Use Your Gifts: Christ's Call to Witness | Mark Finley

Summary

Mark Finley's talk on 'Use Your Gifts: Christ's Call to Witness' explores the importance and responsibility of sharing the message of Jesus Christ. Finley imagines a dialogue between Jesus and the angel Gabriel post-resurrection, emphasizing the church's duty to continue Christ's mission. He reflects on the Great Commission, urging believers to take an active role in evangelism, overcoming doubt and fear through faith and action. Finley shares personal experiences from his evangelistic efforts around the world, highlighting the transformative power of belief and action in fulfilling God's work.

Highlights

• Mark Finley imagines a dialogue between Jesus and Gabriel, highlighting the responsibility of believers to spread Christ's message. 🌟
• The Great Commission is the church's mission to evangelize and make disciples worldwide. ✨
• Finley shares stories of successful evangelism efforts, even in challenging environments like India and Pakistan. 🌏
• Believers grow spiritually when they actively engage in sharing their faith. 🌿
• Doubt can't stop the work of God; faith and determination lead to miraculous outcomes. 🙌

Key Takeaways

• Christ's primary method of reaching the world is through his church. 📢
• The Great Commission invites believers to actively share Jesus' message. 🌍
• Witnessing is not optional; it's a calling inherent in being a Christian. 🗣️
• Faith and action are powerful tools against doubt and fear. 💪
• Everyone has a role to play in sharing the gospel; find yours! 🎯

Overview

In this insightful talk, Mark Finley delves into the imagined conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel after Jesus' ascension. This imaginative scene sets the stage for understanding the vital role of believers in spreading the message of Christ. Using this narrative device, Finley emphasizes that there is no backup plan; the spread of Christianity depends on the dedication of its followers. 🌟

Finley reiterates the importance of the Great Commission, urging the faithful to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Through personal anecdotes, he illustrates how evangelism can overcome barriers and transform lives, even in hostile environments. Finley's stories from India and Pakistan stand as testaments to the power of faith and action in the face of adversity. 🌏

The sermon is a call to arms for Christians, challenging them to overcome doubt and fear by actively participating in the mission of the church. Whether through handing out religious literature or engaging in small group discussions, every believer has the potential to impact others through their witness. Finley's passionate appeal encourages Christians to harness their gifts and trust in God's power to work through them. 🌿

Chapters

• 00:00 - 05:00: Jesus' Ascension and Mission Plan The chapter begins with a moment of tranquility, symbolized by music playing in the background. The narrator invites listeners to engage in a mental exercise, setting the stage for the events to unfold. Although the specific details of Jesus' ascension and mission plan are not outlined in the provided text, it hints at a reflective and possibly spiritual or inspirational theme, likely discussing significant Biblical events or teachings related to Jesus Christ's ascension into heaven and the directives he left for his disciples.
• 05:00 - 10:30: Matthew 28: The Great Commission Matthew 28 describes the resurrection of Jesus and the Great Commission he gives to his disciples.
• 10:30 - 15:00: Challenges and Faith in Evangelism The chapter discusses the ascension of Jesus into heaven, where angels celebrate and sing praises of His worthiness and the eternal blessings, honor, and glory He deserves. It features an imaginative scene where the angel Gabriel approaches Jesus to discuss His sacrifice and redemption of humanity.
• 15:00 - 20:30: Authority and Power in Witnessing The chapter titled 'Authority and Power in Witnessing' explores a conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel. Gabriel questions Jesus about the human awareness of His sacrifice. Jesus acknowledges that not everyone on Earth has heard about His sacrifice, His love, and the salvation story. The exchange highlights the notion of authority and power in the act of witnessing, suggesting a responsibility to spread the message of salvation.
• 20:30 - 30:00: Overcoming Doubt and Demonic Opposition This chapter delves into the early moments after Jesus' resurrection when only a few of his followers are aware of his teachings of love and salvation. In a conversation with the archangel Gabriel, Jesus is questioned about his plan to spread this message to the world. Jesus explains his intention to rely on his apostles, specifically naming Peter, James, and John, to share the story of his love, grace, goodness, and salvation with others. This sets the foundation for the spread of Christianity and highlights the theme of overcoming doubt and opposition in carrying forward his teachings.
• 30:00 - 45:00: Witnessing in Hostile Environments: Stories from Pakistan and India Thomas plans to travel to India to spread the story. He expresses concern about the continuity of their mission after the original disciples, like Peter and Matthew, might return to their old lives or eventually die.
• 45:00 - 50:00: The Role and Command of Witnessing The chapter emphasizes the role and command of witnessing in the growth of the church. It reflects on a hypothetical conversation between Jesus and the angel Gabriel. Gabriel questions Jesus about what would happen if the church doesn't fulfill its role in spreading the message. In this imagined dialogue, Jesus reassures Gabriel by asserting that there is no backup plan; He is relying on the believers to spread His word and keep the faith alive. It highlights the importance of every believer in the mission of witnessing and spreading the gospel.
• 50:00 - 60:00: Inspiration from Missionary Stories The chapter titled 'Inspiration from Missionary Stories' begins by emphasizing the impactful role of missionaries who relentlessly pursue their mission, a determination that is both inspiring and resonant through time. The narrative creates an imaginary scene that reiterates this lesson, highlighting that Christ's main avenue for reaching people worldwide is through his church. This message is continually pertinent, urging contemporary believers to understand and act upon their mission within their communities and church institutions. The text calls for reflection on how individuals within the church can maintain faithfulness to their calling, drawing inspiration from historical and modern missionaries who have carried out their missions under various circumstances.
• 60:00 - 72:30: Call to Action and Conclusion The chapter explores the ways in which God communicates His love and grace through nature and the Holy Spirit, aiming to reach and convict people. However, it emphasizes that the primary method through which Jesus seeks to reach people is through other people. The chapter highlights the importance of the great commission, which was bestowed upon the church, urging them to make disciples of all nations and to act as His witnesses.

Use Your Gifts: Christ's Call to Witness | Mark Finley Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Music] I want you to imagine with me tonight
• 00:30 - 01:00 this scene. Imagine that Christ has just ascended to heaven. He's died on the cross. He's been resurrected and he ascends to heaven. Now, in my mind, in this imaginary scene, now remember this is an imaginary scene by a preacher. It's all right if preachers imagine something. The ones you got to worry about is the ones that imagine and don't tell you they're imagining. All right? So this is an imaginary scene. The Jesus
• 01:00 - 01:30 has ascended to heaven. All the angels are singing and celebrating. That's not too imaginary. They're singing, "Worthy, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive blessing and honor and glory forever." That's reality. But in my imagination, I see the angel Gabriel approach Jesus. And Gabriel says to Jesus,"Lord, you've poured out your life to redeem human beings." "Your suffering
• 01:30 - 02:00 was incomprehensible, even to the angels. Your death provides eternal life for all who will accept it." But Gabriel says to Jesus, "Jesus, does everyone on planet Earth know about the great sacrifice that you have made to save them? Have they heard of your great love and the incredible good news of salvation story? Jesus responds, "No, Gabriel,
• 02:00 - 02:30 they haven't heard. Not all of them. Right now, there are just a few of my followers who have heard the story of my love." Gabriel asked Jesus, "H how are they going to hear?" Well, master continues Gabriel, what's your plan for everybody to hear about your love and your grace and your goodness and salvation. Jesus speaks, I have Peter and he's going to tell the story and I have James and John and they're going to tell the story. And
• 02:30 - 03:00 Thomas, he's going to sail off possibly to India. He's going to tell the story. My disciples are going to tell the story. And then as they die off, others will tell the story. Gabriel's countenance changes. But Lord, what after a while Peter forgets and goes back to fishing? And Lord, what about Matthew? if he goes back to to tax collecting and what what if the disciples grow old, Lord, and they die off and the task is
• 03:00 - 03:30 not complete and your church grows large and comfortable and the hearts of your people no longer burn to tell the story. Jesus, I have a question. What's your backup plan? What's your backup plan? And Jesus in my imagination looks at Gabriel and says,"I have no other backup plan." Gabriel, I'm counting on them to be
• 03:30 - 04:00 faithful to the mission that I've given them. The scene, of course, is imaginary, but the lesson comes echoing and re-echoing down the quarters of time. It speaks to us at this age. It speaks to us in this church. It speaks to us at this time and in this place. Christ's primary method of reaching the world is through his church. Now, why do I say primary method
• 04:00 - 04:30 and not only method? Because God does work through nature to reveal his love and grace. God does work through the Holy Spirit to convict people. But the primary method that Jesus has to reach people is through people. The great commission to make disciples of all nations was given to the church. The great call to the church is to be witnesses. Now Christ clarifies his
• 04:30 - 05:00 priority on Matthew chap in Matthew chapter 20 20 28. And I invite you to take your Bible and turn to the 28th chapter of the book of Matthew. You recall this scene. Christ is resurrected from the dead. It had been a dark, dark Friday. Nails were driven through his hands. Blood ran down his wrists. A crown of thorns was jammed upon his head and blood ran down his face and matted in his beard. It was a dark, dark
• 05:00 - 05:30 Friday. The birds stopped singing. The clouds rolled into the sky. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed. It was dark, dark Friday. Judas betrayed him. The disciples forsook him. His own people rejected him. He hung his head and died. That Sabbath the disciples met with fear in the upper room. But hallelujah, Sunday was morning was coming. And the sun shone again and the
• 05:30 - 06:00 birds sang again. And the flowers bloomed again, and an angel descended from heaven, and said, "Son, thy father calleth thee." And the ro and the rock was rolled away, and Jesus came forth alive. What were some of the angels first words to the women who came to the tomb? Matthew chap 28 verse 6 and 7. He is not here, for
• 06:00 - 06:30 he's risen. As he said, come see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead and that he's going before you to Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I've told you. The angels told the women to go tell the disciples that there was a meeting in Galilee. When an angel tells you to go to Galilee to meet
• 06:30 - 07:00 your resurrected Lord, Jesus must have something incredibly important to say. But the story becomes even more significant. Verse 10, Matthew 28. Then Jesus said to them, when Jesus appears, he says to them, "Do not be afraid. go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there you'll they'll see me. When you have angels and the resurrected
• 07:00 - 07:30 Lord telling the disciples of an important significant meeting, it must be one of the most important meetings ever in the history of humanity. So the disciples grasp the significance of this meeting with their Lord. They traveled over 90 miles on foot. They faced hostile Jewish and Roman forces. They traversed desert
• 07:30 - 08:00 sands. They climbed mountain pi paths. They walked miles on dusty dirt roads. They crossed rivers to come the appointed place. It probably took them better than a week. We look in on this scene in Matthew 28:16. It says, "Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain." You could never go to the multitude unless you first gone to the mountain. You
• 08:00 - 08:30 could never reach others for Christ unless you've heard a message from Christ. Jesus wants to do something for us before he can do something through us. He wants to do something to us before he can do something with us. And so there they met on the mountain to listen to instructions from the resurrected Lord. It says verse 16, "Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee unto the mountain which Jesus
• 08:30 - 09:00 had appointed for them. In the quiet place of prayer, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, away from the noise and the clamor, Jesus spoke. They receive strength and power." It says verse 17, "When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted." I'm interested in that. They saw him and they worshiped him, but some doubted.
• 09:00 - 09:30 They doubted then and they doubt now. Some doubted in the first century and some doubt in the 21st century. Some doubted in the Galilee and some doubt in North America. You say, "We're going to do Pentecost 25. God's people are going to come alive. Well, we've heard those slogans before. Not much is going to happen. Some doubt it. Here's the truth. God never accomplishes
• 09:30 - 10:00 anything great through those that doubt. When the doubters doubt and the criticizers criticize and the skept I'm at university. I got be the skepticizers. I don't even know if that's a word. The skep the skepticizers skepticize. that doesn't accomplish anything. I like what Ellen White says. She says in uh Patriarchs and Prophets, page 290, the obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a
• 10:00 - 10:30 halting doubting spirit. The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear through a halted doubting spirit. God looks for men and women of vision. God looks for men and women of faith. God looks for men and women who with the limited resources they have, the lack of ability that they have give what they have to Jesus and he uses them. I remember n net 95. Some of you are old
• 10:30 - 11:00 enough to remember that net 95. You know, I had just come to it is written television and there was this proposal given to us by the North American division that we do a net series. Now, no church in Christianity had done a net series of that scope before. This was 1995. The Adventist church had not even thought of anything like that. The idea was that a preacher would stand in one
• 11:00 - 11:30 place, the message would go up by satellite, it would come down in local churches. And so I had a wellrespected Adventist leader come to me and this is what he told me. He said, 'You know, Pastor Mark, you've just come did written. You don't want to embarrass yourself because look, we're having a difficult time getting people to live evangelistic meetings. There are three reasons you shouldn't do this. Number one, because people are not going to come and watch some preacher on a
• 11:30 - 12:00 screen. Number two, if they come out of novelty, they'll come for a night or two and they'll leave you. You'll be preaching empty churches. And number three, you should never think that people going to walk to a screen. In net95, we had over 600 churches and there were 8,000 baptisms in North America. Net96, we had 14,000 baptisms in North America. God does something by faith. When we believe and believe that God is going to use our local church to make a difference. When
• 12:00 - 12:30 we believe that the spirit of God is going to pour out in our community. When we believe that some way somehow God is going to use us to make a difference for him. Theore Roosevelt, president of the United States at the time, made a speech in the at the Sorbone in Paris. And this is what Roosevelt said in that speech. See if you identify with this. It's not the critic who counts. Not the man who
• 12:30 - 13:00 points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have been done better. The credit belongs to the man who or woman who's actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who hes who come short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming but who does actually strive to do the deeds. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the
• 13:00 - 13:30 great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best knows at the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be known with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. When that brother well-meaning came to me and said, "You should not get involved in this net event." Here's my comment. I said, ' I'd rather try to do something
• 13:30 - 14:00 great for God and fail than do nothing and succeed. Often people will say to me, "Pastor Mark, you've been preaching for 60 years now." Somebody said, "You don't look like it. You need your glasses adjusted." You know, somebody said, "You've been preaching for 60 years now. What's the best method of evangelism?" And I said, "I'll tell you. I know what the best method is. They said, "You do? What is it? Tell me,
• 14:00 - 14:30 please." A lot of young preachers ask me that. It's the one you do. The one you don't do is no good at all. Do something for Jesus. Give out a piece of literature. Give out a book. Do a Bible study. Get involved in a small group. Write a letter to somebody. Call them on the telephone. The one you do is the one that God has led you to do. That is the very, very best method. Now Jesus here in Matthew chapter 28, let's go back to the text. Matthew the 28th
• 14:30 - 15:00 chapter and here Jesus tells his disciples, the scripture says in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18, Jesus came. Don't you love that? Verse 17, when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted, then Jesus came. Did you get it? Some doubted, then what happened? Some doubted, then what happened? Jesus came. When Jesus comes, he chases away our doubts. When Jesus comes, he takes
• 15:00 - 15:30 away our fear. When Jesus comes, he gives us a new hope that God is going to use us. Then Jesus came and he spoke to them and he said, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them all things that I've commanded you. And law, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world. Now, notice what Jesus says, all
• 15:30 - 16:00 authority. If you have the King James version of the Bible, it won't say all authority. What does it say? All power. The the word translated here for authority is an interesting word. It's power, but it's more than power. It's authority, but it's more than authority. The Greek word there is a word called exusia. How do you know what a word means when you translate it in the
• 16:00 - 16:30 Bible? Well, there are a number of ways you can know. You can look at the background of the word in the original language. You can look at how the word was used throughout scripture. This word exusia is an interesting word. It is power, but it's more. It's authority, but it's more. It carries with it the idea of Christ's victory over the principalities and powers of hell. So when we go out to give out a piece of literature, when we go out to give a
• 16:30 - 17:00 Bible study, when we go out to hold a small group, when we hold an evangelistic meeting, when we're praying for others in any form of witness, we go with the authority of Jesus Christ who has already triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell. The principalities and powers of hell are defeated by the death of Christ on Calvar's cross. And through his high priestly ministry, he pours out that power on us. I have seen God work in so
• 17:00 - 17:30 many incredible ways. For example, we were holding evangelistic meetings in in India in uh Chennai. The leadership of our church asked me if I would go to Chennai and we held a meeting there and they said, "Would you travel throughout India?" I said, "No, I'll make a 10-year commitment to Chennai." When we went to Chennai, there were 12 churches and 750 7th day Adventists. 10 years later, we have 140 churches and 20,000 Adventists because
• 17:30 - 18:00 of the leadership in that field. Swamines Johnson, great man of God in faith. When I first went there, he took out a map and he circled every single metro station, 140 or so, and he said, "Pastor Mark, went up a church by every metro station." We continued to support him with Bible workers, 30 Bible workers and so forth and uh continued to work with him in television ministry. Well, I was holding meetings there and we had about 500 people to baptize and so it
• 18:00 - 18:30 was too dangerous to baptize them in the city because of the Hindu militants. One of our associate pastors putting up posters got beat up, bloody nose, had to be taken to the hospital as he was advertising for our meeting. So I knew it was really uh significantly uh dangerous to baptize within the city. So we made an agreement that we'd take these 500 people by bus and take them out about 2 hours from the city of Chennai and baptize them at our camp
• 18:30 - 19:00 which we did. Had a wonderful baptism. The next morning next afternoon I was to fly home and um the conference president called me. He said pastor Mark um we got a problem. I said what's our problem? He said one of the buses got lost on the way to the baptism. And as that bus got lost on the way um those people were not baptized. There's about 22 of them that want to be baptized. Can we baptize them this morning? And I said, "Look, I can't go 2
• 19:00 - 19:30 hours away and baptize them and come back 2 hours because I've got a flight and I have other appointments. Do you have any place closer?" And he said, "Yeah, there's a river that we could go baptize them in." I said, "Great. Let's go." So we got the people together, got a bus. I got on the bus with them. We got to the site and immediately I was nervous because we had to walk through a field and we had to walk through a Hindu village and down a steep embankment to get to the river and I knew that this was going to be quite a show. And I I
• 19:30 - 20:00 didn't feel good about it at all. And I was praying, Lord, please, please do something significant. Please work powerfully because this could not be a good scene. When we got there, there were Hindu women that were washing their clothes here and then there were men sitting up on the bank and I I just did not have a good feeling about it. I was constantly praying. Finally, when we began to have the baptisms, we had three pastors in the water baptizing and the first few
• 20:00 - 20:30 baptisms went well. But in the third round of baptisms, there was a young woman that we were baptizing and a deep male voice came out of her. And that male voice was screaming, "You cannot have me. You cannot have me. You cannot have me." Well, I knew what was happening in that culture. There was about 140,000 gods. And one god is called the river god. And I knew immediately because this woman, the male voice came out of her. Then unseen hands
• 20:30 - 21:00 came from the heavens and pushed her under the water and I thought she was going to die. I thought she was drowning. She came up in the spitting out water and then the pastor couldn't hold her and two other pastors came to help and but she had superhuman strength and this male voice was coming out of her and I thought if this woman dies in this river what's going to happen is the word's going to go out that to become a Christian the Hindu gods will kill you. She broke loose of the men that were holding her. She was hissing, eyes were
• 21:00 - 21:30 rolling in the head, mouth foaming, and she she came to the shore and like a cat leaped at my throat to cut me and grab my throat. Fortunately, it was muddy and I was a little younger and I I stepped back really quickly and she fell in the mud, kicking, screaming, and I had dealt with this before. The conference president's wife had a Bible. I didn't have my Bible right in my hand. I think the conference president wife was holding it. And I said, "Give me my Bible, please." And I knelt and I put my
• 21:30 - 22:00 Bible on her head. Not because I believe there's any mystical value in the Bible, but I believe that this woman and the Hindus on the the man needed a visible symbol of the power of God. And I began to pray over that woman. It didn't come quickly. She kept kicking. She kicked me once. And uh I kept praying, dear Lord, you are the Lord of all. You have sent us
• 22:00 - 22:30 out with the authority of Jesus Christ. You have the power of God. Come and deliver this woman. And as I continued to pray, the spirit of God came down and she just felt limp. She just fell limp. We picked her up. She had a piece on her face and she said, "Could I be baptized now? My heart was still beating. And they took her into the water, raised their hand and said, "We now baptize you in the name of the
• 22:30 - 23:00 father, the son, and the holy spirit." Now, I need to say a couple things. First, the devil cannot possess an individual without their conscious choice. That's extremely important principle. There are three levels of demonic activity in the Bible. Jesus has triumphed over them all. The first is temptation. We all are tempted by the devil. The more we yield to temptation, the more the devil can oppress us. But if the devil could without our
• 23:00 - 23:30 volition or choice or without our dabbling in spiritualism and I learned later that this woman's grandma was involved in spiritualism and she had become involved as well. But here's the point. We do not give one inch to the devil. Jesus has triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell. Take your Bible, please, and turn to the book of Psalms. Psalm
• 23:30 - 24:00 66. When we witness for Jesus, we witness in his name. When we witness for Jesus, we witness in his power. When we witness for Jesus, we witness in his strength. Psalm 66. And you're looking there, verse three. Psalm 66:3 say to God, "How awesome are your works?" Wh What are God's works, everybody? What are they? They are awesome. Through the greatness of what?
• 24:00 - 24:30 Your power. Your enemies shall submit themselves to you. And all the world, all the earth shall worship you. Notice it says, "How awesome are your works through the greatness of your power, your enemies shall submit themselves to you." Jesus says, "All authority is given to me. All power is given to me. I've triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell. You go and witness for me. You go and share my fa your faith and my power will go through you.
• 24:30 - 25:00 Mission is God's. We have the joy of cooperating with him to allow his spirit to come through us. And what happens?" It says, "All your enemies shall submit themselves to you." I'm holding meetings in Pakistan and uh it's during the time of the Benazer Bhu government a time of very great un instability in Karach and while we're holding meetings there you know we have uh Muslims coming to our meetings we
• 25:00 - 25:30 have Hindus coming to our meetings we have Parsees coming to our meetings the Parsees are descendants of Cyrus and you can always tell a Parsy cemetery because they build these large kind of uh towers they're like silos and they lay the dead on top of them and the birds eat the flesh and the bones drop through and then when they fill up that tower they build another one. So we had all kind of people coming in that part of the world in those years you could only have a women's bus and a men's bus. The men and women wouldn't travel on the same bus at all. And so I noticed one of the buses
• 25:30 - 26:00 came and uh the uh women were really nervous, really nervous. So I said to my translator, tell me a little bit about this, you know, why why are these women so nervous? And they said because there were three or four men that wanted to get on the bus and the bus driver told them it's a women's bus and they wanted to ride to town and the bus driver wouldn't take them. So they got so mad they said we're going to come and burn all your buses. While I was preaching a
• 26:00 - 26:30 flatbed truck pulled up and uh 20 men got off 20 21 or so with torches to burn our buses. We had pretty good Muslim bodyguards and they were out in the courtyard protecting the auditorium and protecting the buses and there was a firefight that was shooting but I was preaching and it was outside so I wasn't concerned about it. Um and um about 10 of those men were were captured. They were taken to the police station. The other 10 got away. I was staying at the
• 26:30 - 27:00 Karachi Adventist Hospital and about uh 1:00 in the morning, 1:30 in the morning, the conference president came, knocked on my door, woke me up, said, "Pastor Mark." So I woke up and he said, "We got a problem." I said, "What's the problem?" He said, "You know those 10 men that were going to burn the buses?" Yes. They're down at the police station and they're getting whipped. They're getting beaten and beaten. He said, "What should we do?" He said, "If you go down there, it's going to be an international incident." I said, "Look, this is what I want you to do. I want you to go to the police station and tell the police that we are not going to
• 27:00 - 27:30 press any charges against these young men. That they will not we will not appear in court. They were going to burn our buses, but we are not going to press any charges. And if there's nobody that's going to press charges, then they're going to have to let them go. So the conference president went down to the police station and he said, "Look to the police, we have made a decision. We are not going to press any charges at all against these men. we're not going to do that. So therefore, since we are not going to charge them, you're going
• 27:30 - 28:00 to have to let them go. And the police chief said, "You're right. If you will not testify against them, we have no case." And he let them go. The 10 men walked out onto these young men. They were between 18 and 22. They walked out into the Karach night. By now it's 2:30, 3:00 in the morning. And they look at the conference president and they said, "Why? Why did you do this?" and he said, 'Look, I went and talked to Pastor Finley and we believe that if Christ has forgiven us of our sins on the cross of
• 28:00 - 28:30 Calvary, we can forgive you. Amen. So, we want you to know that although you were going to do something despicable to burn our buses, we do not hold that against you. We forgive you. The gang leader looks at the conference president and he said, "If you forgive us, do you think Pastor Finley would let us come back to the meetings?" They came to our meetings. We baptized eventually the gang
• 28:30 - 29:00 leader and he became later on one of the deacons in a new church we planted. You see, what does our text say in Psalm 66? How awesome are your what? Works. Through the greatness of your power, your enemies shall submit themselves to you. If you want to be where God is working, get involved in witnessing. If you want to be where God is working, get involved in soulwinning. Why witness?
• 29:00 - 29:30 First, it's the command of Jesus Christ. Secondly, if you want to, you grow when you go. Can you say that with me? We grow when we go. Once again, we grow when we go. If you want a stagnant spiritual experience, come and sit and listen to sermons and do absolutely nothing. You will die of spiritual coronary
• 29:30 - 30:00 artery disease. You will have a a malignancy of the soul. You will have a cancer of the heart. We do not grow unless we give. Desire of Ages, page 143. In order to develop a character like Christ, we must work as he worked. Can you think of anybody that prayed a great deal, that studied the
• 30:00 - 30:30 Bible a great deal, but crucified Jesus? Did the Pharisees study the Bible? Did they memorize the first five books of the Bible? Did they pray a lot? Did they crucify Jesus? What was the problem? The problem was their prayers were turned inward. The problem was they studied to
• 30:30 - 31:00 prove other people wrong. That was the problem. The problem was they were inward focused rather than outwardlooking. The problem was that rather than seeing a world that needed to know the message of Christ, they focused and the minor things. There is a big little word in the book
• 31:00 - 31:30 in the in the passage we're studying. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew the 28th chapter. There's a big little word there. Notice verse 17. Summed out. Then Jesus comes. Then Jesus says, "All authority, all power has been given to me in heaven and earth." Then he says, "Go." Therefore, Jesus does not say wait. He says go. He does not say wait for further training. He says go. Sure,
• 31:30 - 32:00 we want training. All the training possible. But while you're being trained, go. While you're learning, teach. While you're receiving, give. Jesus says, "Go." He does not say, "Wait till somebody commissions you to be a witness." Nobody needs to commission you to be a witness. You are a witness by the very fact that you're a Christian. Witnessing is not a spiritual gift. It is a role that God has given to every
• 32:00 - 32:30 Christian. It is written in step the book steps to Christ. No sooner does one come to Christ than in his heart there is the desire to share what he knows about Jesus. When you fall in love with Jesus, you your great desire is to share the love of Christ with others. Jesus says go therefore. I you know it's really interesting. Um I read the story I love reading biographies of great
• 32:30 - 33:00 missionaries read the story of of of William Kerry and uh William Kerry great missionary to India was a young man he had all this visionary vision in his heart mind you know of reaching India with the gospel and uh one day it was in a meeting with a lot of older people elders and they were even older than me probably and he got up and he says to them, we have to have a plan to reach
• 33:00 - 33:30 India. And one of the elders got up and said, if God wants to reach India, young man, he can do it without you. Sit down. William Kerry never forgot his burden for India. He developed uh he he he was a lay person who developed a shoe cobbling cobbling shop in in in England in London. But he put a map of India on the wall. And as he put a map of India on the wall, he wrote under the map. I cobble shoes to pay expenses, but soulwinning is my
• 33:30 - 34:00 business. And William Carrie was led from that shoe cobbling shop in London to India and thousands and thousands and thousands were baptized. It is amazing what God can do with those that expect great things from him. Carrie once said, "Expect great things for for God. Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God." Expect
• 34:00 - 34:30 great things from God and attempt great things for God. One of the stories that inspires me as much as any other in Adventist history is the story of Abraham Laru. Abraham Laru became a Seventh Day Adventist later in life. When he was in his 60s, he made a decision to start some farming
• 34:30 - 35:00 up in uh outside of uh nor in Northern California, outside of Sacramento. And Abraham Laroo was farming there. and he thought, I got to do something more for Jesus. And so he began to I got to sell books. And he was so powerfully moved by selling books that he said, I I want to go to China. And you know, sometimes God lays a burden on your heart and it might be to go to your neighbor. It might be to work in your city. But sometimes God puts a burden
• 35:00 - 35:30 for mission on your hearts. And he did for Abraham Laroo. By now Abraham Laroo is in his 60s. He's a lay person. doesn't have theological education. I praise God for the theological education, but this man didn't have any. And as he's thinking about, he's cold portering. And so he writes to the general conference. At that time, we have absolutely no work in China. There's not one Seventh Adventist in China. The General Conference writes back to Abraham Laru and it says, "For two reasons, you can't go. Number one, you're too old. Number two, we don't
• 35:30 - 36:00 have any money to send you. That's not unusual." Uh, so but Abraham Laru says, "Can't go. You're too old. We don't have any money, but you can go to the Pacific." So he gets on a freighter, goes to Hawaii, sells books in Hawaii for a while. Then he begins thinking, "They told me I could go to the Pacific." Hey, wait a minute. China's on the then the Pacific. Gets on a boat, goes to China. Doesn't know Chinese. Every odd is against this guy. But he begins
• 36:00 - 36:30 selling books to British sailors. Seven of those sailors are converted. They take a boat back to Liverpool, England, start our work there. He continues to work. He sends a letter to the general conference. This may surprise you, but the clerk of the court here in Shanghai has um translated steps to Christ. I've been giving that out. I got seven or eight Chinese people ready to be baptized. Our work in China was established by a visionary lay person
• 36:30 - 37:00 who believed that God was going to use them in a powerful way. God wants to do something in your life. My friend, God wants to use you to get on the telephone and and call a friend or neighbor and pray with them when they're sick. God wants to use you to give out a piece of literature. God wants to use you to give a book. God wants to use you to give a Bible study. God wants to use you to hold a health meeting in your church.
• 37:00 - 37:30 God wants to use you to minister to young people. God wants to use you to hold an evangelistic small group and evangelistic meeting. Rescue the perishing. Care for the dying. Men and women are lost without Christ. We witness not simply to give them a better quality of life, although that will do that. But we believe based on the gospels that men and women need Jesus.
• 37:30 - 38:00 They need the salvation that he offers. They need his grace. Would you like to say, Jesus, I want to be your eyes to see the lost, your ears to hear the cry of woe, your mouth to speak a word of encouragement. Would you stand and sing with me that wonderful song, Rescue the Perishing?
• 38:00 - 38:30 Thank [Music] you. Resue the perishing. Care for the dying. touch and keep me from sin and
• 38:30 - 39:00 [Music] grad. Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save. Rescue the perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Oh Jesus, we [Music]
• 39:00 - 39:30 save us in him till he's waiting, waiting child to receive. He remeously. He will remember them gently. He will forgive if they only believe. Rescue the
• 39:30 - 40:00 perishing. Care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will [Music] save. Rescue the perishing beauty in man. All our labor the Lord will profound back to the narrow way.
• 40:00 - 40:30 Patiently with them tell the wonderous Savior has died. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
• 40:30 - 41:00 [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat.
• 41:00 - 41:30 [Music] [Music]
• 41:30 - 42:00 [Music]