Episode Transcript
Speaker A
00:00:12 - 00:24:59
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. And here is today's presenter, Jacob Atcheson. Throughout history, Christians have been the most unshakable people on earth. More Christians have died for their faith than any other religion, yet we are still here. I guess we just read our key text. I was going to turn there, but we've already read that. But maybe we'll read it again after I pray. So close your eyes and let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I'm so thankful to be here. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit is with us, Lord, and I know it is. I pray that you can speak through me, Lord, to empower each one of us here. Lord, I pray that you work on everyone's hearts here, that you can lead us to be an unshakable army for you. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Amen. So I just read our key verse, and I think I'll read it again because it really is important. So turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 62, verses 6. I can imagine David wrote this psalm in probably some lonely and deserted place. He was probably fearing some threat of sorts as he writes in Psalm 62, verses 6. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not be moved. We like the sound of this verse, but how many times have we hung on to these words? How many times has this been proven true for you and for me? If we were to experience faith-rocking experiences, how would we act? If God called us to serve him in a place where life was uncertain, how would we go? I hope by the end of this message that you feel empowered to step out of your comfort zone to live for Jesus. So, as some of you might know already, um, I'm here to share about a story that happened to me as part of, part of the message today. So the story starts, I was in church in Sabbath school and I'd met this guy who'd come to Sabbath school. His name was Tom, he was from France. And yeah, he wasn't a Christian, but for some reason he was in Sabbath school and ended up coming because the people he was staying with were Adventists and they were from our church. I got talking with him and he was a cool guy and he really wanted to learn to surf. And so, The Sunday after, I took him out. I picked him up in my car, and we grabbed a nice long surfboard for him to learn on, and we traveled to the beach. We got to the beach, we bought some wax, and we waxed up the board, and it was going to be a good day. I could see the waves, and the waves were really clean, and there were some big ones over in the corner, but towards the headland, they were a bit smaller and great to learn on. There was probably around 50 to 100 people out, spread out across the beach. A very packed day. Great day to learn. And so before we went into the water, we practiced popping up. So obviously surfing, you have to get from your belly to your feet really quick. And so we practiced jumping from the sand on your belly to your feet and just did some basic surf etiquette rules and— I just taught her the basics around that. And then we grabbed our boards and walked towards the water, and I said a prayer before we went in. And saying a prayer before I surf has been a custom for a long time because surfing is dangerous. It's not normally that bad, but— But yeah, we prayed. We prayed for protection, God would keep us safe. We prayed that God could make us a witness. We also prayed that we'd catch some waves. And we say amen, open our eyes, and there's this lady standing next to us giving us a funny look. Anyway, we paddled out, and yeah, he hadn't really even swum before, so it was a real challenge at the start, but he picked it up quick. And before you know it, he was trying to catch waves, and he ended up catching one on his belly, and he was doing well. And during this time, I see a seal, And the seal's out in the ocean. I've never seen a seal this far north up at Cabarita. You get a few seals down this way at the beach, but up where I live near Queensland, it's much warmer. So I've never seen a seal that far up. But I paddled out to check out the seal and then— yeah, it was pretty cool. And then paddled back to the rest of the surfers. But it was in the back of my mind, a seal. Never seen a seal that far north. And I'm just sitting there looking out at the horizon with maybe 15 surfers close by and another 10 just a little bit further away. And I'm just thinking about how much of a nice day it is. And then I hear this scream behind me. And at first I think it's a joke. Someone's just crying wolf. It sounds so almost fake. I look behind me and Yeah, a kid's screaming, he's waving his arms. And he's not in trouble, but his brother is. His brother is being attacked. He's under the water and then he's up. You can see a fin and this big ball of energy. He's getting attacked by a shark. Everyone starts paddling into shore. And I also start paddling. Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 17 and say amen when you're there. 1 Samuel chapter 17. Cool. He paced around the camp. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? That evil man had no right to talk about the Almighty God in that way. He turned to the men next to him and they were too afraid to act and they ended up running away. He spoke up, who is going to do something about this? Finally, someone told the king, there is a person in the camp who has the guts to speak up. Maybe he'll have the guts to fight as well. Walking barefoot in simple clothes, he finds himself in front of the king. Read with me in verses 32 of 1 Samuel chapter 17. Then David said to Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight this Philistine. Earlier in the text, we read that Goliath is this massive giant with heaps of armor, is a force that no one wants to reckon with. All the camp of Israelites are terrified of him. And here we see David being willing, and you guys know the story. We continue reading, we see King Saul's response to David in verses 33. Read along with me. You are not able to go Against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. Yet to King Saul, it's pretty obvious. It's clear as day. David is not not someone that should be fighting this giant. Yet he goes. And yeah, we read in verses thirty-seven David's response back to the king. Moreover, David said to the Lord. And David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. As we know the story, David goes down without any armor to the river. He reaches into the water, he grabs 5 round smooth stones, and he walks up to challenge Goliath. And as he does this, Goliath is not impressed. He's almost, I can imagine, disappointed at the pathetic fight he's about to have. But it makes him angry. So we're in at David cursing him by his gods. He's ready to make a quick example of him. And then we read, yeah, we read Goliath's words here in verses 43. So the Philistine said to David, am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? The Philistine cursed him. Verse 44, and the Philistine said to David, come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air. And the beasts of the field. Yeah, it's it's very clear here that Goliath had had no reason to believe that David would win. But David's response, this response of unshakable faith, is incredible. I know you've probably read it a number of times before, but let's read it again. Verses forty-five. Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear." And with the javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you and take your head from you, and this day I will give the carcass of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. How many times does David say will? He is confident of this, isn't he? He has no doubt. What faith. And then David goes down and he slings that stone and a chance in 1 in a million, it lands where it should land. And yeah, the Israelites win the war. David kills Goliath. But David was confident before it happened. He had unshakable faith. Nothing was stopping that. But how about us? Who here can confidently say that they too would have volunteered to fight Goliath? Friends, we know a generation will arise before Jesus comes. with unshakable faith. Yet God tells us in Revelation chapter 3 that we are miserable, poor, blind, and naked. It tells us that we are lukewarm. How do we believe like David did? What are we missing? Turn with me now to Ezekiel chapter 37, a passage in the Bible that talks about God's army. I think at first glance, I remember first reading this text, I was like, what is it talking about? bunch of bones, but the message here is for you and for me. I think all Scripture is, is given so that we can be drawn nearer to God, and this is definitely a passage that is relevant to us. So let's read in verses 1 of chapter 37 of Ezekiel. The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out In the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. And he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and indeed they were very dry. He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, O Lord God, you know. So far, In this story, Ezekiel's in vision. I can imagine he's taken to this valley and he's kind of on the edge of it at the start and he's looking out there and there is this white kind of shininess of these bones and they're all dry and almost crackling in the sun and they're just very, very dry. And as he's walking around, he's thinking, man, This must have been a great people or a great army of some sort. And then God says, can these live? And I mean, to any of us, the answer is no. And you can imagine Ezekiel would have been thinking the same thing, but he's in the presence of God, and so he says, God, you know. Continue in verse 4. Again he said to me, prophesy to these bones and say to them, O dry bones, Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones, surely I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live. The bones need to hear the word of the Lord. We go on to verses 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise and suddenly a rattling, and the bones came together bone to bone. You can imagine, as it's prophesied, this big rattling happening, this big shaking, you know, all the whole valley. It's almost like a musical instrument, just all these bones knocking together, and they're coming together, and the sinews are forming on them, the flesh is growing on them, the skin is coming back together, and they're kind of complete humans now again. But it doesn't finish there. No. God then says to prophesy again that the breath may enter them. That, um, in verses 9, thus says the Lord God, come from the 4 winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. In verses 10, so I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them and they lived. and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. I think it's interesting, this text. These bones were slain. Normal, ordinary people don't get slain. Soldiers get slain. And also, we can see very clearly here that this is an army. This is talking about God's army. They are dry and dead, yet God's Word and His Spirit makes them alive. We then read in verse 11, the Bible explains itself. He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Indeed, they say, our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. We then jump down to verses 14. I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. The bones in the story represent Israel. Friends, we are spiritual Israel. And as Revelation tells us, we are, we are lukewarm. Has there been a time in your life when you've been active in serving God? Has there been a time when you felt convicted to go out and serve? Convicted to tell others about Jesus? Maybe you're feeling dry and dead at the moment in your walk with God. Maybe you're feeling A need to come alive by God's Word and by His Spirit, to be active in God's army. Well, now we know that God has an army, but what kind of fight is this army going to be fighting? So we find the answer in Ephesians chapter 6. So turn there with me. Ephesians chapter 6, starting in verses 11, and say amen when you're there. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand Against the wiles of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And for time's sake, I won't read the rest, but we see it's talking about. Putting on the armor, right? Prayer, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God. The Bible here uses military language to describe the Christian walk. We aren't called to just keep it to ourselves. Sharing God's Word, the Great Commission. It's a battle, it's a fight, but it's not against flesh and blood. It's against principalities and darkness and rulers of this age. It's against the devil. I think we're all called to be in this army. The Bible doesn't exclude us here. Every Christian, this is our job. The reason it's described as war is because the Christian does not have— the Christian does have a mission. It's to lead others to Jesus. It's to fight against the thing that the devil wants the most, to take as many people down with him as he can. So we know that God has an army. We know that we're called to fight in this army, but how do we fight? So turn with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, verses 13, and we're reading to verses, uh, 15. I love this chapter. It gives us some practical ways to fight. Verses 13. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. How are we saved? By believing, by having faith. How are others saved? By believing, having faith. But how can they believe if they do not know? How can they know if we do not tell them? The way that Jesus calls his soldiers to fight is by sharing a message of love, by telling others that Jesus died for them, by showing people that there is a way off this planet, that death is not the end. What a joyful work this is. I can tell you as, as my own personal testimony, there is nothing more joyful than leading someone else to Jesus. And God has been able to use me in different ways. There is nothing more joyful than working alongside Jesus to save someone for eternity. Prayer is the victory. Giving Bible studies is the victory. Sharing our testimonies is the victory. These are all ways that God wants to use each of us. So coming back to the story, I felt this, this power come on me. The same Holy Spirit that was with me in a peaceful way when I did my devotions in the morning became mighty on my behalf. It used me in a mighty way and I had this strength come over me and I just remember paddling as hard as I can towards the shark attack. And I jumped off my board and was able to attack the shark and fight off the shark from the kid. And I pulled out the kid from under the water. It was kind of ironic, I was expecting him to be non-responsive, but he's like, I'm okay, I'm okay. He was not okay. I saw parts of the inside of the human body that I wish I'd never had to see. We're in this, in this kind of pool of blood. I find the woman, I grab his arm, stop the bleeding. By God's grace, another surfer comes over and together we pull him to shore. And the whole way back, the shark follows us, but the angels stop its mouth from eating us. You can see there in that picture, just as I pulled the boy up from out of the water onto the sand. That shark is right there. Gives me a fat side-eye and swims off. So clearly a miracle. We took him to the beach. There happened to be an off-duty paramedic there, another miracle, and she gave instructions about a tourniquet and they wrapped that around his arm. His leg was a bit bitten as well. Ended up being taken off in a helicopter, but before that, I was able to pray with his mum and— yeah, I just remember sitting on the beach and just thinking, man, he's alive. He's alive. There is no greater joy than saving somebody, and that was saving him from An earthly death. But friends, we have a mission that is so much greater, to save people for eternity. I think, I think of this story and God's been able to teach me some things through it. Jesus came and died for us, right? When we were lost and dying in the jaws of Satan, Jesus came and gave his life. He's willing to die. Amen. He then pulls us from the ocean of sin and he puts us on, on the beach. He wraps up our wounds. And friends, God is able to use us to do that work too, and he's calling us to do that. God offers us unshakable faith as we go to fight, as we go to seek and save the lost. Unshakable faith as we challenge Satan's grip on humanity, pulling people one by one from the sea of death and sin. God wants to make you and make me alive in him. Jesus says that apart from him we can do nothing, just like those dry bones of that slain army can do nothing. We can do nothing without Jesus. God is calling every person in this room today to step out of their comfort zone, to share Jesus. Amen. Will you go? We must first choose to pray for unshakable faith, then step out into it, believing that God is true, giving those Bible studies, having those conversations, praying those prayers. If it's your desire to join God's army today, I invite you to stand to accept the gift of unshakable faith. Stay standing if you're excited and nervous about where God is going to lead you this week. And stay standing if, if it's your choice to pray for divine appointments this week. Stay standing if you're going to step out in faith where God calls you. To finish off with a key verse: He alone is my rock and salvation. He is my defense. I will not be moved. God is going to use each of you this week in some way. He is your rock. He is your salvation. He is your defense. Take courage, you will not be moved. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, Lord, I'm so thankful for the privilege that we have to work alongside you. Lord, the privilege that each of us have to seek and save the lost with you. Lord, I pray for divine appointments for every single person in this church here today. Lord, I pray for ways that you can lead them to Find others, Lord, to lead to you. Lord, please bless everyone here, and I look forward to that day that you'll take us home. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. This message was made available by the Waitara Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more resources like this, visit waitarachurch.org.au. Missed part of an Australian program? Listen anytime on demand at 3abnaustralia.org.au. And click on the listen button. This program has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia Radio.
