Participants: Pastor John Dinzey
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH000017A
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00:30 It's a privilege to be with you
00:32 again to study God's word together, 00:34 and it has been a very interesting week. 00:41 We praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy, 00:43 and we want to express our thanksgiving 00:48 to the Lord for that. 00:50 We're going to study a topic that is called... 00:53 "In All the World" 00:56 And we're going to look at some Scriptures that 00:58 tell us that Jesus Christ is coming soon! 01:03 Before we begin, I'd like to go to the Lord in prayer again... 01:06 And so I will kneel and you may remain seated, 01:12 but we're going to go to the Lord in prayer 01:13 and ask Him to bless us with the message we need... 01:21 Our Loving Heavenly Father, We thank You so much, Lord, 01:26 that You are merciful and kind to each and every one of us. 01:32 Surely Your hand of mercy has been extended and it is by 01:36 grace and Your mercy that we are alive today. 01:42 We ask You, Father, that You Lord, will bless 01:45 with a message from heaven. 01:47 I place myself aside, Lord, and I ask You to bless me 01:52 with Your Holy Spirit that every word will 01:56 come from Your Throne of Grace. 01:58 And we pray for a blessing upon all 01:59 and we ask it in Jesus' name... Amen, Amen 02:05 Jesus came with a message to the world! 02:09 A message of His transforming grace! 02:14 And the name of Jesus has been heard all over the world. 02:20 They say that one time Napoleon was asked WHO is the 02:25 greatest general in the history and he said, "Jesus Christ 02:31 is the greatest general... because without an army, 02:36 He has conquered the world." Praise the Lord! 02:41 I would like to invite you to look at one of the vital 02:45 signs of the return of Jesus Christ 02:47 found in Matthew 24. 02:54 One of the vital signs that help us find a period of time 02:59 when Jesus will return and we'll talk 03:02 a little bit about that later. 03:03 But Matthew 24:14 says... 03:15 and then... what will happen? ...the end shall come. 03:21 How many long for that day when the end will come 03:24 and Jesus will return in the clouds of glory 03:27 and we will see Him face-to-face. 03:29 Would you raise your hand again? 03:31 Praise the lord - that day will come soon brothers and sisters. 03:35 This is one of the vital signs 03:38 of the second coming of Jesus Christ... 03:41 The gospel going to all the world. 03:46 I would like to tell you that it was God's intention 03:52 to bring the gospel to the world through His 03:55 chosen people - the people of Israel. 03:59 It was God's intention that THEY would carry this 04:03 message to the uttermost part of the earth. 04:07 But we know that in the New Testament it describes 04:13 the time when Jesus came and it says... 04:16 "And He came unto His own and His own received Him not... 04:22 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power 04:25 to become the sons of God." 04:31 Now, we have to understand that the Jews had a role 04:36 to play in the spreading of the truth of God. 04:41 I invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Romans, 04:44 Romans 3 and we're going to read two verses there 04:51 that help us understand one of the roles that the 04:57 people of Israel had in spreading the truth of God. 05:03 If you found it, say Amen. 05:21 They had the great privilege to receive the oracles of God. 05:27 Profit after profit came with a message to the people 05:31 of Israel and a message for us! 05:35 To them were committed the Holy Scriptures in what we 05:40 know of as the "Old Testament." 05:43 And I tell you that the Jews had a part in spreading 05:48 the gospel to the world, not the whole nation, 05:52 but many Jews did. 05:55 For this, I invite you to consider how much work 06:00 they actually were doing. 06:02 Let's go to Matthew 23:15, they spread the word of God, 06:08 but, unfortunately, by the time that Jesus Christ came, 06:14 corruption was growing more and more and it was spreading 06:19 even to the leadership of the clergy - even the 06:24 Scribes and the Pharisees and in Matthew 23:15, 06:29 it gives you an idea of how zealous they were to bring 06:34 the message to those that were not even Jews. 06:38 Notice verse 15, Matthew 23:15... 07:00 So in other words, they did bring the message to the world, 07:06 some of the message. 07:09 Now it is interesting to note that the truth of God 07:15 was spreading to the world. 07:17 God used circumstances in the world and things that 07:23 happened to the Jews, persecution that happened 07:27 even among the Jews... so that the Jews would leave 07:29 that area and go to another area to spread the news of God, 07:36 the real God, the Creator God that it is not unto idols 07:40 that you are to follow... 07:42 You're not to follow idols and sacrifice to God, 07:44 you are to follow the Creator God and Mrs. White 07:49 said they encompassed sea and land. 07:50 They didn't limit themselves to just land. 07:52 They went sea and land. 07:56 So they did part of the work of bringing the knowledge of 07:59 God to the world. 08:02 I told you that God uses circumstances, situations, 08:07 and things to spread the gospel to the world. 08:10 After Jesus was crucified, a turning point occurred 08:18 on the day of Pentecost. 08:21 I would like to invite you to go to your Bibles 08:22 in the book of Acts, the book of Acts, 08:25 in the book of Acts 2, we are going to read 08:28 verses 1 through 4. 08:31 Book of Acts 2:1-4, we have several Scriptures 08:34 to go through - if you found it say Amen. 09:15 A supernatural thing took place, a miracle took place 09:18 for a reason. 09:21 It was not for a testimony of those that were in the room, 09:26 but for those that were outside of the upper room. 09:29 So they went outside and began to speak the language 09:35 as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance... 09:38 And the results are presented to us 09:42 in Acts 2:5-11, follow me there... 09:59 God used the situation. 10:12 Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? 10:16 In other words, they should not be speaking 10:18 the language we are hearing, they're Galileans. 10:55 Amen! 10:57 So God uses opportunities. 11:00 There were multitudes that had come for Pentecost time. 11:05 What did they hear? The gospel. 11:08 What did they do? 11:10 After things were done, they went back to 11:12 their nations and they did what? 11:16 They spread the news of the gospel. 11:20 You see, the gospel has to go to all the world, 11:22 and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 11:25 in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then 11:29 the end shall come. 11:32 So the Jews had a part in bringing the gospel to 11:36 the world. 11:39 In Acts 1- turn the page, Acts 1 notice verse 8. 11:47 You may remember that Jesus told His disciples 11:54 when He first sent them out, just go to the lost 11:58 sheep of the house of Israel. 12:00 Don't go anywhere else, but go to the lost 12:03 sheep of the house of Israel. 12:05 But in Acts 1, Jesus begins to tell them something different. 12:11 The same thing is Matthew 28, but let's look at Acts 1. 12:15 Notice verse 8... 12:21 We just talked about the Holy Spirit descending upon them. 12:36 We read in Acts 2- where were they then? 12:39 In Jerusalem. 12:42 But the time was coming when they were supposed to go to 12:45 Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 12:50 They were to leave their home, their land and go 12:54 find the people that need the Lord and that's the whole world. 13:01 Do people need the Lord today? 13:04 Would you say Amen if that's true? 13:05 "Amen," people need the Lord today, 13:07 and I think there are people that need the Lord here. 13:10 How many people here need the Lord? 13:12 Praise the Lord... I also need the Lord. 13:16 And brothers and sisters, God, throughout history, 13:21 you can look at events, situations and history, 13:25 and you will see God removing obstacles so that the gospel 13:30 can go forward. 13:31 Removing obstacles so the gospel can go forward. 13:34 We'll talk about some of those in a moment. 13:36 But, let's move now to Acts 5:28-29, 13:44 remember He came unto His own and His own received Him not. 13:47 Many did, but the majority did not. 13:50 In Acts 5, you see a time when the disciples were taken captive 13:58 by the leaders of Israel to question them because after 14:04 Jesus died, they thought the people of Israel - the leaders, 14:10 we've killed the leader, they're going to go 14:12 scattered as sheep. 14:13 In fact, when the leaders came to take Jesus at the 14:16 Garden of Gethsemane, what did the disciples do? 14:20 Everybody ran - so for them it's over. 14:25 We got the Guy, we've got the leader - it's over. 14:28 But little did they know, they should have known, 14:32 that something would happen just as Jesus said... 14:38 "I will be crucified and on the third day, I will arise again." 14:46 Praise the Lord! 14:48 So they took the disciples captive and in Acts 5, 14:54 notice what happens in verse 28... 14:58 Talking to the disciples saying... 15:19 We'll stop at verse 28 a moment. 15:21 They had what? 15:23 Filled Jerusalem with the doctrine. 15:26 Everybody in Jerusalem knew about Jesus. Praise the Lord! 15:31 Now verse 29 says... 15:44 Brothers and sisters, what Peter said has been repeated 15:50 by others throughout history. 15:54 When they were told, "Don't do this anymore," 15:57 and they put people in jail and out they were again 16:01 preaching the gospel. 16:02 And you remember, if you read in the verses before, 16:08 they had put the disciples in prison. 16:12 You see, they tried to STOP the gospel from spreading. 16:15 They put the disciples in prison. 16:17 And as you read in Acts 5, you will notice that an angel 16:22 came and did what? 16:25 Delivered them from prison. 16:27 And what did the angel say to them to do? 16:30 "Go out and preach the gospel." 16:34 Now somebody might say, "Wow, they just put us 16:38 in jail for doing this thing, go out there again?" 16:45 Did they fear? 16:47 See, when God is with you, you don't need to fear. 16:51 When you love Jesus, the Bible says, 16:54 "Perfect love casts out fear." 16:57 When you love Jesus, you know you are 16:59 under His care and so an angel, a miracle happened 17:07 and delivered them from death, 17:08 delivered them from the hands of the people. 17:12 And when they said, "Go get those men, we want to 17:14 question them," they went there... 17:16 "We can't find them, they're not there." 17:18 "What do you mean, they're not there?" 17:20 "Didn't you put them there?" 17:21 "Yes, they're not there anymore." 17:23 And they found them outside preaching. 17:25 And they brought them again and this is 17:27 what we're reading about now. 17:29 But notice now in verses 38-39... 18:02 I'm going to add a few verses here 18:04 that I didn't put in the notes. 18:07 In Acts 5:40... 18:48 Would you say Amen to that? 18:49 And because they did not cease, you have the gospel today. 18:55 Because they did not stop, you have the gospel today. 18:59 Because they chose to obey God rather than men, 19:02 you have the gospel today. 19:07 You see, throughout different times of history, 19:10 Satan has tried to kill off the light of the gospel, 19:14 but God intervenes. 19:17 God does something to prevent the gospel 19:20 from being completely snuffed out. 19:23 And during the Dark Ages, horrendous crimes 19:27 were committed against God's children. 19:30 Some suffered burnings, some were fed to beasts, 19:40 and when you read the book, "The Great Controversy," 19:43 there's an interesting statement there... 19:46 It said, "This is strange, it's like the blood of these 19:51 people is like seed that keeps sprouting." Praise the Lord! 19:57 So God has made it, as some people say, "His business 20:03 to make sure the gospel message is alive." Why? 20:06 Because this is not of men, this is of God. 20:11 The gospel has to go to all the world. 20:13 The world needs to know that there IS a Savior, 20:17 and His name is Jesus Christ. 20:20 I would like to bring you to another sign of the return 20:24 of Jesus Christ. 20:27 And this is, what I believe, is the first time 20:31 that a statement is made concerning the period of time 20:38 when Jesus will return in the clouds of glory. 20:43 It's in the book of Daniel. 20:46 Let's go to Daniel 2, in Daniel 2, 20:50 we're going to read verses 42 through 44. 20:53 Daniel 2:42-44... Daniel 2:42-44... 21:01 If you found it, say Amen. Amen! 21:05 Let's read... 21:14 We're talking about the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw. 21:18 So the toes are part of iron and part of clay. 21:32 Even as iron is mixed with clay and in the days 21:37 of these kings - shall the God of heaven... 21:40 What's He gonna do? 21:58 Praise the Lord! 21:59 We're talking about the Kingdom of God 22:01 reigning for ever and ever. 22:04 You see, God gave Nebuchadnezzar a view of what was coming 22:10 in the world throughout the end of time. 22:13 He didn't know what it meant, but God used His servant, 22:17 Daniel, to let King Nebuchadnezzar know that 22:21 there's a God in heaven. 22:24 You see, God used the four world kingdoms to bring the 22:29 knowledge of God and to bring the knowledge of the truth 22:33 to the world. 22:36 The first kingdom was what? 22:39 I think the people left me here, are they all gone? 22:43 The first kingdom was what? Babylon! 22:46 Thank you very much... some of them came back! 22:48 Babylon! And it is interesting what happens in Babylon... 22:55 In Daniel 3, we have a time when King Nebuchadnezzar 22:59 decides to make an image and command people 23:06 to worship that image. 23:08 But there were some individuals that knew that it is God 23:11 that should be worshipped and not men, nor statues. 23:17 So let's go to Daniel 3:28-29, Daniel 3:28-29 23:24 beginning in verse 28, the Bible says... 23:49 Therefore, I make a decree that every people and every.. what? 23:58 nation and language which speak anything amiss against 24:03 the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. 24:05 shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a 24:08 dunghill because there IS no other God 24:11 that can deliver after this sort. 24:14 Praise the Lord! 24:16 So what do you see here? 24:18 The kingdom of Babylon was a world kingdom, 24:22 it dominated the then known world that was at their reach. 24:28 Dominated! And that decree about the 24:32 LIVING God went to all the nations... Praise the Lord! 24:39 You see, God used even these world kingdoms 24:45 to spread the news of the truth and the living God. 24:51 Can you think of another one? 24:55 You have the Meds and the Persians, 24:56 but I want to talk about Greece. 25:00 Does anybody remember the name "Alexander the Great?" 25:05 What language did Alexander the Great speak? 25:11 Greek - that's right. 25:13 This is the kingdom of Greece, the third world kingdom, 25:18 and history reveals that Alexander the Great, 25:22 as a young man, was an incredible commanding general. 25:28 And very quickly, he dominated the then known world 25:33 reaching far, far, far - even unto Africa they say. 25:40 So where they went, they brought knowledge of the 25:43 Greek language and the Greek culture. 25:48 An interesting thing happens in those days when a nation 25:52 was overcome by another nation, they lost faith in their God. 26:00 You see it time after time in the Old Testament 26:03 because they thought their God could deliver them 26:06 from the other nations... they were idols, 26:11 they couldn't do anything. 26:12 But they said, "Our god will deliver us from 26:14 the other nation and when that nation was defeated, 26:19 the nation that was victorious would say, "Our god 26:22 is greater than your god." 26:24 So when Greece went all over the place conquering kingdoms, 26:30 they lost faith in their gods and then the Greek 26:35 language began to spread and something happens 26:41 with 70 scholars of the Jews. 26:46 They decide to translate - what? The Scriptures into the 26:53 Greek language. 26:55 And if it's in the Greek language, it could go 27:00 wherever Greek is spoken. Praise the Lord! 27:04 So they translated the five books of Moses, 27:09 and, praise the Lord, because of this, it is evidence 27:14 of the - what's the word I'm looking for, 27:20 I'm wrestling with two languages you know... 27:23 How close or how exact the translation you have today is 27:30 of the Old Testament. 27:32 You see, God has preserved the Scriptures because the world 27:36 needs a knowledge of God, because the Scriptures are 27:39 able to make us wise unto salvation. 27:43 So the Greek language spread through the world. 27:47 Then along came the Romans in the second century 27:52 before Christ - the who? The Romans. 27:57 The Romans reigned longer than any of the other kingdoms, 28:02 and they too spread the Greek language. 28:07 Not only did the Romans do this, but they also did something 28:14 that helped the spreading of the gospel. 28:19 One of the things the Romans did in order to facilitate 28:22 their conquering of the world and being able to get 28:24 from one place to another quickly was build roads. 28:28 Roads that spread for thousands of miles - so if they 28:32 heard of a nation that was beginning to rebel against them, 28:36 they quickly would dispatch soldiers that would travel 28:39 quickly through the roads they have made to put an end 28:42 to the rebellion in that country. 28:47 You see the progress and advance of civilization provides 28:52 for the progress and advance of the gospel. 28:56 So the disciples, the apostles used these roads to travel 28:59 from one city to another, from one country to another 29:03 to bring the good news of salvation to every nation 29:07 they could reach. Praise the Lord! 29:11 But you see, God is removing obstacles, 29:14 and God is opening doors for the gospel to reach 29:17 every nation, kindred and tongue and people. Amen! 29:26 God also uses laws. 29:29 You see, God uses laws. 29:33 You see, in every country, I would 29:36 say to you, God has people. 29:38 They may not be Christians, but they hold to principles 29:44 that identify with God and His laws. 29:49 That's why today, you can go down a list of nation 29:54 after nation and there is religious liberty 29:58 practically all over the world, all over the world. 30:05 Praise the Lord! 30:09 This allows for the gospel to spread. 30:12 Let me mention a good law... 30:16 During the times of the Romans, it was not lawful 30:21 for anyone to put a Roman to death and the Jews 30:26 were upset with Paul. 30:27 He was going all over the place preaching the gospel, 30:31 so they wanted to take him and kill him, 30:35 they tried several times. 30:39 And it was because Paul was a Roman citizen 30:43 that they could not do it. 30:47 The laws protected Paul, just as the laws 30:52 protect your right to practice any religion that you desire. 30:58 Is there religious liberty in the U.S.? 31:00 Thank God for that. 31:03 You see that provides for the spreading of the gospel. 31:08 But let's talk about some instruments that God has 31:12 for spreading the gospel... 31:17 Up until about the 1800s, people could travel 31:22 no faster than the people traveled in the time of Abraham. 31:27 How did Abraham travel? 31:28 How did the people of those days travel? 31:30 By foot, by some animal, camel, a donkey, a horse, 31:37 that's how they could get along. 31:39 It took a long time to get to places, long time, 31:44 and yet, those means were used 31:47 to bring the gospel to other people. 31:49 Jesus walked from place to place bringing the gospel to people, 31:54 from village to village preaching the gospel to people. 31:59 But you see, as time gets closer to the end, 32:02 there must be a means to get to places 32:06 faster than ever before. 32:09 So even when you look at... I talked about 32:14 land transportation, even when you look at 32:16 transportation by sea, for a long time people 32:19 depended on muscle power in the water to get to places, 32:25 and the wind, but eventually they invented engines. 32:30 And they could put them in ships and get to places faster. 32:34 Praise the Lord. 32:36 So missionaries sometimes traveled to other 32:39 distant lands - it look months, months to get there - months! 32:45 But they went and they sacrificed and they went to 32:48 China, and they went to India, Africa, missionaries have 32:52 been sent all over the world. 32:54 People that love the Lord deprive themselves of luxuries 32:59 deprive themselves of food and deprive themselves 33:03 of things that you may have in this country 33:05 that are not available in that country. 33:09 Idalia and I and some of the 3ABN Latino staff 33:11 have been to some other countries and we've seen 33:14 some very rough places - people that don't have electricity 33:22 inside their homes. 33:24 We had the privilege to go to some place in Mexico, 33:27 it was just about 5 to 7 years ago - a pastor took us 33:32 in a little plane and we went to this place that was 33:35 on top of mountains and there the - I'm sorry I don't know 33:40 what they call them in English, the Huichol Indians, 33:45 it was his mission to preach the gospel to those Indians. 33:49 There was no other religious group there. 33:52 It was only the Seventh-day Adventist pastor. 33:55 Praise the Lord. 33:57 The only way to get there quickly was by plane. 34:03 If you wanted to go there by some animal, 34:06 it would take you days even in today's modern time 34:10 because you have to go on some animal. 34:13 If you wanted to venture out on a vehicle, it would be rough, 34:17 rough terrain and it took you days to get there as well. 34:20 By plane, we got there quickly and he has a church there. 34:27 Praise the Lord. 34:31 Because the gospel has to go to all peoples. 34:35 Let's talk about some inventions... 34:39 It has been made possible to identify where people are 34:45 by the use of planes and satellites. 34:48 They know where the people are - that's why you have 34:52 maps today to identify every country, every little tribe 34:58 they know where they are. 35:01 And I praise the Lord that the Bible has been translated to 35:04 nearly every language in the world... 35:06 would you say Amen to that? Why? 35:10 Because Jesus Christ is coming soon and the gospel 35:14 has to get to the whole world. 35:16 And I want to tell you that besides travel by sea, 35:21 eventually they had engines and eventually the invention 35:29 of motor vehicles came along... 35:31 I read an article where they were rejoicing that 35:34 vehicles, cars, could travel one mile an hour... 35:39 No sorry, it was a mile a minute, a mile a minute. 35:46 But today, cars travel over a 100 miles a minute. 35:55 How many people here have traveled over 35:57 100 miles per hour? Laughter... 36:02 A few dare not raise their hands, 36:04 but I know there are more of you. 36:06 You see, with cars, you can get to places quickly. 36:10 In less than a week, you can go anywhere in the U.S., 36:14 perhaps even, I don't know how long it takes to go from 36:18 one end of the U.S. to the other, but you can get quickly 36:21 to places. Praise the Lord! 36:25 So that allows for the gospel to get to places quickly 36:29 because Jesus Christ is coming soon. 36:32 But if you want to get even quicker to places, 36:35 what do you do? 36:37 You get on a plane. 36:40 While a car may take days, you may take an hour or two 36:43 to get there and I say that helps the spreading 36:48 of the gospel. 36:50 Now let's talk about some obstacles that have 36:56 prevented the gospel from getting out. 37:01 Before I talk about them, I want to remind you 37:04 that in Revelation 7, it talks about four angels, 37:11 and what are these angels doing, they're holding the winds 37:15 from blowing on the earth which is strife and wars. 37:21 Praise God for those angels! 37:25 You see, today, if you go all over the world, 37:28 you live in relative peace. 37:30 Pretty much, you can go anywhere... 37:33 With your U.S. passport, you can practically get to 37:37 any country without a visa. 37:39 There are a few that require a visa, but you can go in, 37:43 do whatever you need to do and get out easily, 37:48 business people do it all the time. 37:51 3ABN - some were 3ABN personnel, 37:53 they do it with some degree of frequency. 37:56 This allows for the preaching of the gospel... 38:00 Would you say Amen to that? 38:03 I'm trying to help you see that we don't have much time 38:07 people to bring the gospel to the world. 38:10 The world needs to know about Jesus. 38:13 Let's talk about some obstacles... 38:17 One of the obstacles that I would like to mention 38:20 is communism - it was an obstacle to the preaching 38:24 of the gospel. 38:26 And so, in Romania, there was a man by the name of 38:30 Nicolae Ceausescu, the leader of the Communist Party 38:36 and a dictator in Romania for many years... 38:40 Do you know that if you went to Romania during 38:43 his dictatorship, before you get in, they ask you 38:47 this question... "Do you have any Bibles?" 38:50 If you had any, you couldn't come in with them. 38:54 You had to leave them on the other side. 38:59 But you see, God has to remove obstacles 39:02 so the gospel can be preached. 39:04 Yet during the time of Nicolae there were, 39:07 during the time of Ceausescu, there were Christians, 39:11 but they were suppressed! 39:13 Do you know what they taught the children to say 39:16 in the school? "What's the name of your mother?" 39:19 "Ceausescu" 39:20 "Your father's name?" "Ceausescu" 39:24 "What's the name of your God?" "Ceausescu" 39:27 That's what the children were taught and many went to 39:31 prison for believing in God, so question... 39:35 Was than an obstacle to preaching the gospel? 39:38 Yes... So God had to remove that obstacle and I tell you 39:43 that that obstacle was removed. 39:46 You see, in December of 1989, that obstacle was removed. 39:55 The people were upset, they couldn't tolerate anymore 39:59 the sufferings. 40:01 Do you know what a multitude of people were chanting 40:04 in front of the palace? His palace was enormous! 40:08 We believe in God! We believe in God! 40:11 We believe in God! Praise the Lord. 40:16 A mob of people overran the palace, captured Ceausescu, 40:21 and on December 25, 1989, Ceausescu was put to death. 40:27 Freedom to preach the gospel happened in Romania. 40:33 Obstacle removed. 40:35 A man heard that it was over and he said, 40:39 "Oh, this is great, now I can bring Bibles with freedom 40:43 to Romania." 40:44 So he packed his car FULL of Bibles and he said, 40:48 "I'm going to bring these Bibles," 40:50 and he just drove and drove. 40:52 They say he drove nearly 300 miles into Romania; 40:56 didn't know where to go, didn't know where to stop. 40:59 But he stopped at a little city and he said he found somebody... 41:03 "Excuse me, is there a church nearby?" 41:07 "Oh yes! Just go down the street, 41:09 turn right and it's right there." 41:11 He went there and they just happen to be having a 41:15 church service during that time and he sat in the back. 41:18 Interestingly enough, the pastor was preaching... 41:21 "Brothers and sisters, we need to study God's word, 41:24 we need to pray more, you need to open your Bibles 41:29 and read the Scriptures." 41:31 And after doing that for several minutes, somebody said, 41:34 "Pastor, we love to read the Bible, but not all of us 41:37 have Bibles! We need Bibles!" 41:40 "Yes, I know - perhaps now that communism is dead, 41:45 we can get Bibles in here." 41:48 And the man in the back raised his hand, "I have Bibles 41:50 for everybody in here, there're in my car!" 41:54 Praise the Lord and everyone that needed a Bible there 41:58 received a Bible. 41:59 You see, obstacles are being removed 42:02 for the gospel to go places. 42:04 I heard that when Danny was talking, in different places, 42:11 about preaching the gospel and that God told him that he 42:14 should build a television station to bring the 42:17 "undiluted Three Angels Messages to the whole world," 42:20 then somebody said, "Oh that's great, it's wonderful 42:24 that you want to do that, but how are you going 42:27 to get into Russia with the Iron Curtain?" 42:31 That was back then... Danny said these wise words, 42:35 "I don't know, that's not my problem, that's God's problem." 42:43 Did anybody go to war with Russia? 42:46 Anybody here went to the Russian and U.S. war? There was none! 42:52 And praise the Lord, communism went down. 42:55 The Iron Curtain went down without a fight, without a war. 42:59 Why? Because God is removing obstacles 43:03 for the gospel to be preached in liberty and if you've been 43:06 watching 3ABN for a while, you know that 43:11 miracles took place! 43:13 And we have video tapes when Pastor John Carter 43:16 invited Three Angels Broadcasting Network to go to 43:19 Russia to record the series in "Nizhny Novgorod, Russia." 43:24 By the way, they are celebrating 20 years... 43:30 Two-thousand, I remember, 2,521 people were baptized, 43:37 and I remember the words that May Chung came back with. 43:42 You see, she was there with her little camera, 43:44 and May Chung had this ability to bring 43:47 back video that was very shaky. 43:50 And she was there with her little camera when the doors 43:55 were closed of the palace of sports in Nizhny, 43:57 and the doors were closed and the people were outside 44:03 wanting to get in. 44:04 Wouldn't it be wonderful if in every church there were 44:07 people outside wanting to get in, 44:10 but they shut the doors because no more people could come in. 44:14 They had every seat accounted for, 44:18 but yet, the people wanted to come in. 44:20 And there was one man that May Chung said, 44:22 "What is that man, there, saying?" 44:24 An elderly man... "What is he saying?" 44:26 And the translator listened and he said, 44:30 "This man is saying, "We have waited for 72 years to hear 44:36 the preaching of God's word, let us in." Praise the Lord! 44:43 And you know what? Many of them did get in. 44:47 You see, when people want to do something, 44:50 they find A? WAY! 44:53 People went around to the back of the building, 44:57 and there was a window broken. 44:58 I don't know if they broke it, but they went in through a 45:00 broken window, into the basement and went 45:04 to find a place to sit - there were no 45:07 seats so they were standing. 45:08 So every night for several days, they were saying, 45:12 "Well what are all these people doing standing?" 45:16 Because they went through the basement and they came in 45:18 because they wanted to hear God's word, being preached. 45:22 Praise the Lord. 45:23 And that gave birth, as you know, to Three Angels 45:28 Broadcasting Network in Russia and over 2 radio 45:32 and T.V. stations, 3ABN Russia is preaching 45:37 the everlasting gospel in RUSSIA! 45:40 So what's the answer to the question? 45:42 How are you going to get into Russia? We don't know. 45:46 That's not our problem, that's God's problem. 45:49 And for any obstacle remaining, we may not know the answers, 45:52 but God does because Jesus Christ is coming soon. 45:58 Obstacles are being removed, so when you talk about 46:01 internet and we'll talk about that in a moment... 46:03 we're talking about God removing obstacles and having 46:07 instruments to preach the gospel in the world. 46:10 You already know some of them. 46:11 The printed page... when did that come into being? 46:15 It was in the 1440s. 46:16 The printed page came into existence and you could 46:21 then print the Bible and the Bible began to be printed 46:23 in the 1400s. Praise the Lord! 46:26 So instead of hand-written Bibles that took long, 46:29 long periods of time, now you can print them faster! 46:32 And Idalia and I had the privilege to go to 46:34 "Remnant Publications" and they told us that in less than 46:39 5 minutes, you can print a whole Bible. 46:43 Wow! Praise the Lord! 46:45 So I tell you, as far as literature is concerned, 46:48 one of the instruments that God has for preaching 46:50 the gospel... millions and millions of pieces of literature 46:55 have been distributed all over the world in practically every 46:59 language and dialect in the world. 47:02 You think of "Remnant Publications," you can think 47:04 of James Rafferty and Ty Gibson... 47:08 what's the name of that ministry? 47:10 "Light Bearers," they have printed millions of pieces 47:12 of literature and taken them in different languages 47:15 to the world. 47:17 Talking about the printed page, I remember receiving 47:20 a call long ago at 3ABN and a man was saying... 47:24 "I thank the Lord that even though I left the church 47:28 many years ago, I found a book that helped me to realize 47:32 I need to come back to Jesus... on a beach, 47:36 one of Danny's books and I think it was the book... 47:39 "Does God Love Sinners forever?" 47:43 I named another book, do you remember it? 47:47 Perhaps you went out into the street to distribute this book? 47:50 "The Ten Commandments Twice Removed" 47:54 And I don't remember how many ministers of other denominations 47:58 have accepted the Sabbath, but it's over 30 ministers 48:01 from other denominations that have accepted the Sabbath 48:03 after reading that book and some have read it several times. 48:09 Jesus Christ can come very, very soon. 48:13 We can make this happen very soon with the power of the Lord. 48:19 So brothers and sisters, I say to you - what needs to be done? 48:26 You see, there's one more instrument, powerful, 48:31 to preach the gospel and that is - you. 48:36 That is YOU and the testimony that God has given you 48:40 to help someone else come to Jesus. 48:44 And today, you don't even have to leave your house 48:47 and you can preach the gospel. 48:49 You can use telephones, you can use the internet, 48:52 you can make copies of sermons, copies of pamphlets, 48:55 send pamphlets from your house. 48:57 You can go online and order a book and send it to people. 49:01 There are many ways to preach the gospel 49:04 even without leaving your house... 49:06 So what do we need to do? 49:09 Let us cooperate with Jesus that this may happen. 49:13 I invite you to go to Matthew 9:35... 49:26 Jesus left us an example that we should do all that is 49:30 in our part to do to bring the gospel to other people. 49:33 Jesus did all that was in His power to do to bring 49:37 the gospel to other people. 49:39 And we, by the grace of God and through the Holy Spirit 49:43 can bring the gospel to someone else. 49:47 Let's go to verses 36 and 37... 50:11 Amen. 50:13 This prayer needs to be answered today. 50:20 We need laborers... people that will say, 50:24 "Here I am, Lord, - what do You want me to do?" 50:27 "Send an email..." "Yes, Lord." 50:29 "Do a phone call..." "Yes, Lord." 50:31 "Put something on the internet..." "Yes, Lord." 50:34 "Go to someone's house..." "Yes, Lord." 50:37 Because what God asks you to do, 50:40 He will give you the power to do. 50:42 I have some bad news for you... 50:48 I heard this last week and I said, "Idalia, we need 50:50 to share this." 50:52 And it goes like this... I know that all of you will be 50:55 saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our 50:59 most valuable acquaintances, the name of that person is 51:06 "someone else." 51:09 You see, someone's passing creates a vacancy that 51:13 will be difficult to fill. 51:15 Our friend had been with us for many years, 51:18 and for every one of those years, "someone else" did more 51:24 than the normal person's share of the work. 51:26 Whenever leadership was called for, this wonderful 51:30 individual "someone else" was looked to for inspiration 51:36 as well as the results. 51:38 Whenever there was a job to do, a problem to tackle, 51:41 a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's lips... 51:45 "Let someone else do it," everybody would say. 51:49 It was common knowledge that whenever the need arose, 51:53 "someone else" was one of the biggest contributors of time 51:58 spirit, self and resources. 51:59 Whatever the shortfall, everyone assumed that 52:02 "someone else" would make up the difference. 52:05 "Someone else" was an extraordinary person, 52:10 almost superhuman, but a person can 52:13 only do so much. 52:15 Were the truth known, everyone expected too much 52:19 of "someone else." 52:22 "Someone else" set a wonderful example for us to follow, 52:27 but now "someone else" is gone. 52:32 So who is going to do all the things that we expected 52:36 "someone else" to do? 52:40 We can't depend on "someone else" anymore, 52:43 so who will take "someone else's" place? 52:51 By God's grace - I want to be one of those people 52:56 that take "someone else's" place. 52:58 Anybody else here want to say to the Lord, 53:01 "Lord, I want to do more for Jesus than ever before. 53:06 I want to follow Him with all of my heart. 53:08 I want to let the light so shine that they may see my 53:13 good works and glorify God in heaven. 53:17 So I read to you now from Romans 13... 53:20 Let's begin reading in verse 10... 53:32 People need to see the love of Jesus in our words, 53:37 and in our actions. 53:40 Verse 11... 54:02 That is the day of Jesus Christ. 54:13 Brothers and sisters, it is time for God's children 54:20 to put the love of the world aside, the lust of the flesh, 54:26 the pride of life, the love of gain, 54:29 the pride, the arrogancy, the selfishness, 54:35 the criticizing of others, the lies, or whatever may be 54:42 the obstacle that's keeping you from fulfilling 54:46 that which God knows He can do through you. 54:52 It's time to put those things aside and by the grace of Jesus, 54:59 do what He wants you to do. 55:02 So brothers and sisters, let me finish reading... 55:06 Verse 13... 55:29 Amen... 55:30 So simple question for you today is... 55:35 Would you stand today, if you want to do as it is 55:40 written here - put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 55:46 Would you put on the Lord Jesus Christ? 55:49 Would you say to Jesus, "Here I am Lord, take my heart, 55:52 make me what You want me to be, use me how You want to use me." 55:57 Praise the Lord for these decisions. 56:00 I stand with you and I praise the Lord for this opportunity 56:06 to see you say to Jesus, "Here I am, Lord." 56:14 I ask one more question... 56:18 How many of you are willing to say to the Lord, 56:21 "Lord, help me in somehow or some way reach at least 56:27 one for Jesus this year." 56:29 Would you raise your hand? Praise the Lord! 56:31 It could be through passing a pamphlet, sharing some 56:34 good news in some way through some of the means 56:37 or instruments we have mentioned. 56:39 Would you raise your hand again if it's true? Praise the Lord, 56:42 praise the Lord. 56:44 Let's go to the Lord in prayer... 56:45 If it is possible for you, I invite you to kneel... 56:51 Our Loving Heavenly Father, We thank you, Lord, that we can 56:56 look in the Scriptures, look in history, 57:00 look around the world and see that Jesus Christ 57:04 is coming soon. 57:06 That we can see that the gospel work can be done 57:09 in a short time. 57:11 Help us to be among those that answers the call of Jesus, 57:16 the prayer of Jesus - that there are more laborers in the field. 57:20 We thank You, Lord, for everyone that has raised their hands. 57:25 We pray, Lord, that according to what they have signaled 57:30 by raising their hands, that You will help them 57:35 to understand what they can do to help someone else 57:39 give their heart to Jesus. 57:41 We thank You, Heavenly Father, that by Your grace, 57:46 we can put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 57:49 and we thank You for the sacrifice on the Cross 57:53 that has made it possible for us to be saved by grace 57:59 through faith and that not of ourselves because 58:03 it is Your gift to us. 58:05 We thank You for hearing us and we pray for Your name 58:09 to be glorified in us. 58:11 In Jesus' Holy and blessed name... Amen, Amen |
Revised 2017-12-21