35:07 means? The fortress fell.
35:09 Somebody went up against the gates, and that fortress came
35:12 down. And in a few days, I'm getting
35:14 on a big jet plane, and I'm gonna cross the Pacific, and
35:17 I'll be in Japan two weeks from right now.
35:20 "Why you going to Japan, Dwight?" [ Scoffs ]
35:22 Why did we have the day of fasting and prayer a few weeks ago?
35:24 Why? Because there is a massive fortress called the "Land of the
35:29 Rising Sun," and the iron grip of the enemy has held for centuries the Japanese people.
35:41 And he says, "I'm not letting go. I'm not letting go."
35:46 But Jesus says, "Sorry. Even the gates of hell will not be able to keep my people out.
35:54 Do you understand that?
35:56 Sorry. It's over, Satan. I need you praying.
36:03 That's the deal. I just need you praying.
36:05 [ Chuckles ] Please don't wait for two weeks from today.
36:08 Please start praying immediately."
36:11 Because the day will come -- With all my heart, I believe this -- yes can do.
36:15 The day will come when the banner of the Lord Jesus will be planted on the walls of the
36:19 Land of the Rising Sun. In fact, I'm gonna share a promise with you.
36:25 You want something to pray? And certain is -- I'm sorry I didn't get it into the study
36:28 guide. Didn't get it into my notes until last night, but I want you
36:31 to see this. Jeremiah chapter 16. Mercy. Did you know that this was in
36:36 your Bible? Jeremiah chapter 16. I'm just gonna read it to you
36:39 'cause we didn't even have time to put it on the screen. Jeremiah 16:19.
36:42 Jeremiah is praying to God, okay?
36:45 This is dynamite now. This is dynamite stuff.
36:47 Jeremiah is praying to God in Jeremiah 16:19.
36:52 "Oh, Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of
36:56 distress, to You --" hey, God, to You -- I know -- "to You the
37:01 nations will come from the ends of the earth."
37:04 They're gonna come to You one day. Now, I want you to get what
37:07 Jeremiah's prophesying the nations are gonna say. Watch this.
37:10 Keep reading. "To You the nations will come from the ends of the earth, and
37:14 they will say --" now, listen -- "our ancestors --" Hit the pause button right there because Japan
37:20 ishugeon ancestors. Ancestor worship is what has held this island nation in an
37:27 iron grip. But they're gonna say one day, "Our ancestors possess nothing
37:33 but false gods." [ Snaps fingers ] It dawns on them.
37:39 "I can't believe this. All these gods, all these centuries."
37:44 [ Chuckles ] "Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols
37:49 that did them no good. Do people make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods," the
37:55 people will say. Isn't that amazing? The day is coming when the
38:01 unfurled, blood-dipped banner of Emmanuel will fly atop the fortress of the
38:07 Land of the Rising Sun. But you know why? Because they'll let it.
38:10 They'll say, "We've been fooled." One translation says, "Our
38:13 ancestors were fools." "We've been fooled. These gods are nothing.
38:19 They're just wood overlaid with gold. That's not a Buddha.
38:22 That's just wood. There are no living spirits when you die."
38:30 [ Scoffs ] Now, it's not over. Now, here's where I need you to
38:33 put your finger when you're claiming this promise for Japan. Verse 21.
38:36 "Therefore now G--" So those quotation marks change. They stop and now someone else
38:40 is speaking. It's God. "Therefore, I will teach
38:43 them --" these pagans -- "This time, I will teach them my power and might.
38:51 Then they will know that my name is the Lord." "I'm gonna show my might this
38:57 time. I'm gonna flex my muscle this time.
38:59 I'm gonna show my power." I have an African prayer partner.
39:02 We meet every Wednesday night. He's a church administrator, Gilbert Wari, a great man of
39:07 faith. Anyway, every Wednesday night, after House of Prayer, we meet
39:10 in my study right here at the church. And Gilbert was telling me this
39:13 last Wednesday night -- 'cause we handed out this text at House of Prayer -- he was
39:16 telling me, he said, "Dwight, I want to tell you something about pagans.
39:18 I know you're coming with all these messages, evangelistic messages.
39:21 Let me remind you --" 'cause he grew up in a pagan, animist culture.
39:25 "Let me remind you that pagans aren't influenced by the niceties of Western philosophy.
39:30 They're not moved by that. They're saying, '[Scoffs] So? That's the wayyouthink.'"
39:35 What reaches a pagan mind and heart are those two words, "my power" and "might."
39:42 It is the supernatural that engages the attention of the pagan culture -- the
39:48 supernatural. Because now, as the priests, the magicians in Egypt said,
39:55 "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. This is the finger of God. This is not anything usual."
40:02 God says, "Stand back. When I show my might and my power, then the nations will
40:08 come to me." Isn't that amazing? Unbelievable.
40:11 Hey, would you jot that down in the corner of your study guide just so that you hang on to
40:15 that? Just put your finger there and claim it.
40:20 Let's go back to that battle scene, and I want you looking on
40:22 the screen.
40:33 Now here comes the new sentence. "The Captain of our salvation
40:36 was ordering the battle and sending support to His
40:39 soldiers." Anytime you take a moral stand,
40:42 you get support from the eternal headquarters -- anytime you take
40:47 a moral stand. Talk about that in a second.
40:53 "And he was sending support to His soldiers."
40:55 Last line. "His power --" There it is,
40:57 Jeremiah 16:21. "His power was mightily
41:00 displayed, encouraging them to press the battle to --" write it
41:04 down, please -- "to the gates." This is that "gates."
41:07 This is offensive, not defensive.
41:09 Yes can do!
41:11 At the very gates of hell. What did Jesus tell us? "I will build my church, and the
41:16 gates of hell will not overcome it." Ladies and gentlemen, we have no
41:19 choice. We have to engage the enemy -- on the campus of
41:21 Andrews University, off the campus of Andrews University. There's no way you can get
41:24 through this life without engaging the enemy. You have to!
41:27 You have to sign up for this war, or they'll sign you up on the wrong side.
41:36 Yes can do. We have no choice. Ah, let's finish this little
41:42 story. Back to verse 11.
41:44 So, verse 11. "So the both of them --" So,
41:47 here's these two young men. They're in the middle of this
41:49 little wadi, and they're looking up.
41:51 [ Whistles sharply ] They do the signal, and guess
41:53 what. They're spotted.
41:55 "So the both of them..."
42:04 I want to go back to that picture.
42:06 Do you see holes in that picture or what?
42:08 There are holes everywhere. They said, "Lookit, they've been hiding in these little holes.
42:12 They're finally getting -- Their little wimpy spirits are getting bold.
42:16 Look at those two boys down there." So you can get the picture now.
42:20 This is verse 12. And so, "The men of the outpost shouted down to Jonathan and his
42:25 armor-bearer, 'Come on up to us, and we'll teach you a thing or two, boys.
42:30 Come on up. We're waiting for you.'" And Jonathan, with this glint of
42:36 faith and risk-taking conviction, Jonathan turns to his armor-bearer, and he says to
42:42 the armor-bearer, "You go first, and I'll be right behind you." [ Laughter ]
42:48 Can you believe that? Why would he do that? That isn't what it says, does
42:51 it? What does he say to the armor-bearer?
42:52 "Come behind me, boy. We're going now. Get behind me!"
42:57 A leader never sends somebody out to the front. The leader leads.
43:00 The followers follow -- if the leader has can-do spirit. Yes can do.
43:05 "Come climb with me. The Lord has given them into the hand of Israel -- not into your
43:09 hand, not into my hand. He has given them into the hand of His people on earth."
43:13 And so, "Jonathan --" verse 13 -- "climbed up, using his
43:15 hand and feet, and his armor-bearer is right behind
43:18 him, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his
43:20 armor-bearer followed and killed behind him."
43:22 And...
43:28 Keep reading. "Then panic struck the army --"
43:31 that would be the Philistine army -- "those in the camp and
43:34 the field, and those in the outposts and the raiding
43:37 parties -- and the ground literally shook.
43:39 It was a panic sent by --" whom? Sent by whom?
43:44 When you take a stand, all of heaven is on your side.
43:48 It may feel like you're just me against the world, me against all my friends, me against the
43:54 university, me against my people. It's never just you if you take
44:01 a stand. All of heaven, [Chuckles] and literally the ground is roiling
44:09 as an earthquake breaks out, and they kill each other off. The Philistines kill each other
44:13 off. They're just gone. You say, "Dwight, this is
44:17 awfully bloody to be sharing in church." Ladies and gentlemen, we've been
44:20 playing namby-pamby church for too long. There's a bloody war going on
44:25 out there, and if we don't determine to engage the enemy, we are meat, mincemeat!
44:33 Do you understand that? We either fight, or we quit. This university either fights,
44:39 or it quits. No cutting a deal. No parlaying with the enemy.
44:46 He wants total destruction. "You cut a deal with me, I'll decimate all of you."
44:51 We have only one choice. We have to take a stand. We have to take a stand.
44:57 As a Seventh-Day Adventist institution, we have to take a stand.
45:01 As one little tiny Seventh-Day Adventist young man, you have to take a stand.
45:06 As a young woman, you have to take a stand. You cannot not stand.
45:14 Wow. But the good news is, when you take that stand -- I don't care
45:18 if you live in a little village, I don't care if you're studying in a little, tiny village --
45:24 you'll wake up the next morning, and there will be chariots of fire all around the village.
45:30 Now, how about that? Is that an intervention or what? He'll take care of you.
45:35 You take the stand, He'll take the charge. You take the stand, He takes
45:42 charge. Take a stand. All it takes is one boy, one
45:46 girl, one man, one woman, and the rest is history. Attitude -- "yes can do" becomes
45:51 "He can do." Put it easier -- we can do because He can do.
45:57 That's it. Erwin Raphael McManus, in his soul-stirring book -- oh, I love
46:02 this book -- title of the book, "Seizing Your Divine Moment" -- issues an important caveat to
46:07 tuck into this story.
46:08 So you're gonna see McManus on the screen now.
46:10 "Jonathan had an unwavering confidence in God's capacity."
46:14 Now, hold on. He's talking about you.
46:16 "He had absolute trust in God's character.
46:19 He seemed resolute and sure about whether God could be
46:23 trusted or not. That was settled for him.
46:26 Jonathan's focus was not, 'What is God's will for my life?' but
46:30 rather, 'How can I give my life to fulfill God's will?'"
46:35 Some of you have been stumbling all over this campus and all
46:37 through your lives 'cause you're a lot older than the students
46:39 here, and youstillhaven't figured out God's will for your
46:41 life.
46:42 Get over it. He has a will. Just put yourself in it.
46:48 You'll be fine. Now, you got to look at this line.
46:55 McManus -- you see it on the screen -- "I know this may be a
46:58 real stretch --" this might be a real stretch -- "but it's always
47:01 right to do what's right, even if it turns out --" what's the
47:05 word? -- "wrong." [ Scoffs, laughs ]
47:08 Just because you can't raise enough money to become a
47:10 missionary somewhere doesn't mean that it isn't God's will
47:12 for you to be a missionary.
47:14 Who said making whether you raise the money or not the great determinant whether you become a
47:19 missionary or not? No, God says, "I need your choice.
47:21 I'll raise the money. You make the decision." Don't you pansy around here,
47:25 asking, "Well, it must not be God's will." Forget it.
47:30 Listen, just because you didn't get accepted into the medical school of your choice does not
47:35 mean it is not God's will for you to be a physician. You just keep trying.
47:38 Yes can do. You don't have to have that diploma on your wall.
47:45 Five months -- [ Laughs ] I'm thinking out loud.
47:48 Five months after you've started your practice, nobody gives a hoot where you went to school.
47:52 "Can you heal me or not, doctor? That's all I want to know." Just because you didn't get
47:59 accepted, doesn't mean God has said no. Just because you prayed over a
48:03 decision -- Oh, oh, oh, hold on. Just because you prayed over a decision then made the decision
48:06 you believe was God's will for you and now all hell is breaking loose does not mean that
48:11 decision you made was not God's will. God's will sometimes is a tough
48:16 way to go. McManus again on the screen -- fill it in.
48:24 "If the Cross --" [ Laughs ] This is good.
48:26 "If the Cross teaches us anything, it teaches us that
48:30 sometimes God comes through afterwe've been killed!"
48:33 "Oh, gulp! Are you serious? I could die in this thing?!"
48:38 That's what Bonhoeffer meant -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer -- when
48:40 Christ calls a man, He bids him, "Come and die."
48:43 When He calls a girl -- "Come and die, come and die." He's not calling you to come and
48:46 live. You can live forever later. "Die for me now.
48:51 Die for me now." [ Applause ] Yes can do.
48:55 "I'll stand for You. If I have to stand alone, I will stand for You.
49:00 Though all men should forsake Thee, by Thy grace, I'll follow Thee."
49:05 That's what it is. I can do because He can do.
49:09 Oh, by the way, McManus one more time.
49:12 "Jonathan wasn't choosing to die."
49:14 No, no, no, no. He doesn't got some kind of
49:16 fatalistic spirit, no. "But he was choosing how he
49:19 wouldlive." Oho, I like that.
49:20 "He left the..."
49:29 That's what you and I do. God is doing something in
49:31 history, and we give our lives to it.
49:34 I have no idea how this is gonna turn out in Japan. I don'tcarehow it turns out in
49:38 Japan. God is giving his life for Japan, and I want to be there
49:41 when he's fighting. I don't have to give some kind of report to you when I come
49:45 back. I don't report to you anyway. [ Laughter ]
49:51 I have to simply be obedient to what God -- He says, "Dwight, you lived in Japan for 14 years.
49:55 You speak the language. What are you doing here? Get over there.
50:00 We'll see. We'll see." Yeah, that's all I say. "Yes, sir."
50:06 I know you don't think it's your gift. Doesn't matter.
50:10 In fact, a few days ago, Oswald Chambers -- You got to get this.
50:13 I read this every day. This is the little classic "My Utmost for His Highest."
50:16 Just a few days ago -- this sentence on the screen.
50:19 When it is a question of God's Almighty Spirit, never say 'I
50:23 can't.'" Never, never, never say "I
50:26 can't." "Never let the limitation of
50:28 your natural ability come in." I know you don't think it's your
50:32 gift. I understand that.
50:33 I know you have convinced yourself that you simply cannot
50:35 do whatever it is that God is asking you to do -- you're too
50:38 timid, you're too afraid, you're too ungifted, you're too
50:40 average. The "I can't" excuses fill the
50:43 ledgers of heaven.
50:45 That's all God hears. Moses stands in front of Him, and God says, "I need you,
50:48 Moses, to go back to Egypt." "I can't." God said, "What do you mean you
50:50 can't?" "I can't. I can't speak." "What are you doing right now?"
50:53 "I can't speak. I stutter."
50:55 "I'm telling you, go to Egypt. I'll be with you."
50:58 "I can't." "Why?"
50:58 "I'm a shepherd. I can't lead." "Did I make you?
51:03 Did I create your mouth? Is this my mission?
51:07 Say yes to me. Say 'yes can do' to me.
51:10 I'll do the rest.
51:12 You go with me. Do you understand me? Read my lips. You're going."
51:16 And Moses got it. But we have these "I can't, I can't, I can't."
51:21 No wonder Job finally exclaims, at the end of his book, "Oh, my God, I know that You can do all
51:27 things."
51:29 Chambers is right. Look at this.
51:36 Here it comes now...
51:42 We began this year talking about the Holy Spirit.
51:45 We now end it talking about the Holy Spirit. Because if you and I have been
51:50 baptized daily -- and we've talked a lot about this. If you and I have been baptized
51:54 daily by the Holy Spirit -- We're asking every day, "Holy Spirit, baptize me today.
51:58 Please, pour yourself out on me today." If you and I are baptized daily,
52:02 "I can't" is not in the vocabulary. If God says, "Do it," you do it.
52:10 Baptized daily is what takes our fear away. Baptized daily is what makes a
52:15 soldier out of a coward. Baptized daily reminds us where all the power is coming from.
52:21 It's no wonder Ellen White, just like Oswald Chambers, is so
52:24 adamant -- last quotation before I sit down, on the screen.
52:45 "It is beyond the power of language to express the
52:48 blessings the Holy Spirit brings to God's people."
52:52 So why don't we ask Him every day?
52:56 Every day. Every day. Every day. Attitude. Yes can do. Give me that 'tude.
53:08 We can do because He can do. And with an attitude like that, I tell you what, it doesn't
53:14 matter or whether you live or whether you die, because "I can do all things
53:19 through Christ, who strengthens me." What do you say to that?
53:22 >> Together: Amen. >> Amen. Amen. [ "Jesus Saves" plays ]
53:34 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ]
53:42 ♪♪ ♪♪
54:02 ♪♪ ♪♪
54:22 ♪♪ ♪♪
54:42 ♪♪ ♪♪
55:02 ♪♪ ♪♪
55:22 ♪♪ ♪♪
55:42 ♪♪
55:46 [ Song ends ] Oh, God, we stand before You, and we sing that conviction that
55:51 salvation is through our Lord Jesus. If we stand alone, Jesus saves.
55:55 If we stand as a band of intrepid disciples, Jesus saves. As we stand as a university
56:03 campus, Jesus saves. As we stand as a nation, Jesus saves.
56:07 He saves, Father. But here's my prayer for these who are standing now -- that
56:13 man, that woman. The moment we talked about impossibilities, You know what
56:19 popped into that mind, oh, God. Yes can do. You can do all things.
56:27 Tell her now, tell him now that, with You, it is done. It is done.
56:38 And now, through Him who can do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine, according to
56:46 His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus,
56:54 throughout all generations, forever and ever. Let all people of God say...
57:00 >> Together: Amen. >> And amen. [ Organ plays "Jesus Saves" ]
57:14 >> Think of the last time someone said, "I'm praying
57:17 for you." Didn't it give you a sense of
57:19 peace and reassurance that somebody cares for me?
57:22 I know how I feel when I get an e-mail from one of our viewers
57:24 saying, "Yo, Dwight. I've been praying for you
57:27 lately." There's nothing like knowing
57:28 someone is praying for you. So I want to offer you an
57:30 opportunity to partner -- let me, let us partner with you in
57:34 prayer. If you have a special prayer
57:36 request or a praise of thanksgiving you'd like to share
57:38 with us, I'm inviting you to contact one of our friendly
57:41 chaplains. It's simple to do.
57:43 You can call our toll-free number -- 877 -- the two words,
57:46 HIS WILL. 877-HIS-WILL.
57:49 That friendly voice that answers, you tell him, you tell
57:52 her what your prayer need is, we'll join with you in that
57:55 petition. May the God who answers prayer
57:58 journey with you these next few days until we're right back
58:00 here together again next time.
58:06 ♪♪ ♪♪
58:25 ♪♪


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Revised 2018-05-04