Answering the Call - 1901

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, Go, therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to Go Teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through Australian and international speakers. Today's message was presented at the GYC 2012 conference in Seattle, Washington. For other sources like this, visit gycweb.org Today's topic answering the Call by John Bradshaw okay, let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, as we share today, we thank you for your presence with us. We are grateful to be here, but we're not. At least I hope and pray we're not here just to go through the motions. Lord, we have talked about finishing the work for so long. We've talked about going home for so long. And yet we've been going to camp meetings and church schools and we've been going to church and ASI and GYC for some years now. And we're still here. We understand there's a lot at play. But I am praying, Lord, please, that you would help us to be intentional about doing something and being someone that will add up to the finishing of the work. Help us, please. As Pastor Howard and I share, I just pray that you would do something that's bigger and beyond ourselves. Do a work. Speak to us through your spirit. Touch our hearts. Those of us speaking, touch our lips and our minds. Father, make this time yours. Please. We pray when we go, I pray that we will be able to say it was profitable. We thank you and we pray in Jesus name, please say Amen. If the title for this seminar sounds simplistic, at least these first three presentations, that's because it is Unleashing the Power. And what I'm talking about is three simple steps for the finishing of God's work. Interestingly, as you look at the Bible, there is little in the Bible that is complex. Now, I know what you're saying. You say, well, I don't know what the seven thunders are. That's all right. John didn't know either. Didn't really understand him. You're not meant to know. So that's not complex. It's just not revealed. You're going to say, well, the seven seals. You know, it's fascinating. The seven seals, that's all important. But not even Ellen White wrote much about the seven seals. What we read about in the Bible is simple. Granted, Zechariah can bend your mind a little bit. Ezekiel is fascinating. But when you look at the great overarching themes of The Bible, they're not mind bending. Salvation is simple. The only reason it's complex in any way is because we make it complex. There was a book written a few years ago by a dear fellow where he compared five different versions of the Seventh Day Adventist gospel. See, we've made it complex and I believe we've made it unnecessarily complex. Somebody was having a little audience with Paul one night, Paul and Silas. And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. That was it. Pretty simple. If you look at the subject of sin, pretty simple. Sin is the transgression of the law. That's easy. Although I hear in certain places a plethora of definitions for sin. Unnecessary. Stick with the word of God and what some make complicated suddenly is not complicated. We know what sin is. We know what a sin is. We know what a sinner looks like. This is not rocket science. It's the word of God. Nice and easy. So when we talk about finishing the work of God in three simple steps, I mean that very seriously. I want to state that the finishing of God's work is a simple business. Coca Cola knows what it takes to keep its nose in front of Pepsi. They know what it takes. When they started to get cute, that's when the bottom fell out of the whole thing. Now some of you all are not old enough to remember this, but not that many years ago Coca Cola discovered that in taste tests Pepsi was ranking higher. And so they junked Coke and brought out a new Coke. There were literally protests in the streets. People were taking the new Coke and pouring it out in the streets. News anchors were talking about it, it was a big deal. So Coke junked, new Coke, went back to old Coke and they've been beating Pepsi ever since. They know what it takes to win the Cola wars. Sell more Coke. That's it. It's simple. And I don't mean to offend you by using a caffeinated example here. In terms of illustration, please let it be on record this is being recorded. I don't advise anybody to drink Coca Cola or Pepsi or anything with that much sugar. So just as long as you know, I don't know if you know that a woman, where I'm from, a woman in New Zealand recently drank herself to death drinking Coca Cola. So just so you know, it really is bad for you. So I'll use a different example. McDonald's understands that winning the fast food war is a simple matter. Make better food than your opponent, serve it quickly, attract People advertise like crazy. Burger King will never outsell McDonald's, especially when their fries taste the way they do. They will never outsell McDonald's. Now you know, don't you? Lest you think I'm advertising McDonald's, you know that when you eat those McDonald's french fries, they got beef mixed in with them. Did you know that? So you come to gyc, you learn stuff. You need to know that stuff. But McDonald's figured out appeal to children with their Happy Meals and their play places, relentlessly advertise, pursue quality, and you know what's going to happen. It's simple. If you want to win a gold medal, train hard, dedicate yourself to the goal, work harder than the rest, and the chances are you're going to put yourself in a place to do so if you want to do well in your profession. The same applies if you want to be a physician. It's easy. Do your homework, study, go to class. I shouldn't say it's easy because you know, you've got to be endowed with a certain amount of, of God given brilliance, I imagine. But you've got to work your tail off. It's, if you want to be a good carpenter, work and work and work and work. So what's so simple about finishing God's work? It isn't cola, it isn't fast food, it's not the Olympic Games, which is what makes it as simple as it is. I hope what you realize is that I'm saying the theory of getting God's work finished, that's where it's nice and easy. It's not a small point. While we sit around and strategize and have meetings and ask experts and read books and attend seminars and all the rest, what it takes to get the work done is not that much of a mystery. So over these first three sessions of the seminar, I will talk to you about three key components. I think what you'll find is relatively straightforward. But what's interesting is there are masses of our churches that are dying. Most of our pastors, the vast majority, have an undergraduate degree. Most of them have a master's degree. Most likely the pastor where you go to church has attended Andrews University. So your pastor isn't a dummy, and your pastor has learned from experts. Yet many of our churches are dying. Most of us understand that Jesus gave us a great commission. Go ye therefore. Yet most of us are not engaged in personal evangelism in any meaningful way. Fascinating. My hope is that this seminar will be accessible to you. My Prayer is that the spirit of God will motivate you and encourage you and move on you and inspire you so that you can know that God is in some way utilizing you meaningfully in the finishing of God's work. I'm convinced of a couple of things. I am convinced that we are living in the very closing days of the earth's history. I understand, just like you do, that people have been saying that for longer than many of us have been alive. I understand that. But I am convinced that we are living in earth's closing days. I am confident in the prophetic message of my church. Confident. I believe that what we are witnessing in the world tells us we do not have a lot of time left, which suggests that we are living on the cusp of the greatest moving of the Holy Spirit in all of history. In vision, Ellen White saw company after company from the Lord's army join the foe. But at the same time, she saw tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy unite with the commandment keeping people of God. 9, 11. If it taught us anything, it taught us that a lot can happen in a very short period of time. It taught us that the goalposts can be shifted radically and rapidly. It told us that that things can change dramatically in the world. There are some who continue to say, my Lord delayeth his coming. However, I think we can, with confidence, say that Jesus coming is near, even at the doors. I believe, ladies and gentlemen, if you will consider this, that this is a great time to be a Christian. This is a changing world. However, there is the same need as there has ever been. A few years ago, if you ran in my circles, then everywhere you went, there were people teaching you how to reach the postmoderns. I guess a few years before that, the experts were teaching us how to reach the group of that moment. Five years from now, they'll be teaching us how to reach the millennials. And 10 years from now, they'll be listening. We may address some of that. Whether someone is a baby boomer or a baby buster or a postmodern or a modern or a Gen Xer or a millennial, that person's need is the same as everybody else's. That person needs Jesus Christ. This world needs a purpose that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. The world needs what you have now. You can look around society and say, society is in a mess. And if you want to, you can blame guns. You can do that. You could blame video games if you like. You could do that. Video games, easy target. You could blame Hollywood if You want to. You could blame parents who have checked out if you like. You can blame whatever you want. But the world is in a mess. 27 people died in Newtown, Connecticut. 20 of them were little kids. But just a few days after that, a man in New York set fire to several houses, killed his sister, waited for the volunteer firefighters to arrive and shot four of them, two of them dead. He was killed. He left a note saying, I think it was a note. He said, I'm going to do what I do best that's killing people. It's a sick world. So what does the world need better mental health services, perhaps? The answer is probably yes. Who would dare say doesn't need better mental health help? It's hard to argue that people really need an AK47 or a clip of ammunition that lets you get off 30 shots in 10 seconds. Hard to argue that after Newtown politicians put their hands up and they said, here's what we need to do. We need to get serious about studying this thing now and seeing whether there's a link between violent video games and violence in the real world. Someone needs to tell them that the study has already been done. Paul wrote the results in Second Corinthians 3:18, the text Adam used in the divine service. By beholding we become change. It's a very, very simple thing. And while I get their point, I hope you hear me carefully because this could be the end of me if you don't. While I get their point, I really do. I do not own a gun. If you do is no problem to me. Buy what you want. I don't own a gun and I have no plans to own one. I found it fascinating that in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, Christians were right up front as soon as the tragedy was over, demanding the gun control. Listen to me carefully. It could be that that's just what we need. It could be. It could be that that's going to change the world. Could be. Like I said, I don't know why anybody need to own an AK47. I don't know. You must have some big rabbits in your garden if you need an AK47. You know, I found it fascinating that Christians were. Were. What's the word? Were crying as loud as anybody else, saying, what we need is gun control. Again, I'm not saying we don't. I'm not against it. But in Paul's day, they were crucifying people and stoning people just as fast as anything. And I don't read anywhere where Paul called for cross control or Rock control. You understand what I'm saying? Did Paul have a solution for the evils that wrecked his day? What was it? Jesus? It was the cross of Christ. Now, if you want to go campaign for gun control, don't get me wrong, knock yourself out. But when Newtown occurs, what I want to hear coming out of your mouth is, let's lift up Jesus Christ. Not this world needs a political solution, but the world needs a spiritual solution. That's where we are, ladies and gentlemen, again, again, again. Just for the record sake, if you want to go on about gun control or mental health services, fine, fine. But as a Christian, your primary concern to address the evils of this world must be Christ and him crucified. Must be. There's no political solution or strategy that can address the evil that is gripping the hearts of men and women all over the world. We've got the solution for that, and that is Jesus. Recently, Pastor Robert Costa, who heads up it is written Escrito Esta. Our Spanish language ministry was in Montevideo, Uruguay, holding a series of meetings. He was interviewed on a radio station by a nationally known radio personality. Now, Uruguay isn't like the rest of South America. It's much more like Europe than, say, like Brazil. Very European. It's a very atheist sort of a country. The president is an atheist and religion is small stuff. He's being interviewed by a radio personality. At the end of the interview, the radio personality says, I need to talk to you again. And Robert said, well, sure, when would you like the interview to take place? He said, no, no, not an interview. I need to talk to you because you've got what I need. This man was in his 30s. He was on his third marriage. He had tons of money. He was known across the country. But he realized that he didn't have what it really took to be successful in this world. And he recognized that this preacher had what he needed. Friend, you can know that you've got what everybody needs. It may not be that everybody knows it, but you've got what they need. People might need to be convinced. Now, this is where you got to think a little bit. In the old days, all you need to do was tell somebody that you got the truth and then prove it to them. And they would head to the Baptistery. It's not like that so much anymore. What are we going to do about that? Well, what it means is that our truth needs to be relevant to people. Now, if you want to wear suspenders and smell like garlic, that's okay, but it may not be okay with Your neighbor. So if you're going to munch on garlic and go, hi, neighbor, I'd like to interest you in health reform. You may need to think again. You understand what I'm saying? Nothing wrong with doing what you do, but the fact that you are right doesn't necessarily put you ahead in this thing. We got to figure out how we can be right in the right way. People might know you're a follower of Jesus, but they need to see that your Jesus makes a difference where they are. Many people take a lot more convincing than people took a few years ago. Who's going to convince them? My wife gave me a tie a year or so ago, and I said, thank you, but I don't like it. She said, I think it's a lovely tie. I said, I'm glad one of us likes it, but I cannot imagine myself ever wearing this tie. I just don't like it. Ron, could you say that to Margot and know that you'd survived the experience? You're not sure about that. My wife and I, we have. We have open communication in our marriage. Understand? We communicate very freely. I don't like it. I think it's nice. I said, well, maybe if you took it back, you could exchange it for one that we both like. I said to my daughter, this is a terrible tie. What do you think of it? She was 8, 9 years old at the time. She said, dad, I think that's a very nice tie. I said, you're just saying that to please your mother, that's all. So I said to my son, son, what do you think of this tie? He said, it's all right. All right. Well, I couldn't get him to denigrate the tie in any way, shape or form. So I spoke to a colleague. I said, what do you think of this tie? That is a very nice tie. And then I wore it. I wore it. And Yves Monnier, who was our evangelism director at It Is Written, he said, nice tie. Where'd you get that tie? I was sure there was a conspiracy. You know, nice tie. It's a great tie. I now wear the tie with regularity and I've learned to like it. The point is, the tie was perfectly nice. I just didn't see it that way first. Jesus is perfectly nice. But not everybody realizes that. People have got to take some convincing. You can't just trail your Jesus past somebody and expect everybody to get as excited about him as you. People these days need to be convinced, maybe more than they ever have. But the truth is it was always that way. Most people in this world are not going to wake up one day and say, out of the blue, I think I'll become a Christian. Few people are going to wake up and say, I going to go to church on Sabbath. Now, it is true. A friend of mine woke up on a Saturday morning. Wasn't the Sabbath yet, it was only Saturday. He woke up on a Saturday morning and God said, get dressed. You're going to church today. All right? So he got dressed and he went and got in his car. He said, I don't know where I'm going. He started driving out of his apartment complex. And the Lord said, follow those people. And so he tailed these people all the way. He was expecting to track him to church, but they stopped at a school. He said, whoa, I made a mistake here. And the voice said, not an audible voice. The oppression said, go in with them. Just follow them in. He said, this could be really, really embarrassing. But he walked into the gymnasium and there was a Seventh Adventist Church group having a meeting there. And today he's an evangelist. I spoke last night with a fellow in Louisiana who told me about how he was driving to church one Sabbath and somebody started following him. He was getting nervous, but the Lord had told this other guy, follow him. And he followed him all the way to. Sometimes that happens. Mostly it doesn't happen. Most people don't just walk up to you and say, I've been watching you and you are so different. I want to join your church. So we have this idea that says, if I just live my life in a way that's really good, and if I shine and show for Jesus, man, that's going to turn the world upside down. Can you show me that in the Bible? Not easily. If you look at the experience of Jesus, you will see that Jesus actually opened his mouth and talked to people and engaged them. There are people all over your city who need to be encouraged. Who's going to encourage them? There are people living on your street who need to be encouraged to know Jesus and follow him. But who's going to encourage them? If you don't encourage them to follow your Jesus, somebody else will encourage them to follow their Jesus. And you may lose those people forever. There are most likely people in your family who need to be encouraged. Who's going to encourage them? In Jesus Day, he didn't just go about doing his business, hoping people noticed that he was different than everybody else. I don't read about a single person coming to faith in God. I don't read about it may have happened, but I don't read about it because they observed Jesus. They came to Jesus one day and said, wow, what synagogue do you go to? I don't read about that in the Bible. Who came to Jesus ever and said, you are so different. What is it about you? I don't read that. What you discover is that when Jesus ministry began, he went to work immediately and he started reaching out to people. And when he did, people were powerfully impacted. Let's skip through the beginning of all four gospels. Have a look at this Matthew, chapter one, genealogy, then the Christmas story. And then Jesus is baptized in chapter three. And then in chapter four he hasn't done anything yet. And then in chapter four he's led into the wilderness and tempted. And then he goes to Capernaum. And Matthew writes in Matthew 4:17, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The first thing Jesus is recording, is recorded as doing, is preaching. Then he calls others to follow him. He continues preaching and teaching. And he adds one other thing. In Matthew 4:23, the Bible says he taught and he preached. And he healed all manner of sicknesses and disease among all the people. And what happened? The next verse begins by saying his fame went throughout all Syria. And what did the people do? The Bible says they brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon possessed, epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. And then what it says in verse 25, great multitudes followed him. If you want to just let your light shine, that's one thing, but it's not really shining until your mouth is open and you are sharing Jesus intentionally with somebody. Somehow Jesus started speaking and when he did, we just read what happened. Mark, chapter one, verse 36. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him. And when they found him, they said to him, everyone is looking for you. What had happened before this? Jesus is preaching. He calls the disciples, he teaches. He casts the demons out of a man. He heals. Peter's mother in law proclaims a message and then puts himself where the people can get to him. What does it say? Everyone is looking for you. He goes to work, makes a difference and turns the place upside down. Luke, chapter two. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Then the first thing you hear from Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is that he is calling people to repentance. That's the first thing you hear from Jesus in John, we know what happens. Calls the disciples in. Chapter one, Chapter two, There's the wedding in Cana. Didn't heal anyone, you know, you don't have to heal someone to make a difference. Didn't preach a sermon. It wasn't the right time for that. Instead, he saw that the people had needs and he met the needs. Who would have thought that assisting with the catering at a wedding would have made such a big difference? But it did. Jesus put himself out there. He was given a work to do by God, and he did it. When the Father asked, who's going to save this planet? Jesus put up his hand and he said, I will go. Friend, I want to tell you there's no mystery at all about the work of God. If it's going to be done at all, people are going to have to get involved. We can talk about finishing the work all we want, but until we're doing some work, we shouldn't be talking about finishing the work. God calls us to get involved and to be on the front lines. Turn with me to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah, chapter six. Turn there. Isaiah, chapter six. Do we have anybody here from Australia or New Zealand? Please turn to the book of Isaiah. Chapter 6, Isaiah, chapter 6. Came to the United States and started preaching. And I'm talking about Isaiah. And I'll find people looking at each other like this and shrugging their shoulders. And they turn up here to the front, going through the list of books, looking for Isaiah, Isaiah. But I will not say Philemon. For all the money in the world, that is still philemon. Isaiah, chapter 6 and verse 8. Perhaps we'll begin in verse. No, we won't. We'll get to the point. Time is marching on. Verse 8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who will go for us? Then said I, here am I. What? Tell me, send me. Who will go for us? Isaiah said, count me in, I'll go. Send me. I'm willing. Notice verse 9. And he said, and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not. See ye indeed, but perceive not. You know, Jesus quoted these words later on, here am I, send me. And God said, tell this people. He didn't say, go out there and live like a nice guy. As important as that is, you better want to do that too. But God said, if you are going to go at all, go. And you better be prepared to say something. Isaiah, same prophet rebuked people later on in the book. He said, these were dumb dogs who could not bark And I don't mean unintelligent, dumb, mute dogs, people without a voice. And they didn't have a message to share. Jeremiah had a similar experience. Turn there. Jeremiah, chapter one. Jeremiah, chapter one. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, before I formed you in the belly, I knew thee. And before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then I said, ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, say not I am a child. For you shall go to all that I shall send thee. And whatever I command you, you shall what speak. Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, saith the Lord. In verse nine, he said, I have put my words in your mouth. On the other hand, there was a prophet who would not go. Jonah, go there and tell him what I want you to tell him. If you look at a map, Jonah went in the other direction altogether. Ultimately, Jonah went and he preached. He was assisted a little bit in getting there. He preached somewhat unwillingly and with an unhappy heart. Jonah wouldn't go. But these other fellows, when God called, they went, listen, friend, simple point. God is calling you to go and make a difference. Now we're going to talk about this. We're going to talk about tomorrow morning, where the power is going to come from. And then tomorrow afternoon or whenever it is later tomorrow morning or something, we'll talk about something else, something very important. And then in the final three presentations, Pastor Howard's going to give you all the tools, so you're not going to be able to leave GYC saying, well, you know, I don't have what I need to actually get involved and make a difference. You know, if everybody just went home from GYC and did something for the Lord, there'd be a revolution that they'd be singing about all over the world. God is asking us not to think about it, not to agree with it, but to do it. There are times I say to my children, I would like you to do this. And there was this one time that one of my kids, who shall remain nameless, said, but I don't want to do that. Only ever happened once. And my response was, I didn't ask you if you wanted to do it. I asked you to do it. God doesn't ask us, do you want to get involved in sharing the gospel? The fact of the matter is, if you've been converted, if Jesus has taken possession of your life, you are not going to be able to keep quiet. It doesn't mean that everybody's going to be a preacher. Doesn't mean that. Doesn't mean that everybody's going to go and knock on a door. Although I'm loathe to say that, because now you can back out of outreach and say Bradshaw gave you permission to do so. But I don't want you to go there with it doesn't mean necessarily that everybody's going to give a Bible study, although I find it hard to understand how one couldn't do that. But if everybody did something, you need to know when you retire from this room in 15 minutes that God is calling you, just like he called Isaiah and Jeremiah and Daniel and whoever else he's calling you in just the same way. There are people dying without Christ every single day. And there are people who come to convocations like this and then leave. No different than when they arrived. Happens everywhere. Camp meeting, church service, you name it. People fired up momentarily, but by the time they walk out the door, they're in the same sleepwalk as they were when they arrived. Or worse. People will listen to presentations and they won't be moved to put up their hand and say, I'm in. God is calling. You don't need to know the end from the beginning, but God is calling. We have the opportunity to answer the call, to say to God, we're willing to be used, we're willing to go, we're willing to commit. Lord, take my heart, make it yours. I'll go on your errands. The greatest movements in history were brought about by people who largely, it seems, didn't know what they were getting themselves into. But they just made themselves available to God and said, here I am. Use me however you want. Jesus walks by a lake. He says to a couple of fishermen, follow me. And I wonder. The exchange just happens without the drama. If you filmed this, you would see a picture of Jesus eyeing these guys and saying, those are the ones I want. And he walks to them, not knowing what their response will be. He pauses and he says, follow me. Then the cinematographer would have done something to heighten the drama. History was hanging in the balance. Would they respond? Would they say yes? Would they go? The Bible makes it seem as though they didn't even hesitate for a moment, like they hardly even gave it any thought. I don't know if that's right or not. Maybe they. Maybe they just. Maybe it was like magnetism and they went. Or maybe they stopped and looked at each other and said, leave the fishing boat leave our nets. What? They got up and they went. Peter and Andrew and then James and John. What if they hadn't? You know, if they hadn't, Jesus would have called somebody else and the church would have grown anyhow. But Peter and Andrew and James and John would have been the poorer for it. They would not have been blessed. They would not have had that close walk with God. John would never have received the revelation and so forth. Saul, who became Paul, met Jesus on the road to Damascus when he received his sight after being temporarily blinded. The Bible says that he got up and he was baptized. And then straight away he went and preached the Gospel. There was no question in his mind. When he accepted Jesus, he was in boots and all. He was available. Read the history of the reformers. These were people who just yielded to the leading of God in their lives. Now, what was interesting is some of these reformers were brilliant people, extremely well educated. What could they have done? These were brain surgeon brilliant people. But instead of pursuing careers and things where they could advance themselves in the world, they heard God calling. Now, some people, God calls down that road, that's fine. But when they heard God calling them to leave everything behind and follow a very uncertain future, they went. There was no question in their minds. Jesus spoke and he said, the harvest truly is great, but what the laborers are few. And he said, pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send laborers into the harvest. God is asking today, whom shall I send? What will God do with you if you yield to him and say, lord, my first priority is being available to you in soul winning and evangelism. How would that look? Have you ever said that? Have you ever said to God, my first priority? It's not my career, it's not going to college, it's not finding a life partner. My first priority is getting involved in your service and winning souls. Now, you don't have to think that means that you've got to forfeit a college education and a life partner and all the rest. Normally those things happen. But did you say to God, I'm not going to be happy until the first thing in my life is being of service to you somehow. And remember, somehow God calls all of us in different ways. I was so encouraged by a brother from the Washington Conference who stood up this morning and said, when you go here, go back home, find your youth director and say, what can I do to help? We'll talk about this tomorrow afternoon. All of this nonsense, oh, I can't get involved in my local church. You're fooling yourself. I have been a church pastor. Anytime anyone said pastor, I want to be involved. What do you think we did frowned. Hallelujah. We were happy. Someone wants to get involved. Oh, I don't like what my conference is doing. Well, maybe you can't change that, but you can change you and you can change what you're not doing. So you don't have to complain about what your conference is is doing. Instead of carping about the problem, you can be the solution. And what's interesting is when you get involved in soul winning and evangelism, then you realize that there's a whole lot less to complain about. You're too busy doing God's work to start picking at other people. I had that discussion with God one day. I was a radio broadcaster once. I was doing very well. I don't want to pretend that I was the king of all media because I wasn't. But I was doing well and I was earning tons of money and I had friends in very high places and I was going places. And when it was cold, I would take a vacation to somewhere warm. And if I wanted to drink champagne, I would. Money was no objection and there was no barriers in my way. And God met me and asked me to give him my life. Well, I wonder if you can imagine what happened in my life after I gave my life to God and said, all I want to do is serve you. I wonder if you can imagine how it took off. It absolutely took off, but it didn't take off in that direction. It took off in that direction. Actually it probably was going in that direction, wasn't it? But it just didn't look that way. I used to work in an air conditioned studio. Air conditioned in the summer, warmly heated in the winter. I had a view. Our radio station had, I would have to think, the best view of any studio in the country. We looked over the lake, a beautiful big lake. Snow capped mountains at the other end. It was like heaven on earth. It was beautiful. Okay, it wasn't, but it was beautiful. It was extraordinary. Life was great and I had lots of job offers and so on. And I gave my life to the Lord and I went nowhere really fast. Next thing I knew I was working in a hospital laundry. I like to tell people I used to work at the Adventist Hospital and they would say, oh really? What department were you in? What department? The laundry. I would drive the truck up the hill and get up and push one of these things around. Going in. I would rub shoulders with brain surgeons and ophthalmologists and heart surgeons. Every day while I'm walking to the laundry room, they're brushing right past me, going in the other direction. I'm getting these, I can still smell them now, these sacks of defiled laundry and putting them in my thing, driving the truck down and unloading them down at the. By the carousel. This was great work. I'm thinking since I gave my life to Jesus, things have been going great. I would go into work on a Sunday morning on my own due to a little overtime, and I'd listen to my sermon tapes and I would be standing at the washing machine. It's an industrial sized washing machine. I would load dirty diapers and these are the diapers that come from the nursery. 50 pounds of them at a time. I used to think I just imagined that if they have an operating room and there's a surgery and there's blood everywhere, I just assumed that they take those sheets and burn them. Couldn't use them again, could you? Sure, we would get them whiter than white. And so when the fun job was sorting the laundry and it would be in this carousel spinning by and you'd put this one here and that there and this here. And sometimes there'd be, I wouldn't call it body parts, but body tissue and stuff and surgery sets, knives and scalpels and other things I had never seen before. And this is what I did. From celebrity to anonymity. Worse than anonymity. I would, at times, I would, at times, you know, I knew I couldn't go back to my old career because that wasn't an option. I knew that. But there were times I was saying, lord, what is this? I mean, surely there's something else. But I had made a decision that I would serve Jesus and I was prepared to be used by God however he wanted to use me, whatever that meant. God wanted to use me in a hospital laundry. That's his business. That's his business. I didn't really imagine I'd stay there for the rest of my life, but I didn't know. Did I want my studio back? No, I didn't see. The nuns at my Catholic elementary school had taught me a Bible verse. It was, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? I would rather be all in with God working in a laundry than all out with God working in a studio. And then before long, God had me employed in full time Christian ministry. And that was a series of miracles. If you're available, God will use you. God wants everyone active in full time ministry. I'm not saying he wants you necessarily in paid professional ministry. You might be better off if you're not in that. You might be. But he wants everybody to know that. Whether you are a medical student or a physical therapy student, or a nurse, or a bus driver or a pilot. I spoke to a pilot last night. He told me he works for a wealthy man. He said, you wouldn't believe how God uses me to witness for him as a pilot. No matter what you are, you could work at a gardening center, or you could be a businessman, a businesswoman, computer programmer, IT worker, a politician, a marketing manager, a plumber, an investment analyst, a hairstylist. But you can be involved in full time Christian ministry. I never forget this great big building I saw in Owensboro, Kentucky many years ago. Big sign up over the entrance. It says, our business. Our business is to share Jesus. And then underneath it said, we just sell furniture to pay the bills. Amen. God is appealing to you, I believe, to say, here I am. Send me maybe to Africa, maybe to Nicaragua, maybe to your hometown, maybe to New York City. You know, it's never been easier than it is now to share Jesus effectively. Never. And we'll talk more about that in part three. But before anything happens, we need to be able to say to God, I'm willing to be involved in this work. I'll tell you this. When God says, who shall I send? He's calling to us to yield. Let me wrap this up. I've got minus one minute, but I'm going to take five. And because you're Christian, you'll be polite and pretend not to be looking at the clock. Amen. The Christian life begins with the same decision as does Christian service. See, Paul wrote to the Romans and he said, don't you know that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey. There's a key word, and the word is yield. Yield. In Galatians 2, Paul said, not I, but Christ lives in me. In Philippians 2, same writer wrote, it is God which worketh in you both to will and and to do for his good pleasure. You see, once you've given yourself to Jesus, you have given yourself to him, that he can live his life in you and do whatever he wants in your life. It's fundamental to Christianity, but virtually unpracticed by most people in the church today. God calls all of us to do one thing, and that is to yield. We can talk all day long about how to reach the world, how to reach postmoderns it's true. It's true. You're not going to reach the barista at Starbucks in the same way you're going to reach your Baptist neighbor. You're not. More than likely. It's important to keep those distinctions in mind. That's appropriate. But we can talk all day long about how to reach the immigrant communities and how to reach the indigenous people, and that's not all bad. But until someone actually stands up and says, here am I Lord, send me, none of them people are going to be reached. At least not with the three angels messages. There's an old saying that says the road to hell is paved with good intentions and you can be as well meaning as you like, but it's not necessarily going to make a difference in a person's life. I could tell you about a major evangelistic series that was held where churches said they would be more than willing to follow up on names and to give Bible studies. Of course they would say that that's what you're supposed to say. And so they followed the script. But months and months later, many of those names had not been followed up. When finally a couple of well meaning saints went and knocked on some doors, they were told, and this is verbatim, we were wanting to study the Bible and we were waiting for you to come, but some Baptists got here first and so now we're studying the Bible with them. Here am I, Lord, send me. Another family said, we really wanted to study the Bible, but that was such a long time ago and honestly we're just not that interested anymore. We're so busy now. These are the things that were said because people just didn't follow up. Good intentions will do it, but it didn't transfer into action for the Lord. Look before you sweat, how am I going to reach this person? What are we going to do to reach this community? If you, an uneducated Christian with a willing heart can do much more for Jesus than the best educated Christian who sits on his hands. I'm not against the tools. You're going to get a pile of tools in the seminar, no question about it. But until we say, Lord, I'll go, and when we say lord, I'll go, I'll tell you what. A lady at our SALT evangelism training school said she was sitting by her mother's bedside and she'd been praying that God would reach this woman's heart. And she said, lord, I don't know how you're going to reach her, but if you want to use Me, just use me. Her own mother, she said, I got the shock on my life. The words fell out of my mouth. And I said, what did I just say? I said to my mother, mother, would you like to give your heart to Jesus right now? She said, I didn't even consciously say those words, and they fell out of my mouth. Her mother said, yes, I believe I would. And she prayed with her and led her to Jesus right there. She didn't have a strategy. She was willing. And when she was willing, God could use. Her first step, yield to God. Let him have your whole heart. Recognize that while you're doing nothing for Jesus, he doesn't have your whole heart. Something's getting in the way there. If God has got you, the rest can fall into place. Until you make that decision to yield, until you decide you are a soldier in the Lord's army, until you say, God, take all of me, I don't care about anything else. Just that your will is done. Until that happens, it's all just talk. 150 years of some action and a lot of talk has got us to Seattle. And I love the Pacific Northwest, but it ain't heaven. And if we just carry on the way we've been carrying on, we'll be here in another 150 years. It'll be a new organization, new leaders, new people, new administrators, new sermons. And we'll still be here gazing at our neighbors, wondering what it's going to take to finish the work. I will tell you what it's going to take to finish the work. It will take work. And until we're ready to roll up our sleeves and get involved somehow anyhow, we're just gonna be here talking about it. Let me finish this. On a very encouraging note, the Bible tells us it's going to happen. Let me do this in 10 seconds. When is Jesus coming back? Seventh Adventists know we know when he's coming back. When's he coming back? Got it. Good. He's coming back soon. Before he comes back, According to Revelation, chapter 18 and verse 1, the whole world is going to be lit up with a manifestation of his glory or a manifestation of the character of God. Is that right? But has that happened yet? No. Okay, but when is Jesus coming back? So when is that going to happen? Sooner. That means that God is going to so fill his people up that the character of Jesus is going to be seen in his people. Is that right? And when is that going to happen sooner? Who is God going to use? Someone else? The rocks? Our children? Another generation? No. You already told me that Jesus is coming back soon and this must happen sooner. Friend, no matter how you look at it, God is wanting to use us. That's you and me. Don't be talking about, oh, I don't think I'm good enough, and I don't know if God can use. Forget all that. That's just selfish. Don't be talking like that. If you will say, lord, I'm willing before I get on a plane. I say, lord, if there's someone for me to talk to on that plane, sit me down next to them or let me know who they are and I will talk to them until we get to the other end. If not, please let me have an empty seat beside me so I can stretch out and be comfortable. It's God's business, not mine. I just tell them I'm available. Friend, tell God today you are available. That's where it begins. There's never going to be a revolution until someone is prepared to revolt. The light won't shine until somebody is ready to go. The message will never be proclaimed until someone is ready to open their mouth. The work won't get finished until somebody is willing to work. Who's going to go? Who is willing? You don't have to be anything. You just need to be something and that something is willing. If you'll put yourself in the picture and say, lord, if you can use me, go right ahead. Then God can can do something great. Let us pray. Our Father, we just started scratching the surface here, talking conceptually as we move forward tomorrow morning, talking about unleashing the power. I pray that you will give us grace to not just agree that it's a wonderful thing to work for you, but to actually get out onto the field and participate. Lord, if you see something in us that you might want to use for your glory, we give you permission. Now, hang on a minute. Maybe we don't. Friend, I wonder if you can say to the Lord, I'm willing for you to use me. That's it. Use me however you want. Raise your hand if you can say that to God today. I'm willing for you to use me somehow, Lord. Father, that's us. Use us somehow for your glory. I pray that we would be more in our churches and than simply pew warmers. I pray that somehow we can put our shoulder to the wheel and move your great church forward somehow. Lord, you are doing wonderful things around the world, but how much more would you want to do? You're doing wonderful things in this division, in this union, and in this conference. But Father, how much more could be done if we all just stood up and said, I want to be part of this. So Lord, we tell you that today we lift our hands to you. Really we offer our hearts to you and we say, Lord, we want to be involved somehow, however you see fit. Press us into service. Use us for your glory. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. This message was recorded by Fountain View Productions for gyc. Gyc, a supporting ministry of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, seeks to inspire and equip young people to be vibrant, Bible based and Christ centered Christians. To download or purchase other resources, visit gycweb.org this program has been provide brought to you by 3 ABN Australia Radio.