by Pastor Delmar Anderson

Biblical quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

The Reluctant Servants

It was about the close of Jesus' ministry that He instituted the ordinances of the church. We read of the occasion in the book of Mark. I'd like to turn and notice that if you'd open your Bibles to Mark 14. We'll begin reading with verse thirteen. Mark 14:13-16. So He sent out two of His disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and there a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water: follow him." "And wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I shall may the Passover with My disciples?" ' " "Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us." And His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. Now, this is really an unusual experience. Christ told His disciples to go into town. He didn't tell them any particular spot. He didn't tell them anything about this man other than he was bearing a pitcher of water. "You follow him and he"ll go into a certain house and then you ask the master of the house if we can use the upper room." Now, that's very unusual. Don't you think that really helped the disciples know that Jesus knew the future and they could really trust Him? You know, I like those words, "and found it just as He had said to them." You know, dear friends, one day soon you and I are going to see the promises of Jesus fulfilled just as He had said. So they made ready for the Passover. It was the custom of that day that at such a meeting there would be one that would wash the feet of the guests. Travel in that day was largely by foot in the dust and grime of the earth. But on that particular occasion there was no servant. And as the disciples looked around and saw the situation they began to wonder what was going to happen, because if there was no servant one of those present at the meeting usually served as a servant. So, they wondered who Jesus would choose to be the servant. Now, James and John didn't want to be the servant because they had just asked for the highest place. And I suppose that the other disciples were kind of hoping that maybe Jesus would choose them because they were a little jealous that they had asked to have the highest positions in the new kingdom that thought Jesus was going to set up immediately. Perhaps some thought Judas should be the servant. And there was jealousy among them. How would Jesus solve the problem? What would He do? Notice in John 13:3. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose up from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured out water into a basin and began to wash the disciple's feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. But when came to Peter, Peter said, "No, you're not going to wash my feet." Jesus said to him, "If I do not wash your feet you have no part with me." Peter thought a minute and then he said, "No part in this supper?" "No part." "No part in the covenant?" "No part." "o part in heaven?" "No part." Peter said, "Well, Lord don't just wash my feet then. Wash me all over!" Verse 10: Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." And then Christ gave this instruction to His disciples, to His all of his followers, to you and me here today: John 13:13-17, "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them." Notice that He repeated the command three times that we should celebrate this ordinance of the foot-washing. And you notice He says, "Happy are you if you do them." You know, this should really be a happy occasion. Even though it's a time of humbling ourselves, it should be a happy occasion because we know that we have a Savior, we know that we are cleansed by His precious blood and that we have eternal life. Yes, this service is a service of cleansing. It's a time of sincere repentance. That's why it is called the "Ordinance of Humility." It is a time of surrendering ourselves completely to God and accepting the forgiveness and the cleansing that He has provided. That is really the meaning of this service. Jesus said, "If I do not wash you, you have not part with Me." So, as we partake of this Ordinance of Humility, it is an outward symbol that we have accepted, we have accepted in our hearts the cleansing that He provides. And as we do that we know that our sins are forgiven, and that He covers us His robe of righteousness and we stand before God as thought we had never sinned. We stand before Him in absolute perfection. Because in Christ we are perfect. Yes, this is the meaning of this service. It's the symbol of this experience of cleansing through the blood, an outward symbol of an inward experience, of accepting and receiving that cleansing that He provides. And when we do that then we are prepared to receive the Lord's supper. And as you partake of the emblems of the Lord's supper, the bread that you eat is assimilated into your body and it becomes a part of you. It becomes a part of your body. And the wine that you drink becomes a part of you. Paul said in Colossians 1:27, ...which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory" As the bread and the wine becomes a part of your body, they symbolize Christ dwelling in you. And how is that Christ dwells in us? We're told in that wonderful book, Desire of Ages, p. 677, (EG White), "It is through the Word that Christ abides in His followers." Through His word. You know, Jesus said in John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth. Your word is truth." And Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). He is the truth. His word is the truth. So, as you receive the bread and the wine, it is a symbol that you have received the words of Christ which are really His character in written form. It is a symbol that you are receiving Christ, His words. You know, we're told in Desire of Ages, p.677 that "The words of Christ are spirit and life." His words are spirit and life. They are His character in written form. And receiving them you receive the life of the vine. You live ...by every word that proceeds from of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Then Jesus said unto them, "Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:53,54). Notice He said, "Has eternal life" not will have it. "He has it," because as you receive His words, as you receive Christ into your life, that is the beginning of eternal life. You have it now. It is yours. And you can be assured that you have eternal life. The Lord's supper is a symbol of this experience: receiving the words of Christ you receive the life of the divine. Now, the Lord's supper also points to His second coming. This is a part of the purpose of this ordinance; To ever keep alive in our hearts the hope and the assurance of His coming. Jesus said in John 6:53,54, "Whoever eats My flesh eats and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Notice he says, "...the last day," pointing to His coming. 1 Corinthians 11:26, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes. He is pointing forward to the time when He will come in the clouds of heaven. Jesus said there in Luke 22:15,16 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And then He said in Mark 14:25, "Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." He said to His disciples, "As you take this bread and this wine I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until I drink it with you in My kingdom." Pointing forward in time that he would come in the clouds of heaven and take His family home, and then they would sit down and eat and drink together. Now, the fulfillment of those words of Christ is found in Luke 12:37. "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them." This is the observance of the Lord's supper. You know, one of the first meetings in haven will be to observe the ordinance. Notice it says, "He will gird himself." Christ says, "I have waited a long time for this." You know, the disciples will be there, and perhaps they will arise and say, "Lord, Lord, let me serve. I want to serve." How different than back there at the first Passover with His disciples. But what does Jesus say? It says "and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them." Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He goes forth to serve. Christ says, "I will not take part in this service until the family comes home. And you know dear friends, I'm quite sure they are preparing for that service over there right now. I'm sure they are making the preparations, and I don't believe it's going to be long until we will all go home and take part in that service. I want to be there, don't you? And this is my prayer today. We're going to separate at this time for the Ordinance of Humility. As you remember, the ladies will go to the fireside room and the men to the room adjoining the fireside room. Married couples to the upstairs room and also down this hall to the right. Also another room for the men across the hall on the left. As you return to the sanctuary, please sit in the center sections so the deacons can serve you more easily. Let us prayer. "Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for that precious blood that was shed that we might have eternal life. As we partake of this Ordinance of Humility, may our hearts be humbled before Thee. May we, at the same time, rejoice that we can know that we have the gift of eternal life. Dismiss is now as we partake of this service in Jesus Name, Amen." (Our church has open communion, that is, anybody is welcome to participate, whether they are members of our church or a non-Adventist church. The Ordinance of Humility, the foot-washing part of the service, may seem strange to some outsiders, but many have enjoyed and appreciated the service. Adventists feel that the Ordinance of humility really helps us prepare for the "Bread" and the "Wine" later. This is a precious time for all of us.) (We separate to the various rooms where we wash each other's feet. As each couple finishes, they bow their heads and speak to God in prayer. For most of us this is a solemn service because it implies that we have asked forgiveness for any trespasses that we may have done and we want to have our hearts cleared of the guilt that may have accumulated there. Confession and forgiveness returns us to equality and we can again look our brother in the eye.) (Everyone is returning to the sanctuary now, and the organ is quietly playing as we take our places. The ministers and deacons come down the aisle and take their places before the platform.) Elder Bennett speaks: The reference to the first communion service, 1 Corinthians 11:23.. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." And that's what we do today. I invite you to bow your heads as we pray. "My heavenly Father, we're so grateful to You for what has been accomplished for us on the cross, the resurrection and for that intercessory ministry of the Holy Spirit in Christ. We thank you, Father, that by the grace of God we have been washed clean and we stand in Your presence today in all humility, but in all gratefulness and joy. Clean as though we had not sinned. I pray that You will seal You presence and purity in our lives. Help us as we leave this service to know that we have Jesus in our hearts and that we're lifting Him up wherever we go through the week that lies ahead. Bless these emblems that we receive that they will renew our commitment, our faith and our confidence in You, in Jesus Name, Amen." (We have eight deacons who all stand and wait. The two ministers take the tops off the stacks of trays and break some of the bread. Then they hand a tray to each deacon. Then the deacons turn to pass out the emblems to the congregation. The trays contain both the bread and the wine, so each person takes both. When everybody is served, the deacons return to the front where they hand their trays to the ministers, each taking from their own tray their emblems. When the last tray is about to be put on the stack, the ministers each take turn taking their emblems from the other.) Elder Anderson speaks: Jesus said, "Take, eat. This is My body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me." (And we all eat the bread together.) "Amen!" Elder Anderson again speaks: He also said, "This cup is the New Testament in My blood. This do as often as ye drink it in remembrance of Me." (And we all drink the wine together.) "Amen!" (The tops are replaced on the stacks. And Elder Anderson reminds us that the deacons will be waiting for an offering for the poor as we leave. We sing one verse of Faith of our Fathers as the ministers and deacons file out.) (I hope you have enjoyed following our service all the way through today. Bob Beckett, Sermon Editor for our web page.)  

Hymn of Praise: #73, Holy, Holy, Holy
Scripture: John 5:54 - 56
Hymn of Response: #300, Faith of Our Fathers

McDonald Road Sermons

by Elder Steve Bauer,

Biblical quotations are from the New International Version NIV unless otherwise noted.

Abraham's Risky Faith

The book of Romans struck fear into the hearts of many people, especially Seventh-day Adventists, worried about that message of grace interfering with the keeping of the Law. And, indeed Romans can be a challenging book, but it doesn't have to be. If we take a moment to think about how the book of Romans came about and why, it may help us understand a little bit better its message for us today. The church in Rome, like most churches of the first century, started out of the Jewish synagogue and therefore most of the members and leaders of the original church and house-churches of Rome would have been Jewish. And then as the Gentiles were added to the church they were kind of second fiddle out on tertiary edges with the Jewish core providing the leadership, but then Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews out of Rome. Suddenly the Christian house-churches had only Gentiles, and these Gentiles suddenly had to take over the roll of elder and deacon and so forth: the various leadership positions. For five years it went like this. And they were feeling pretty good about their ability to lead the church. And then emperor Nero decided to let the Jews back in. So, these Jewish Christians who had gone came back to Rome. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't expecting to slip right back in to their old role and restore things just the way they had always been. But those Gentile Christians were used to running things now, and the transition wasn't as easy as those Jewish believers had expected. You add to this the controversy that had now developed in the Christian church over Jew versus Gentile, and how much of the Jewish ways did the Gentiles have to adopt in order to be a Christian. And things were not going well in Rome. The apostle Paul is worried because he wants to go west to Spain but he needs Rome for a launching pad. But Rome is not in the condition to be a launching pad. And so, Paul writes the book of Romans to try to stabilize this theological and ethnic controversy so that he can go west from Rome with the gospel and with their support. That is the context in which he writes and obviously in this Jew- Gentile issue the nature of salvation was the central point of controversy. In Romans 1, Paul addresses the Gentile audience and he says, "You Gentiles are guilty before God because you rejected what God revealed about Himself through nature." That's the basic gist of Romans 1. Yes, he talks about what happens because they rejected this revelation of God through nature, the various things. But the basic point is what could be known of God through nature they consciously rejected and therefore they stand guilty before God. And then in chapter 2, he turns to the Jewish half of the audience and he says, "You've done the same thing the Gentiles have done." And they said, "Who? Us?" and he says, "Yes. Just as the Gentile rejected what God revealed about Himself in nature, you have rejected what He has revealed about Himself through law, the Torah. Therefore you Jews are equally guilty before God." So, guess what! Jew and Gentile are in the same boat. Both have rejected God's revelation of Himself, one through nature, one through the law and both stand equally guilty before God. "There is no difference," said Paul. Romans 3:9 (NLT) Well, then, are we Jew better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. So stop being proud that you're Jewish or Gentile or better than each other. And then he proceeds to explain that both Jew and Gentile, since they have all sinned the same way, by rejecting God's revelation of Himself they will all be justified the same way, by believing a promise. You can't earn it. You have to believe God's promise. You have to trust His integrity to do what He said He would do. And Paul brings this argument to an apex in chapter 3, verse 28- 30. I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version: For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. Is God the God of the Jews only? Is He not God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one; and He will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised on the ground of their faith. It's a very clever argument of Paul here. He basically says we have the same problem, right? We both rejected God's revelation and we have one God. Since there's one problem, one God, there's one way to be made right with God and that way is through faith, believing. Well, I can just see our Jewish half of the audience getting real nervous here. "What about the Law? If I don't have to keep the Law to get right with God, what do I do with it?" So Paul adds a balancing statement now in verse 31: Do we then overthrow the Law by this faith? By no means! or as the King James puts it: God forbid! This is the strongest way of saying "no" in Greek. You can't make it any stronger. On the contrary, this faith that justifies a sinner in God's eye keeps the Law, it upholds it. Aw! A sigh of relief! But Paul isn't finished making his argument to bring two into one and obviously he is anticipating a greater battle with the Jewish half of the congregation and so what way, better way to appeal to the Jewish mind than to appeal to father Abraham. And so he goes to the example of Abraham to give us an illustration of righteousness by faith in action, an object lesson. Romans 4:1- 3: What then shall we to say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh. If Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. He's quoting Genesis here. First question: Who did the believing? Abraham believed God! And it was credited to Abraham, not to somebody else. Abraham believed. God credited it to him as righteousness. Paul says, "See, Abraham... and later he's going to argue Abraham before he was circumcised was justified by believing the promise of God. The Law does not go away with a promise. We need to ask ourselves another question here. He said Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. Here's our question: What was the promise Abraham believed for which God credited him as righteousness? What was it that Abraham believed in for which he credited righteous? Let's turn the question around. What wasn't it that Abraham believed for which he was credited with righteousness? The promise that Abraham believed, the specific promise that Abraham believed for which it says God credited him as righteousness was not a promise about substitutionary atonement. Now, did Abraham believe in substitutionary atonement? Yes! How do we know he believed? Sacrifice of Isaac? God will provide for Himself? The lamb, right? Abraham believed that. But the object lesson is not built on Abraham's belief in substitutionary atonement, it was built in his belief on something else. So, what is this something else that Abraham believed? A promise about what? Having a son. Paul is going to use Abraham's belief in God's promise for a son as the object lesson of our believing in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Let's unpack this object lesson to see what it tells us about the faith that justifies. Paul take care of some other business and then he comes back to this faith around verse 18 in our scripture reading here. Romans 4:18 In hope he believed against hope that he should become "the father of many nations," as he had been told "so shall your descendants be." There was the promise. Verses 19-21: He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. You should be asking yourself, "What about Hagar?" Didn't Abraham waver? How is it that Paul could say, "He never wavered?" Particularly in light of this Hagar business. So, we need to ask ourselves another question: What was it about Abraham's life in regard to this promise of a son that makes Paul conclude that he never wavered in faith? Let's go survey Genesis and see if we can find out. Genesis 15. Now in chapter 14, Abraham just went and rescued Lot and all the inhabitants of Sodom and the sister cities. What do you think he might be worried about? Revenge? That the kings he defeated are going to re-organize and come and attack him in revenge for his attack and freeing of their hostages and booty and so forth? And so Abraham is a little worried and God comes to him in Genesis 15:1 (KJV) and He says, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield, "I'll protect you from those kings. And Abraham basically says, "Thanks a lot, God, but a great reward is meaningless unless I have a son to give it to. And right now all I have is Eliezar, my servant.." And so God come back to him and He says, "Abraham, Eliezar will not be your heir. You will have a son out of your own bowels or loins. You will sire a son. Look at the stars, Abraham. Can you count them? That's how many descendants you'll have." And there it is, verse 6, And he believed the Lord. And it was counted to him as righteousness. So far, so good. What kind of belief was this? Let's add to the chemistry, now. The next thing that happens in chapter 15 is that God tells Abraham to conduct a covenant ceremony. "Take some animals, kill them (certain kinds), cut the carcasses in half, lay them out in two rows with a little swale, valley, ditch, between them. And as the carcasses drain their blood, it runs down in pools in the little ditch. This is a covenant between a greater and a lesser. Who's the greater? God. Who's the lesser? Abraham. Everybody knows that the lesser goes between the pieces, walks the bloody valley, wading in the blood, chanting to his Greater, "May you do this to me and more if I do not keep the covenant. You can cut me in half like these animals. Everybody knew that. Abraham goes through the pieces. The Bible doesn't tell us that. Patriarchs and Prophets (by EG white) does mention it. But now something very unusual happens. God appears in the form of the Shekinah torch, the smoking pot, and the Greater passes between the pieces effectively saying to Abraham, "Abraham, if I don't give you a son you can cut Me in half and kill Me." God guaranteed this promise with His very life. What a God! So, God had just guaranteed this promise with His very life. What's the next thing I expect to happen? I'm expecting to see a baby show up, right? God has taken a pretty big risk here. Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children. That's not what I was expecting. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my maid. It may be that I shall obtain children by her." Question number one: In the Biblical text, has God given any indication of who the mother would be at this point? No! He's only told Abraham, "You will father a son," but He has not named the mother at this point. Point number two: Sarah makes this announcement to Abraham. "God has prevented me." Why doesn't she make that statement a chapter or two earlier, or a chapter or two later? In other words, something has happened that has caused Sarah to conclude that it must not be God's will for her to be that mother. I wonder what that something could be? Perhaps Sarah's body chemistry has changed and she's stopped having certain experiences that women have. When women stop having that experience they are no longer fertile. And so she come to Abraham and effectively says, "Abraham, I've started menopause. I'm finished. It's impossible. God must have a different way. Let's try Hagar and keep it close. Maybe I can sort of surrogate, you know." A perfectly logical assumption that God is going to bring this baby through a fertile woman. I do not believe that Abraham's taking of Hagar was so much a lack of faith in God, as it was an assumption on how God must work. And how often do we limit God because we assume He has to work a certain way. And the assumption is that God had to work through a fertile woman. Still trusted God. And it was such a logical assumption. They don't bother to check with God to see if their assumption is right. Have you ever done that? You assume that God has to work a certain way? You forgot to open the Book and find out if that's the way God really works? A very important lesson for us. And so, Abraham follows through on this assumption that God must not have willed it through Sarah but through some other way. He takes Hagar, and slam, bam, she's pregnant like that. And she delivers a son. Abraham says, "Praise the Lord! He delivered my son. Thank you." And at the end of chapter 16, how old is Abraham when Ishmael is born? He's eighty-six. Now we'll go one more verse: Genesis 17:1. How old is Abraham now? He's ninety-nine. How many years have passed in one verse? Thirteen. Thirteen years in one verse! Thirteen years with no supernatural revelations from God. Thirteen years of enjoying Ishmael, thinking this is the fulfillment of the promise. God does nothing to correct it. Thirteen years of menopause for Sarah. If she was infertile, she's really infertile now. It's impossible! But, praise God we serve a God who loves to do impossible things. God show up and renews the covenant with Abraham. He introduces circumcision and then He drops the bombshell. By the way, why are thirteen years so important? Think Jewish, now. Bar Mitzvah? Legal adult now? God waits until Ishmael is installed as a young man, no longer a boy. And then He shows up and says, "Abraham, you did a wonderful job, but that's your work, not Mine." Now I'm ready to work. About this time next year Sarah is going to have a son." "Oh! Isn't Ishmael good enough." "No, that's your work, not Mine." About this time next year Sarah is going to have a baby boy." And when Abraham realizes God is serious with this promise he laughs. He laughs so hard he can't stand up and he falls on his face. He really laughed! And God said, "Do you think this is funny, Abraham? When this baby is born, here is what I want you to name him: Isaac (Which is the third person singular of the verb, to laugh: "He laughs."). God had the last laugh. Every time they called, "Isaac, come here," God was having a last laugh. And so, it happens, and Sarah has a baby at ninety years old. But now tension develops between Hagar and Ishmael, Sarah and Isaac. What was the infant mortality rate back then? Not as pleasant as it is now, right? If you had to bet you inheritance on a young man, legal adult, thirteen, fourteen, now maybe sixteen years old, healthy, strong, versus betting it on a little year and a half, two-year old child, that could easily catch a disease and die, which is the wiser one from a worldly perspective to put your hope in? Wouldn't it be the sixteen year old? And yet, Abraham, because God said this little two year old is the promised one, sends away the sure bet and puts all his eggs in the risky basket because God said something, because God promised something. That's faith. And indeed, that faith was rewarded, and that little boy grows up. But now we have to ask another question: Have you noticed that Abraham doesn't have children by any other means now that Isaac is born while Sarah is still alive? No record of any other children. Abraham was to be the father of many nations. And Sarah was to be the mother of man nations. Is it possible that Abraham said, "If God could thirteen years in menopause and bring a baby through her, is it possible now that she's fifteen or sixteen years He could bring another one? No more assumptions. So Abraham sticks with Sarah until she dies. He marries off Isaac, and in chapter 25:1, what does he do? He marries Keturah. Six strapping sons. Abraham is going to have those many nations. And so he re-marries and gets to work, but he does it after Sarah is not even a supernatural option now. Which brings us back to our question: What is it in Abraham's life that Paul saw, that makes him conclude that he never wavered in faith? What is it about this object lesson of Abraham that illustrates righteousness by faith? Might I suggest to you that Abraham stuck with Sarah risking no children to give an inheritance to. We had the little problem of the assumption, false assumption which was corrected by sending away Ishmael and putting all his eggs in one basket. And then when push came to shove, God comes to Abraham, He says, "Take that visible manifestation of my promise and give it back to me and trust me to fill it anyway. Sacrifice your son up on Mount Moriah. And Abraham trusted God enough to fulfil that promise anyway. As he lifted the knife to leave himself no visible evidence that God would fulfil the promise, hear heard the bleating of a ram caught in the thicket. Romans 4:22. It is precisely because Abraham risked it all on God's promise, not making any contingency for God to fail the promise. So Paul says, "This is why his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness, because he trusted God more than he trusted his own ability to figure things out. He trusted God more than what he saw, more than what he heard. If God promised him descendants, then God had a way he didn't know about. But he never doubted that God would do it. And he structured his life around that promise with no contingencies. And that, says Paul, is why the faith as righteous. You see, let's apply this to righteousness by faith. The faith that justifies is not simply a faith that says a little magic formula. "I believe in Jesus. It is a faith that is foolish enough to take a promise and structure the life around it." How many of you have been up to heaven to verify that God has entered "Forgiven and saved" by your name in the books? Anybody here been up there to verify it? I mean, you have to trust a promise? Now let's get one step further. The promise is: If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. - 2 Corinthians 5:17. Now we're getting into some dangerous ground. Not dangerous but comfortable. Do you believe you're a new creature? Do you always feel like a new creature? I don't always feel like a new creature. Can you believe that God's promise that you are a new creature is more real than what you feel? Can you believe it so much that when temptation comes you choose to structure your life around God's promise that you are a new creature instead of structuring it around your feelings? That's righteousness by faith. That is the faith that justifies. The faith like Abraham that risks failure goes for broke. I don't have to feel like a new creature to be one. I don't have to see it to believe it. Blessed are those who don't see, but still believe. For you see, my friends, some day soon all the visible evidence for our faith is going to be taken away from us. We're not going to be able to buy or sell. They're going to want our head on a platter. And there'll be no visible reason for keeping the Advent faith. Can you trust God anyway? Is His promise more reliable to you than what you see with your eyes, hear with your ears or feel in your heart? That's the faith we need for these last days, and we develop it in trial and test when God doesn't seem to be dong what He said He would do. But we trust He'll do it anyway. And that is the faith we need not only to be justified, but for these last days. Are you ready to trust God with a radical, risk-taking faith? Let's commit ourselves to having Abraham's risky faith, what do you say?  

Hymn of Praise: #516, All the Way
Scripture: Romans 4:13-22
Hymn of Response: #518, Standing on the Promises
Transcribed from first service)

 

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 McDonald Road Sermons

by Pastor Donald J. Gettys

Biblical quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.

God is Wasteful

One day I was out hiking on the Appalachian trail. We had gone ten or fifteen miles that day. I've probably walked about a hundred miles of the trip I suppose. Not much of the trail. I was carrying a big back pack and they don't have "Taco Belles" along the trail and their facilities, you know. So occasionally you have to step off the trail. I stepped off the trail and headed back to a remote area, and I spent some time noticing what God had made. On a remote knoll well off the trail, I sat down to rest. I wondered how many people in the history of the world had ever been on that isolated spot. There beside me, my eyes feasted on a clump of tiny but extremely beautiful flowers. Was I the only human to see these intricate masterpieces of God? Then I noticed many more far down the slope until they were too far for my eyes to see. Here were all these flowers growing, thousands of flowers. Maybe millions of flowers on all these mountain slopes. And there was no trail down there. There they would bloom and flourish and eventually die without benefitting anybody. I thought, "You know, God is so wasteful. This is such a waste. Why can't these flowers grow in my yard? Why can't these grow around our church? Why does God allow these flowers to grow here? I can't even get flowers to grow in my yard. Why is this? God is wasteful!" And then I thought more deeply about God. And I thought, "You know, He loves all of us. With His perfect love, is some of His love wasted on some of us? Yes, I suppose it is." Even God's love is wasted sometimes. He lavishes His beautiful love on Sinners, many or maybe most of which will never respond to it or appreciate it. I want you to notice a text in your Bible: 1 John 3. Here he writes about God and God's love. 1 John 3:1, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! God lavishes His love on His people! That's wasteful, isn't it. God's love is EXTRAVAGANT. You could even call God's great love wasteful. Like a mountain flower whose sweet fragrance will never benefit any human being. There it just grows. Wasted. So God's great love is profusely lavished on everyone. Come over here to Romans 5 in your Bible. This is one of my favorite places in the Bible. I want you to notice what God does with His love. Romans 5:5-8 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now, obviously He wasted some of that, didn't He? If He died for every single human being, how many people are going to be saved? Do you think fifty percent of us will be saved? Somebody said, "One in twenty." I don't know. A lot of love is wasted. Or is it wasted? I don't believe it is. Does God love bad people? Does God lavish His love on bad people? Yes He does. When God tells us to love our enemies, that surely means that He Himself loves those who hate Him. We are told in Luke 6:27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you," That's what God does every day. He does good to bad people. 1 John 4:7 Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. In fact, John tells us that God is love. Why does God love us so lavishly? Have you ever thought about that? It's certainly not because we are so valuable. In fact, I would submit to you that we are valuable because He loves us so much, and not vice versa. That's why we have worth. We are valuable precisely because God loves us so greatly. We have a member of our church by the name of George Sheldon Stevens. He's a retired pastor, a member of the McDonald Road Church, and he wrote a poem, called, "God's Extravagance."  

  GOD'S EXTRAVAGANCE  

How lavishly God gives to all
To gratify our varied needs;
Like from the trees He makes to fall
A rich hyperbole of seeds.  

He gives more food than we can eat,
More clothes than we can ever wear,
More oxygen than we can breath
Unseen surrounds us in the air.  

A grace we cannot understand
A depth of love we can never know,
He scatters all across the land,
We feel it everywhere we go.  

These blessings we cannot explain
In any flowery platitude;
God only asks that we maintain
An effervescent gratitude.  

A happy face should be our style,
That everyone we meet may see
The unsaid message of our smile 
"This is what God has done for me."

That's all you can do: be grateful for that grand wonderful love. Just like God pours out His beautiful flowers on both the beautiful lush mountain meadows, He also pours them in the remote places, the rocky places of the world. You see flowers growing everywhere. Just so, He pours our His love on the bad places of the world. He pours them out on unresponsive hearts. Why? To get something to happen, so that His love may grow there. Astonishingly, God pours out His exuberant love upon both saints and sinners. Imagine God wrote you this letter: "Dear Don, Yesterday, I saw you walking and laughing with your friends; I hoped that soon you'd want me to walk along with you, too. So, I painted you a sunset to close your day and whispered a cool breeze to refresh you. I waited -- you never called But I just kept on loving you. As I watched you fall asleep last night, I wanted to touch you. So I spilled moonlight onto your face. It trickled down your cheeks as so many tears have. But you didn't even think of Me; I wanted so much to comfort you and give you joy. The next day I exploded a brilliant sunrise into glorious morning, just for you. But you woke up late and rushed off to work -- you didn't even notice. So, My sky became cloudy and My tears were the rain. I love you, oh, if you'd only listen. I really do love you. I try to say it in the quiet of the green meadow and in the blue sky. The wind whispers My love throughout the treetops and spills it into the vibrant colors of all the flowers. I shout it to you in the thunder of the great waterfalls and compose love songs the birds to sing for you. I warm you with the clothing of My sunshine and perfume the air with nature's sweet scent. My love for you is deeper than any ocean and greater than any need in your heart. If you'd only realize how much I care. My Dad sends His love. I want you to meet Him -- He cares, too. Fathers are just that way. So, please; call on Me soon. No matter how long it takes, I'll wait -- because I love you. Signed: Your Loving Friend, Jesus I like that. That's what Jesus is like. Look at 2 Corinthians in your Bible. 2 Corinthians 8:20, Paul speaks about God's generous grace: We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. Today Christians sing of God's luxuriant grace by such songs as "Amazing Grace." Paul calls it, "liberal," God's grace is liberal, extravagant! Why is it so amazing? Because it is so rare. Nothing in the human life even faintly resembles the rich superabundant love that God bestows on mankind. About two weeks ago, I went outdoors where we live, and I noticed at my house there in the Little Debbie rain gage that I have, there were almost three inches of rain in there. I thought, "Wow, we had a lot of rain in the last twenty fur hours." I try to empty the rain gage every morning. And got to thinking about all that rain. You know, that much rain for every square foot in my yard would be almost a gallon, wouldn't it? Our yard has over sixty thousand square feet. So in one rain shower I received more water than I would possibly drink in two lifetimes. Just in one day! That is amazing! Is it wasted? Did it all go down the drain? Did I utilize any of it? That is precisely how God showers His love on each of us every day! Is it wasted? Do we appreciate it? In Psalm 23 David tries to describe a little bit of what God does. And here he says, My cup overflows. That's what God does. He did that to David. He does that to every one of His people. You can be absolutely certain that Jesus love you. God loves you. He loves you just like you are. You need to accustom yourself to that wonderful fact that regardless of whatever you have done, he still loves you because that sunrise still comes up over your head. It's there for you. He's telling you something. Every day God lavishes His unlimited love upon you. Give God the benefit of the doubt. He's there for you. He's kind. He's pleasant. He's loving. He has your best interest in His heart. He is living to save you. If you don't resist, you're going to be in heaven. You're going to be there some day. God's generous character will be displayed more fully when we arrive in Heaven. We really don't know God here. Not fully. Imagine when you get to heaven, God is going to welcome you. You would expect that when somebody comes home from Viet Nam and they've served as a soldier over there. The balloons are going to be out in the front in the front yard, aren't they? Maybe there would be fire works. Imagine what God is going to do when we get to heaven. He's going to have a welcome ceremony. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." God loves you with a wasteful love. And I don't want it to be wasted on me. We can know a little bit about what God's love is like by examining God's attributes. For instance:  

• God is self-existent. Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God... Where did God come from? If you can answer that question, I want to hear your answer. God has always existed. He is self-existing. That tells me that His love had no beginning;
• God is eternal. That tells me that God's love has no ending. That would be correct, wouldn't it?
• God is infinite. His love has no limit.
• God is holy. God's love is pure. His love is noble.
• God is immense. Because he is immense, his love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea before which we kneel in joyful silence and from which the loftiest eloquence retreats confused and abashed.

All we can do is kneel before His ocean of love and enjoy it and accept it and respond to it and pray that you will have that same kind of love in your heart. At least a little bit of it, a taste of it. God's love is measureless and boundless. It has no bounds because it is not a thing. This pulpit, I can measure this pulpit because it is physical. It has measurements. Anything that is physical I can measure. But God's love has no measure because it is not physical. His love is something that He is, and therefore you can't measure it. It is capable of holding the entire world and ten thousand additional worlds times ten thousand more. God can handle that because His love has no bounds. A few weeks ago, I was out walking at an early morning hour. I suppose you all do that. It's a wonder I don't bump into you in my early morning walks. Maybe it's too dark, I don't know. Anyway, I was out walking up on White Oak Mountain and here the sun came up. And with it came one of the most glorious sunrises I have ever seen. Just fantastic! I thought, "How wonderful it is. God is so faithful every morning; the sun comes up. He's so faithful. Do I disappoint Him every day, or am I faithful?" I'm up there, worshipping the Lord, you know, and thinking all these thoughts, and here's this glorious sunrise, just coming up and I'm just feasting on it, and it was there to benefit every person in my home town in Collegedale. Did it benefit every person in Collegedale? Was some of it wasted? You get up early in the morning. You leave early. You see the sunrises. A lot of those are wasted. People are watching "The Today's Show" or something. I don't know what they're doing. That sunrise was there. It was there for me. Yet that is how God is. Our God is so faithful. Every morning His mercies are fresh and new. God will always be there for you. He will never let you down. You know, there's no need to beg. You don't have to get up in the morning and say, "Please fill me with your love." Okay? Because God's love isn't like that. He is willing to fill you as light is to fill a dark cave. All you have to do is open the door and it's going to come in. That's how it is with God's love. You don't have to beg for it. He's as willing as water is willing to flow into an empty vessel. Love is pressing around us like the air on all sides. If you open up, you're going to be filled with it. That's what it's like. We have to cease to resist and instantly, God's rich love takes possession of us. It's beautiful! It's wonderful!  

• There is nothing you can do to make God love you more!
• There is nothing you can do to make God love you less!
• His love is total, impartial, everlasting, infinite, perfect, pure!
• God is love!

"In the very beginning, when this great universe lay in the mind of God, like unborn forests in the acorn-cup; God already loved his chosen creatures." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon John 3:16 (KJV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Let's look at that word, "so." If I were a fisherman and I told you, "You know, I caught a fish and it was so big." The word, "so" is a fantastic word. "God so loved the world." Can you grasp what that is trying to say? He loved us wonderfully, specially.  

God is so wasteful.
• Why did God put so many Stars in place?
• There are billions more than you will ever see!
• There is more air than you can possibly inhale.
• Think about your senses.
• There are more sounds than you will ever hear.
• There is more spectrum than what your eyes can ever see.
• There are more smells than you will ever know.

I will tell you why He did that. I believe that God oversupplies like a heavenly spendthrift, not to be wasteful, but He wants us to know that He is more than able to be our God and our Savior. He is more than able. His grace is more than adequate to supply our spiritual needs. His forgiveness is more than sufficient to blot out our deepest sins. Jesus is more than able to save you if you will just surrender in complete trust in His ability to be your Savior. God is like that. He is a wonderful God. Jesus is able to save you to the uttermost. If you completely surrender to Him and trust Him he will save you. Do you love God Who so lavishly cares for you? I do, and I know you do, too. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." - (John 14:15) Respond to our benevolent Heavenly supplier. Honor your Father and your Savior Jesus Christ by living a life of gratefulness and respect to Him from Whom all blessings so richly flow. Fall in love with Jesus. Be determined that God's lavish love will not be wasted on you. Let's live life to honor God. Your life is God's loving gift to you. What you do with it is your loving gift to God. Give your whole life, today, to Jesus Christ. A beautiful song articulates the quality of God's lavish love:  

   Could we with ink the ocean fill,
   And were the heav'ns of parchment made, 
   Were every stalk on earth a quill, 
   And every man a scribe by trade, 
   To write the love of God above 
   Would drain the ocean dry, 
   Nor could the scroll contain the whole, 
   Though stretch'd from sky to sky.
               -  Chaldee Ode

 

Hymn of Praise: #344, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Scripture: John 3:16
Hymn of Response: The Love of God

McDonald Road Sermons

by Pastor Donald J Gettys

Biblical quotations are from the New International Version NIV unless otherwise noted. KJV - King James Version, NLT - New Living Translation.

Shaken But Not Rattled

I am very pleased to present to you a topic this morning about how we, living in the last days, are going to go through a shaking time. But there are some key factors that will enable you not to be shaken out. I believe firmly that we're living in the last days. I preached a sermon on that just a few weeks ago, we have the editor of the Signs of the Times coming next weekend and he's going to preach a whole series on the last-day events beginning Friday night. What a wonderful theme. We had the privilege of living in southwestern Michigan near Berrien Springs, in South Haven. Many of our church members had apple orchards. They raised straw berries, blue berries, about everything. One day Don Piper of Bangor, MI asked me to come and see his apple processing building. So I went there. They had apples that had been picked in the fields, in these large crates and they were dumped in to a hopper and went on a conveyor belt through a washing machine. From there they went onto another conveyor belt where they were shaken. They went through the shaking time. As a preacher, I was thinking about all of this. What happened is all the apples and leaves and everything that came out of the washing machine came on this conveyor belt and were shaken and there were holes in the bottom. As they moved on up, the holes became larger and larger. So the small apples dropped away first and then the larger apples. Finally, at the very end of this machine, only the big large beautiful apples made it to the end. I thought about that. "That's neat! That's exactly what happens in the last days! Yes! A medium sized apple could say, 'Well, I've already been through my testing time.'" No, there's still more ahead. But if you endure to the end, you will be eaten, saved or whatever. No average-sized apples made it. He took me on a tour of his processing building. Apples were dumped into a large washing machine and then conveyed up to a sorting machine. The apples passed over holes. As they move along the small riffraff fell through the little holes. Next small apples fell out. They were drop-outs! Eventually only the nice large apples made it to the very end. Now, what does that mean for us? I think the apples that made it. What determined whether one apple made it and another apple didn't? It's the amount of apple inside of the skin. I would submit to you that it's the amount of Jesus Christ inside of your heart that's going to make you go through to the end. That's the key. What is it that enables a Christian to go through the shaking time and endure to the very end? Well, let's turn to the Bible. Let's read about the shaking time. Come over here to Amos 9:9 (NLT) For I have commanded that Israel be persecuted by the other nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, He could have said, "as apples go through the processing." yet not one true kernel will be lost. Not one true kernel will be lost. They are all going to make it if they are true kernels. I believe that great shaking time has already begun, don't you? We're in the sieve. We're being shaken. My mother used to have a flour sifter. She'd pour some flour in there and crank the handle and it would all come out the bottom. God is allowing His people to experience a great quaking and shaking time. And this time is for our benefit. Come over here to 1 John 2:19 (KJV) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would not doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. The NLT says it this way: These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us, it proved that they do not belong with us. So, some people are going to leave us. The ones that aren't going through to the kingdom are going to leave God's people. You stay with God's people. God's people stay with Jesus. God knows many folk that are on the church books are going to leave. They are not going to continue through. They are going to be shaken out, and that's where Babylon is. They're going to be shaken out, these artificial Christians. They are not born again. They do not have a personal, saving relationship with Jesus. That's the key. You must have that relationship with Jesus, otherwise you will go from us, the Bible says. Let's look at Luke 22:31,32(NIV) speaking about Peter. "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." Many Christians do not believe that Christian faith can fail. You realize there are some denominations that preach faith can't fail. Once you've got faith, it can't fail. If it is true that faith can't fail, then Christ wasted many prayers didn't He? Because He prayed that Peter's faith would not fail. Jesus did not say that He would pray and Satan would not sift Christians. That's not what He says at all. Jesus does allow His children to be sifted. He allows us to go through troubles and trials that will shake us. It will shake us out if the right things aren't in us. Jesus prayed that His disciples would have a fail-proof faith. Can anything be shake-proof? Yes. Are you shake-proof? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12 (KJV) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. It is possible to fall, so don't think, "I am shake-proof" if you aren't. Some of us will fall and others won't. What makes the difference? I believe there are three requirements to be shake proof. I want to go through these with you this morning. Three requirements that make us shake-proof. I hope all three of these are in your life. You can't just have one; you've got to have all three to be shake-proof. 1) - REGULAR PERSONAL DEVOTIONS Do you have regular personal devotions in your home? Do you, I'm not talking about your family, have personal devotions?

Not watching a TV preacher.  That's not personal devotions.
   Not listening to a Radio evangelist, as good as they are.
   Not listening to a preacher on Sabbath each week.  That's not  
   regular personal devotions.

All these things are wonderful, but none can substitute for your own personal time with Jesus. You've got to have that. If you don't have that, you don't have the faith that will go through the last days. Matthew 4:4 (NIV) "Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" That's where it comes from. You, as a Christian, have to chew your own food. No body else can digest your food for you. You, personally must have personal devotions. I have them. But you, personally must have personal devotions as well. One on one. Here comes a very personal question: Do you, yourself, spend meaningful, quality, personal, significant, daily time with Jesus Christ? Do you? If not, you are on your way out! You're not on your way out of this world. You're not on your way to heaven. Unless you have that daily personal time with Jesus you are on your way out of God's family. "By studying and obeying the directions (of the Bible) not one soul would lose its way to heaven." - 1Selected Messages (EG White) p. 16. This is crucial. We must be a people of the Book. Are Seventh-day Adventists people of the Book? We used to be. Are you a person of the Book? You may say, "Well, I'm a teenager. I'm only twelve years old. I can't even read well." You can have a personal life with Jesus whatever age you are. Such a person has a shake proof devotional life. She's on her way up! On her way to heaven. Study your Bible Faithfully. Study your Bible every day. You know, a strange thing happens here at McDonald Road. Almost every week we find a Bible or two that folk have left behind at church. Some of them are expensive Bibles. Some are brand new Bibles. Some have real leather bindings. Many have no name of any kind in them. My secretary asks, "Whose is this?" Well, I don't know. Sometimes people come and get them. Most times they just sit here. Sometimes we have to give them away after they've been here for months. We register our car in our name. We engrave our name on all our valuables as part of anti crime programs. But why do we not simply write our name in our Bible? And a much larger question: Why don't we allow God to write His word in our heart? O, that we would value the Word of God! That only happens when you have daily breakfast on the Word of God. Feast on His word. Make it a part of your daily diet. Speaking of those who study God s word we read that "superficial students also will turn away from Christ." - Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, (EG White) p. 133. Oh, don't be superficial. In fact, this happened in Jesus' day. Look at John 6:66 (NIV). Some of Jesus' disciples were shaken out. From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. What had happened here? From the context here, Jesus had related to them some very specific truths. Plain truths had come to them and they couldn't accept it, so they stopped following Jesus. Some of Jesus' disciples when Jesus presented the plain truth to them, stopped following Jesus. How desperately Christians must be a people of the Book. We must understand the truth or we will be shaken out. How desperately we as Christians need to be a people of the book. We must understand the truth or we will be shaken out. Do you understand the truth? What is the truth? The truth is Jesus. He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." (John 14:16:) And His words are truth. Do you realize you've been hearing Adventist preachers for years. Many of you have. Are you afraid of the shaking time that is coming on the world in the last days? If you are hid in the bosom of the Savior, Jesus Christ, you will be safe. You will not be shaken out. If you lift up a bushel basket of nuts or apples and shake it for all it is worth, which ones will be shaken out? The ones near the EDGE! Friends, are you on the edge of a real experience with Jesus? Are you on the fringes of a dynamic Christian life? Years ago our youngsters to Disney World in Florida. It took 30 minutes just to get in on the freeway that leads to the front door. Finally we got parked. The parking lot seemed like miles and miles across. I wondered if we would ever find our way out after our visit. This was going to be bad. That evening the tram driver said: If you want out, all you have to do is follow the arrows. If you are not following the arrows, you are not going out!" I thought that was pretty good advice. Friends, if you are not regularly, systematically studying Scripture, then you are not on your way out of this sinful world. Heaven is not your destination. You must be a person of the Book. "None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict." - Great Controversy (EG White), p. 593. The second factor in becoming shake proof. First of all, you have to have a personal, daily, meaningful devotion time with Jesus. 2) You must have PERSONAL, REGULAR PRAYER TIME. Communication with Jesus. 1 Peter 4:7 (KJV). This is talking about the end. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. It is dangerous not to pray. If we do not pray, will we receive a solution to our problems? How are you going to find what you need if you don't pray about it? Luke 11:9 (NLT). I want to do something to you that will may cause you to go down to the book store and but some things. You might not want to look this up. I'm reading this from the New Living Translation. "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. You may say, "That's not what the King James says. King James says, 'Ask and you will receive.'" The Greek says, "Ask and keep on asking." The New Living Translation says, I tell you, keep on asking and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened." That's the true Greek New Testament. That's what it says, and this is a wonderful translation of the Bible. It is my firm belief that we must ask God before God is authorized to do something for us. Think about that. I wonder if, maybe, God and Satan have some type of contract going. And God is not authorized to act in your behalf unless He is asked. He has to be invited. He knocks but He does not open the door until you open the door. He's ready, but you must open the door. Maybe God can't put a fresh hedge around His people every day without their daily asking for this protecting encompassing barricade from evil. It will be placed there if I ask for it. I don't think He will intervene unless I do ask Him. God can't bless you without your permission. He respects your free will. God gives you the freedom of choice. Every day God stands there willing and waiting to bless you. But His hands are tied until you ask for help. That's why it's so important for you to pray. You must ask and keep on asking. In fact maybe God can't bless your little children unless you intercede in their behalf and ask God to bless them. That is why Jesus said, "Bring the little children to me." Parents have an awesome responsibility. So what happens if a person is in the hospital, and unconscious? How vital that the church pray for them. They're not able to ask. But the church does. Studies have been made where people who are in the hospital and are prayed for, get well faster. There's something to this. We must ask. "Bring the little children to Me." I think parents have an awesome responsibility to bring those little children before the Lord in prayer. They do. And pray for your adult backslidden kids. Maybe they have gotten cold and aren't praying any more. You need to pray for them. Someone has to ask God to intervene in their behalf. I've heard of evangelistic services where hundreds have been baptized. Why? Because the church was praying. There's power in prayer. You don't have if you don't ask. I am sure the Prodigal Son had a father back at home praying every day for his benefit. He wasn't praying for himself. Spend time in prayer. Don't expect a million dollar answer to a ten-cent prayer. Notice Jesus' life: Luke 6:12 (NIV) One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Jesus prayer life had to be very meaningful. We must have a meaningful communication with God to avoid being shaken out. Philippians 4:6,7 (NIV) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Our hearts will be guarded. Kept secure. We will not be shaken out if you have a meaningful prayer experience. The Third key to being shake proof: Not only should we be having a personal daily study of the Word of God and daily personal communications with God but we should be... 3) WORKING FOR CHRIST. Witnessing for Christ. If you want to know how to witness, just study your Sabbath School lesson. I think America is on the verge of a great crisis, economically. One of the great dangers in America today is the amount of real commodities that are being produced by the working force. We are not manufacturing like we used to. Most jobs are composed of people waiting on people. Service jobs. Most of the durable goods that we buy today are being made in some other land. Even manhole covers are being made in India. Most toys are made in China, and many other things, too. We are not making very many tangible goods any more. And I want to apply this to the church. If in our church ALL we ever do is wait on each other and dust off the pews, then we are likewise in grave danger. We are called to grow in numbers as well as in Christ-likeness. Of course it is very important to minister to those who are already in the church. Why bring them in the front door of the church only to have them go out the back door? Nurture is important. It is vital to care for the sick, the little children, to care for the house of God, nurturing the saints helping them to grow. We need to get involved in that kind of work. The older I get, it seems like the nominating committee is a tool of God. Have you ever thought about that? When the nominating committee calls you some day, be willing to get involved for Jesus in church work! The nominating committee is a tool of God to get His people involved in something. Pew warmers are like lukewarmers. They're on their way out of the church. Don't you jeopardize your salvation by non-involvement. Lackadaisical-itis will stunt your growth toward Christ-likeness. You get involved. But Every member is required to do more than being involved in church work, working on the saints. We must also to be convert makers. We must be in the manufacturing business. Making brand new converts. Matthew 28:19 (NIV) "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"  

Are do you make disciples? How does this happen?
• Study your Sabbath School lesson.
• Witness!
• Pass out truth filled literature.
• Send subscriptions of Christian magazines to people.
• Love your neighbor and share Jesus with him.
• Give a Bible study to some questioning soul.
• Do Internet Evangelism.
• Invite someone into your home to watch a TV special series of evangelistic meetings with you.

Working with muscles keeps people strong. Working for souls keeps Christians dynamic. If you want to be a shake proof Christian in these last days, then  

• Study about Jesus
• Pray to Jesus
• Work for souls for Jesus

This success formula is actually found in the Bible. You might never have thought of it this way. John 10:27 (KJV). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Who are "My sheep? They're the true Christians. They do three things:

• 1. "They hear my voice." How do they do that? By studying the bible.
• 2. "I know them." How do you know Jesus? You communicate with Him. That includes prayer.
• 3. "They follow Me." They do the things that He does. They serve others. They work for Jesus.

And what is the result of all of this? Verse 28; "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." They are shake proof. Ah, that's the key. No one can shake you out of His hand. His hand is rock steady. It's strong. A pretty good place to be during the great last day shaking time is in the stable rock solid hands of Jesus. You still have the freedom to step out and leave Him (Jesus never violates your freedom of choice)... but no man can come in and remove you from Jesus against your will. To be fail-safe, you've got to get back to the Good Book. To be shake-proof, have meaningful communication with Jesus. To be rock-solid, lead others to the rock.  

Hymn of Praise: #21, Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17
Hymn of Response: #623, I Will Follow Thee

McDonald Road Sermons

Whatever!

Last week, the church secretary called to ask what my sermon title was. I said, "Whatever." To which she replied, "Well, when you come up with one, let me know." "No," I said, "that is my title." Now you know why she quit! One can only handle so much of that. I believe that you will soon understand why I chose the title of today's sermon. A few years ago a submarine, moored in the San Francisco naval shipyard, suddenly sank to the bottom.

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