Because Jesus Is Coming (1/7)| Jëan Ross

good morning everyone happy sabbath i want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to be with you here at camp meeting as elder mitchell mentioned it's it's been a while since they've been able to meet together like this seems like last year has dragged on and on but finally we get to fellowship together we get to worship together and we get to come to camp meeting and that's always an exciting thing it's good to be back in michigan camp meeting not too many years ago amazing facts did a special youth event called amazing adventure and we did it during camp meeting time and we were actually using the church just across the street pastor doug was here and did a great series a wonderful group of young people and we have a series that has been blessed or blessing many as folks tune in and they watch it and they share it and but it's good to be back at michigan camp meeting elder mishap mentioned that michigan is special for the ross family as he mentioned my oldest son found his wife here in michigan at camp and my wife and i thought about that so we sent our daughter there this year who knows what's going to happen no i'm just kidding that's not really the reason she'll get mad with me if she hears that but she heard good things from her brother about camp here in michigan and she said i want to come and so we'll get to see you a little later on this week hopefully our focus over the next few meetings together is what i believe to be one of the most important prison truth messages that god has given to the adventist church to take to the world that is the three angels messages of revelation chapter 14. so we're going to take an in-depth look at the three angels messages because i think it's a message that not only goes to the world to prepare people for the second coming of christ but in a very real way it is a message that brings revival to the remnant church now revelation chapter 14 is divided up into three parts the first five verses of revelation 14 is a description of a group called the 144 thousand and if you're wondering about the 144 000 i want to encourage you to come tonight because that's our study this evening 144 000. and then starting in verse 6 of revelation 14 you have the first of the three angels messages and then starting around verse 14 actually verse yeah 13 is the end of the three angels verse 14 is the beginning of a description of the second coming of jesus jesus is pictured as coming in the clouds of heaven with a sharp sickle in his hand to reap the harvest of the earth there is a harvest of the grain there is a harvest of the grapes the grain represents the righteous the grapes represent the wicked so three parts that we find in revelation chapter 14 we have the 144 000 those who are proclaiming this three angels message we have god's last warning message that goes to the world just before the second coming of christ so this morning i want to begin with the last half of revelation 14 we're going to talk about the second coming of jesus the sermon is entitled because jesus is coming we find in revelation chapter 14 verse 14. after the proclamation of the three angels messages then i looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud set one like unto the son of man having upon his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle jesus comes to reap the harvest of the earth for three and a half years the disciples had been with jesus they had come to love jesus they believed jesus to be the messiah and they were hoping that soon jesus would establish a kingdom here on the earth so when jesus told his disciples that he was to leave them and ascend to the father in heaven their hearts were filled with sadness when jesus looked into the faces the disciples and he saw the sad looks on their faces jesus said these beautiful words let not your heart be troubled if you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house jesus said there are many mansions if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you jesus said i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also now when jesus gave this promise to the disciples it was interesting in the way jesus did it you see back in bible times when a young man proposed to a young woman and she accepted his proposal for marriage the typical thing was to then go back and add a room onto your father's house and when that room was completed then with your friends and much pump and fanfare you would then travel to your bride's house you would escort her back to the father's house where the actual wedding ceremony would take place the newly married couple would then live in the room that was added onto the father's house while the young man would go out and build his own house so when jesus said to the disciples i'm going to go to the father's house and i'm going to be prepare a place for you and then i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may also be the disciples understood this as a marriage proposal you see jesus is the groom the church is the bride and jesus is preparing a mention for his bride in heaven in the father's house and when jesus comes we get to go to the marriage supper of the lamb in heaven we get to live in those mansions for a thousand years at the end of the millennium the new jerusalem comes down from god out of heaven revelation 21 the earth is finally cleansed and recreated and the bible tells us that the redeemed will go out from the new jerusalem and they'll build their own houses and from one sabbath to another all flesh shall come and worship before god so jesus says i will come again and receive you unto myself we're adventists we believe in the soon literal visible second coming of jesus we have this hope that burns within our hearts hoping the coming of the lord now because jesus is coming there are four things that i wish to emphasize today the first is that we need to know god jesus said in john chapter 17 verse 3 and this is eternal life that they might know you the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent jesus makes it clear if you are to boil down what it is we need to do in order to have eternal life jesus makes it clear he says you need to know god not just know about god not just know the truths in the word of god but if you want eternal life you need to know god you need to have a personal connection with jesus you need to enter into the presence of god you need to get to know god the bible goes on jeremiah chapter 9 verse 23 thus saith the lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows me in other words god says if you get a glory don't glory in your riches or in your power in your strength but if you're going to glory glory in the fact that you know my heart you know me the greatest work that we as christians can do as adventists can do is to get to know jesus to get to know god christ object lessons page 354 we read the value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know god this knowledge is the spring from which flows all power now don't miss that that's an important point how many of us want more power in our lives to live a victorious christian life we all do we all want to live a victorious christian life we want to overcome revelation says to him that overcomes we want to be overcomers and sometimes we think that we need to work a little harder in our own effort to overcome but here we are told the secret to overcoming is knowing god our work is to draw as close to jesus as we possibly can it is his work to give us the victory our work is to draw close to jesus to get to know jesus and just as surely as we do that christ will fulfill his promise within us and he will give us the victory and we will be overcomers a number of years ago past a friend of mine we're at a seminar and on our way home he mentioned to me he said do you mind if you stop for a few moments there's a young man that i've been doing bible studies with and he lives not too far away let's stop and uh we'll actually meet a restaurant and i want to finish up a bible study i was giving him i said that would be fine and so we stopped and we sat down and we were doing the bible study with the young man and the subject that he was studying that particular bible study was the word of god and the importance of bible study and prayer and he was talking about how we ought to study the bible he was also talking about some principles related to prayer and during the bible study the young man finally asked the question he says but but why do we need to read the bible he says i grew up in a christian home i know what the bible says i've read those stories before he said why do you need to pray after all doesn't god know our hearts doesn't he know what we need why why do we need to pray of course the pastor gave him an answer he said well it's valuable to study the word of god we want to fill our mind with truth he said even though god knows what's in our heart it's our privilege to speak to god in prayer but this conversation got me thinking what is the focus then what is the focus of bible study what is the focus of prayer what's the goal well during the bible study i kept thinking about this and finally when the study was over we got into the car and we were driving back home and suddenly the impression came upon me so strongly i got so excited i said to my friend i said i think i figured out what the reason is to study the bible and pray and he kind of looked at me with a funny look on his face i said could it be could it be that the focus of bible study and prayer needs to be bringing us into the presence of god could that be the focus of bible study could we study the bible not simply to fill our minds with truth although that is important but in the process of filling our minds with truth could we be coming into the presence of jesus the purpose of prayer is not just to tell something that god already knows but the purpose of prayer is to enter into the presence of god where we get to know the heart of god you see you get to know someone by being in their presence through fellowship and i said to myself i'm going to try this out i'm going to start reading and studying the bible not simply to understand truth but i'm going to read the word of god seeking to enter into god's presence through his word and i said i'm going to pray not simply to do what i know i need to do but i am going to pray to seek that sweet presence of jesus that peace that passes all understanding to know god now to be honest with you sometimes you kneel in prayer and you begin to pray and you sense the presence of jo of god very quickly other times your mind is so filled with busyness in the activities of the day and the week that you need to spend longer on your knees seeking that sweet sweet spirit that peace that joy we've been told by the spirit of prophecy that jesus would go and spend the entire night in prayer in his father's presence and jesus would come forth empowered and energized and strengthened for the task of that day there is power in the presence of jesus as those who are preaching the three angels message to the world we need to be people who are familiar with the presence of jesus we need to spend time in the presence of god for that is eternal life to the church of laodicea jesus says behold i stand at the door knocked if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into him and i will dine with him and he with me of course you understand the church of laodicea in a very real way represents the church today the church says she's rich he's increased with goods she has need of nothing and jesus said you are poor miserable blind and naked jesus says buy of me gold refined in the fire what is that gold it's faith it's love how are we to obtain that love and that faith it's by spending time with jesus that wide ramen representing christ's righteousness both imputed and imparted the i serve represents the holy spirit represents spiritual discernment jesus says if you want the gold if you want the raiment if you want the i said behold i stand at the door knock as we allow jesus to come into our hearts we receive more love more faith his righteousness the holy spirit jesus is the answer to the church's lukewarmness having jesus come in in john chapter 15 jesus says abide in me and i knew as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me jesus says i am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and i in him bears much fruit for without me you can do how much you can do nothing four key things that we find in these two verses number one jesus wants us to abide in him abiding me and i knew secondly fruit bearing he who abides in an eye in him bears much fruit jesus says but notice point number three fruit bearing requires a miracle the branch cannot bear fruit of itself to have the fruit of the spirit manifest in our life is not something that we can do in and of ourselves after all it is the fruit of the spirit but there is something that we can do there is something we must do and jesus says he who abides in me you see abiding does not require a miracle fruit bearing does but abiding does not god has given it to every single one of us he's given us the ability to abide in jesus moment by moment day by day through communion with christ we can abide in him in that classic steps to christ page 69 many have the idea that they must do some part of the work alone they have trusted in christ for the forgiveness of sin but now they seek their own effort to live a right but every such effort must fail jesus said without me you can do nothing he's coming close to jesus that we get to do the things that bring honor and glory to him a wonderful story is told of beethoven one day he and a friend were walking home in the evening after dinner and they decided to go through a part of town that they hadn't gone too many times it was a poorer part of town but on their way home they were walking through those narrow cobbled streets and they're walking along and suddenly beethoven reached over and grabbed the arm of his frame he said stop listen listen and they they both stopped and they listened and sure enough they could hear somebody playing a piano and they walked a little closer and they came across a a little cobbler store and uh it was old and run down but they could use somebody was playing a piano coming out of that little store and they stood there and listened and sure enough it was beethoven's song that was being played but then finally near the end of the piece the music suddenly abruptly ended and the voice of a young lady was heard saying oh i just wish i knew how it finished with that beethoven went over knocked on the door and to the surprise of the couple inside it was a brother and his sister the brother was was the shoemaker and and here stood this man and he said i couldn't help but overhear you you were wondering about how that song ends uh he said i i'm a musician and and i know how the song ends it didn't tell him who he was he says i might even be able to get you the music and then in the candlelight he looked and he noticed that the young lady that had been playing the piano she was blind i said oh i'm sorry she said well that's okay he said so you you play by ear and she said yes he said well then how did you how did you learn the song she said well we had a neighbor who used to play the piano and i would listen and i'd learn from her but then unfortunately they moved away before i could learn the whole song she was frustrated over that beethoven came and said well let me let me try and he sat down and of course he began to play and they had never heard anything like that before matter of fact the friend of beethoven who stood watching by the door he said he had never seen such passion in the playing of beethoven as he played for this couple this brother and sister finally by the end they were amazed and they said to him sir we've never heard that before sir who are you and with that he was able to reveal himself apparently he had a little signature tune that he would often play at the end of his song and beethoven played that tune and they recognized it and they said oh the master is here with us and they were so overjoyed he said well let me do something for you he said i've been working on a song no one has heard it before but let me play it for you and as he began to play this song which eventually became very famous because afterwards he wrote it down they said in awe as they listened to the musician play and finally when they were through they were so delighted he said i'm gonna come back and he said to her i'm gonna give you lessons so that you can play all of the music that your heart desires the friend of beethoven said that he was so overjoyed because he was in the presence of people who really wanted him there people that appreciated what he had to give friends jesus really wants us in his presence jesus is overjoyed when we come to in prayer and we say lord here i am lord please give me that which you want to give me jesus wants to share himself with us it doesn't matter what we've done it doesn't matter the past it doesn't matter how many times we fall and jesus says come unto me all he that labor and are heavy-ladened and i will give you a rest jesus says come or friends come to jesus this is not just a one-time invitation that comes from jesus for the bible says we must daily come to jesus paul says i die daily every day jesus stands knocking at the heart store say here i am it's that time again i wish to come in i i want to dine with you yes because jesus is coming we must know god secondly because jesus is coming we need to be faithful second timothy chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires because they have itchy ears they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables jesus said the time is coming when the devil will do everything he can to lead us astray to lead us from bible truth in matthew 24 where jesus talks about events connected with the second coming he finishes that chapter by telling this parable he said who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master has made ruler over his household to give them food in due season couple things to note in this verse who is the master in the verse that would be jesus what is the household in the verse that would be the church and notice it says the master has given food to his servant to give to his household who do you suppose the servant would represent in the verse would represent the leaders in the church the elders the pastors the sabbath school teachers verse 46 blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes shall find so doing assuredly i said unto you i will make him ruler of all of his goods but if that evil servant says in his heart my master is delaying his coming notice jesus is talking to adventist year he's talking to those who are looking forward to the soon coming of jesus they've been preaching about it they've been longing for the coming of jesus but there is there is an evil servant who says my lord is delaying his coming we've been talking about the second coming of jesus for over 150 years the tendency is to say well maybe it's not as urgent as it used to be notice he he does not preach this from the pulpit he does not teach this in his sabbath school class but he says in his heart the lord is delaying his coming and then verse 49 says and he begins to beat his fellow servants when we forget why we are here the work that jesus has given us to do we begin to smite our fellow church members spiritually speaking he begins to eat and drink with the drunkard revelation chapter 17 describes a religious power that is making all nations drunk with the wine of her false doctrine to eat and drink with the drunkard is to adopt these false teachings and bring them into the church verse 50 says the master that servant will come in a day when he's not looking for him in an hour that he is not aware now i don't think the second coming of jesus is going to overwhelm the church as a whole we know there are certain prophetic things that have to happen before jesus comes but could it be that the close of probation will find some who profess faith in jesus to be unprepared when that time comes after all when probation closes it's it's too late immediately following this parable that jesus tells in matthew chapter 24 jesus then goes to another parable very significant parable for our time in matthew 25 then the kingdom of heaven jesus said shall be likened unto ten virgins who took their lamps and they went out to meet the bridegroom now in this verse who do the ten virgins represent it represents the church notice it says they are virgins meaning that they hold to a true doctrine they have lamps the lamps represents the word of god they are waiting for the bridegroom that's the second coming of christ it says now five of them are wise and five of them are foolish those who are foolish took their lamps but took no oil with them but the wise took oil with their vessels in their lamps but while the bridegroom was delayed friends that's where we are in this verse right now we're waiting for jesus to come the bible says there's going to be a tearing time there is going to be a delay before jesus comes and and that's where we are it says they all slumbered and slept and that parallels the experience of the church of laodicea that we read about in revelation chapter 3. but then in verse 6 it says and at midnight a cry was heard behold the bridegroom is coming go out to meet him now what is that midnight cry that is going to awaken the church before jesus comes well we've been told what that is in the spirit of prophecy we've been told that god has given us a sign that was as sure as the sign that he gave to the christians who in jerusalem when jerusalem was surrounded by the romans you see when we begin to see certain legislation being discussed laws restricting religious freedoms that will awaken the church like nothing before people will go back to the word they'll say we've been studying this we've been preaching this for all this time and sure enough it's beginning to take place there will be an awakening that occurs within the church verse 7 says and all those virgins arose and they trim their lamps they went to the word of god they began to study but verse 8 says the fool he said to the wise give us some of your oil for our lamps have gone out you see friends it's it's too late it's too late to wait until you hear rumors of a national sunday lord to obtain that oil now is the time to get to know jesus now is the time to enter into the presence of god and say lord give me of that oil fill my vessel with the holy spirit give me the spirit we can't wait friends this is the time that god has given us there is a work that he's calling us to do verse 9 says but the wise answer saying no lest there be not enough for us and for you but go rather to those who sell and and buy for yourselves and so the five foolish went off looking for oil let me tell you friends in the last days there is a lot of counterfeit oil in the world a lot of counter for the holy spirit the five foolish end up finding something that they think is oil but it's not the real thing verse 10 says and while they went to buy the bridegroom came and those who were already wenting with him into the wedding and the door was shut that great door of probation and afterwards the other virgins came saying lord lord open to us but notice this but he said unto them assuredly i send to you what are those faithful words i don't know you now these were people that were adventists they were in the church they had an understanding of bible truth they were able to prove the 2 300 days of bible prophecy they could argue the truth of the seventh-day sabbath they held a true doctrine but they were lacking in the holy spirit they hadn't spent time in the presence of jesus jesus says watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour when the son of man is coming you see friends at a time of widespread apostasy god is calling for men and women like shadrach meshach and abednego will stand on that plane of dura when the whole world bows to the image and incidentally revelation 13 talks about another image that is established where god's people will need to make their decision for truth like shadrach meshach and abednego we'll have to stand before political powers and say we are not afraid to answer you in this matter for the god that we serve is able to deliver us from you from your fiery furnace but even if he does not let it be known unto thee o king we will not bow down and worship your golden image friends those three boys were able to say those words because they knew in whom they believed they had spent time in the presence of jesus they knew the heart of god they were filled with love for their creator willing to lay down their lives they knowingly disobey god and when shadrach meshach and abednego stood up for jesus guess what jesus stood up for there and the king rose up and he looked into those fiery flames and he said to one of his counselors did we not cast three men bound into the midst of that fire he said for low i see four men walking free in the form of the fourth is like the son of god you stand up for jesus now and jesus will stand up for you now of course this call to stand is not just something that uh well we're looking to the future to do for the bible tells us that even now we have the experience to stand for what is true amazing facts has a school for our evangelists in different countries around the world and one of the schools that we have and i want to see if i can put this on the screen i think i bumped the connection here bear with me for a second you got to see this picture let me put this on you one of the schools that we have is in indonesia let me see can you see that no not yet let's try that again there we go can you see that picture maybe you can we have a school there it is in indonesia now indonesia is the most densely populated muslim country in the world you think of the middle east but no it's indonesia and there is somewhat of religious freedom that we find in indonesia but the muslim powers are are tightening down on christian groups but we do have a school we've got some young people that are studying the bible and part of their program is to actually go out into the community and they knock on doors and they give a survey looking for bible studies in a muslim country a couple years ago the director of the school came to our office in sacramento and he told us an incredible story he said some of the young people were out and they went to a particular area village where they were going from house to house and they were knocking on doors trying to do the survey with people it began with a health survey and that would lead to religious questions and pretty soon word got throughout the village throughout the town there that these were christians and of course the muslims did not like christians going door to door but the two young men went from door to door they weren't aware about the hostility that was being stirred up by certain individuals in the community they just kept every day going from door to door and part of their return their routine was they would go from house to house in the morning and then there was a little roadside cafe where they would stop for lunch and they'd stop and they'd eat their lunch there and then they keep going on from place to place well several weeks after they had been working in that community they went to the the cafe where they'd eat lunch and they sat down and they started eating and the owner of the store he was sort of standing at the back there were some of the people in in in the restaurant there that were eating and finally the other guest left and the owner of the store came over to them and he spoke to them in low tones and he said do you do you boys know that there are people in this community who are very upset about what you are doing and the young man said well i suppose so and the owner of the restaurant he said no this is serious he says they planning to to beat you guys up and and run you out of town i was surprised by that but then the owner of the restaurant said but they're afraid to do it so the young man asked they said well sir why why are they afraid to do that and then the restaurant owner said it's because of that tall strong man dressed in white that is always following you from house to house the two young men looked at each other in amazement they said what tall strong man they said no it's just the two of us and the owner of the restaurant said no there's always this man that walks just behind you from place to place they said well where is he now and the restaurant owner said well he never comes in he just stands out waiting for you guys to finish your lunch they began to tremble they looked at each other with amazement doubtless to say they left that mess that that restaurant and they went about their mission with more confidence than they'd ever had before because the angel was with them at a time of widespread apostasy jesus is calling for men and women who will stand for the truth though the heavens fall amen people who know god people who will stand for god that's what god is calling us to do thirdly because jesus is coming yes we need to work revelation 14 6 and i saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those that dwell upon the earth to every nation kindred tongue and people notice the three angels messages have to go to all the world and the question is why do they have to go to all the world because the next part of the chapter talks about the second coming of jesus that is going to affect every nation kindred tongue and people and there is a message of warning that needs to go to all the world preparing the way for the second coming of jesus you see god has raised up the adventist movement to do a very special time a very special time of us history to do a special work in the proclamation of the three angels messages now let me ask you do you have to be a seventh-day adventist to get your name written in the lamb's book of life what's the answer the answer is no what do you have to do to get your name written in the lamb's book of life well you confess your sins you receive jesus as your personal savior your name is written in the lamb's book of life now who are the ones that the devil is trying to deceive those whose names are written in the last book of life or those whose names are not written in the lamb's book of life isn't he going after the ones whose names are written in the last book of life isn't it the devil's goal to get them to lose their way and to have their name blotted out of the book of life sure it is sure it is so to get onto the road that leads towards heaven we call that the book of life you receive jesus as your personal savior but as you're walking on that road that leads towards heaven the devil is going to do everything he can to get you to take a detour that'll lead you off that road and his detour doesn't result in heaven it results in another place and so just before probation closes the devil is going to do a special work to try and distract and deceive especially those whose names are written in the lamp's book of life you see according to bible prophecy there is a detour just ahead and unfortunately the majority of the christian world is going to end up taking the devil's detour they're going to end up losing their salvation because they're going to end up worshiping the beast receiving his mark but god is not standing back just letting the devil do this but god has set up a massive signpost where the road divides a special message of warning telling people watch out don't worship the beast in his image don't receive his mark and that great signpost that god has established is what we call the three angels messages is it important for the world to hear god's last warning message absolutely is it good enough for us to say oh they love jesus they're a christian is that enough or has god called us to give them a message that will protect them in the last days from the devil's deception yes it has in testimonies volume 7 page 19 we have this statement in a special sense don't miss this seventh day adventists have been setting the world as watchmen and light bearers to them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world on them is shining wonderful light from the word of god they have been given a work of the most solemn import the proclamation of the first second and third angels messages there is no other work of so great and importance they are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention god has raised us up to do a special work proclamation of the three angels messages now you might think wow i don't know that seems like a lot of work for a lay person i i don't have a degree in theology how am i to be a part of the proclamation of the three angels messages every single one of us have a part to play in the proclamation of god's entire message number one live the message that's a proclamation of the message do what you can to share with family and friends be involved because there is no greater joy that we as christians can have than the joy of bringing other people to jesus i was a little boy probably oh i don't know about eight nine years old i remember this so well it was a sabbath afternoon i grew up in south africa it was a sabbath afternoon and my parents were doing lay activities you know the kind of lay activities where you you walk to the springs the bed springs to get some rest they were resting on a saturday afternoon they told myself and my two cousins were there they're about same age eight nine years old and they said you boys be quiet don't make a lot of noise at sabbath you can't be riding around on your bicycles take it easy and so they're we're sitting wondering what to do and uh one of us i forget which one came up with the idea and they said you know what we we can be missionaries now growing up in south africa if you want to be a missionary the place to go is to india if you grew up in north america and you want to be a missionary you go to africa but we were in africa and so in our minds for some reason we thought missionaries go to india we thought we can't go to india we're just kids and we thought about a little bit more and somebody came up with the idea they said you know what well we could probably go tell the neighbors that jesus is coming soon we thought about a little more and we said okay yeah we probably could do that so there we were dressed in our little sabbath suits and we put our bibles under our arms and there we went out and my mother said she heard the back door closed she peeked out of the curtains and she saw the three musketeers marching down the driveway she said lord be with those boys there they go and so off we went we knocked on the door the neighbor opened up the door and we said hello we're here to tell you about jesus and we'd open up the bible and we'd read john 3 16. didn't matter where we opened the bible could be isaiah for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son we quote john 3 16 we closed the bible we'd say we want to sing your song and so we would sing behold what manner of love the father has given unto us we sang a little song and we said thank you for listening and then we went to the next house it wasn't too bad we're going from house to house and we were telling people about jesus we came to one house and we noticed that something was happening because there were cars parked on the street and up in the yard and something was happening at the house and we looked at each other we said well should we go yeah let's go and we went and we knocked on the door and the lady of the house she opened the door and we said hello we're here to tell you about jesus and she did something that nobody else had done before she looked at us and she said oh well well come on inside and she turned around and she let us down into the into the living room and we followed in and there inside the living room it was crowded with people and everybody was watching the television now in south africa the big sporting game there is what we call rugby and somebody familiar with that it's like football without the helmets and everybody's there and they're all staring at this television and they're watching this rugby match and the lady said uh these boys are here to tell us about jesus of course nobody looks at us they're all just staring at the tv well my cousin ashley he's the brave when he walks over he turned the tv off well that got everybody's attention and when we saw the look on their face we realized we needed to make this quick so there we stood in front of the tv and we quoted john 3 16 and we sang a little song and we said thank you for listening we turned the tv on we bumped each other we said let's get out of here we left the living room and he walked down the hallway we opened the front door we started down the stairs and we're like oh glad we got through that one and suddenly we heard a voice behind us it was the lady that had invited us in she said boys boys wait come back come back we turned around and we marched up the stairs and i remember just like yesterday standing on her porch looking up into her face and there were tears just rolling down her cheeks and she said boys thank you so much for coming to my house to tell me about jesus right there and then i said to myself this is what i want to do for the rest of my life i want to tell people about jesus friends there is no greater joy than bringing somebody to jesus now i know there are many of of you out there who have had that joy of bringing a friend a neighbor a family member to jesus and once you've brought one you want to bring another and you want to bring another and another but perhaps there are some sitting out here today you've you've never had that experience you've you've never really had the opportunity or you've never really been able to bring someone to the foot of the cross you've never had that joy well friend ask jesus to give you that opportunity ask jesus to give you the opportunity to witness to a neighbor or a co-worker or even a family member to bring someone to jesus that's what being an adventist is all about it is bringing people to jesus oh friends because jesus is coming we don't have much time left we need to work and then finally because jesus is coming let's never forget that the best is yet to come first corinthians 2 verse 9 but it is written eye has not seen nor ear heard neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that god is preparing for those that love him hebrews 11 by faith he abraham dwelt in the land of promise has in a foreign country dwelling in tents with isaac and jacob the heirs with him of that same promise for he waited for a city which has foundations whose builder and maker is god whatever trials or difficulties we go through here on this earth it's nothing compared to what jesus is preparing for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of god and the dead in christ shall rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the lord on that day when jesus comes families will be reunited friends will meet again all with jesus the best is yet to come in the early 1900s there was an old missionary who had committed his whole life to service in africa the time had come for him to finally go home he had buried his wife there in the mission fields his children had worked but they had moved on he was alone and the time had come for him to go back to america and so he gathered up his few belongings and he went to the harbor and he boarded the ship that was sailing from africa to new york city well it just so happened that that was the same ship that the president theodore roosevelt was also on he had just finished a hunting expedition in africa and he was he was on his way back as well to the united states well as you can imagine the focus of everything on that trip was all about the president and the old missionary alone was observant of all of these things and everybody that wanted to meet the president and visit with the president and finally when the ship made it to new york and came into the harbor there you can imagine just the pump and the fanfare there were there were bands waiting on the shore there were all kinds of military people that were there and when the time came for the president to to deboard the ship the band played and the crowds followed and the president left the ship and everyone was waving and what a wonderful welcome for the president and the old missionaries stood on deck waiting for things to quiet down and he picked up his bag and got at the ship there was nobody there to welcome the old missionary so he went and he found a place to stay and he went upstairs it was time to go to bed it was in the evening and the old missionary got ready put on his pajamas got ready to get into bed and as he had done for so many years he knelt beside his bed and he he started to talk to jesus now this old man this old missionary was was not a stranger to jesus they had spent many hours talking together and this old missionary he spoke to jesus the way you would talk to your very best friend and the old missionary kneeling beside his bed he said lord i i don't i don't want to sound as though i'm complaining but lord it just doesn't seem fair he said i've spent my whole life in service for the kingdom he said i buried my wife in africa and lord finally it's time for me to come home and why lord there's not even one person to greet me even my kids didn't come to see me lord it it just doesn't seem fair and the old missionary was kneeling there beside his bed just complaining a little bit to the lord but then he heard that still small voice that voice that he knew so well the voice of the spirit whispered to his heart as if jesus was saying but son you're not home yet you're not home yet it was if the spirit was saying son wait for the welcome when you finally get to go home wait for the song that'll be sung wait for the glory that'll be revealed you're not home yet you're not home yet friends we're not home yet there is a work to do there is a mission there is a message that must be given to the world there will be trials and difficulties and hardships but jesus says you're not home yet i am coming i'm coming soon i'm coming to take you home there's a man in yonder glory i've loved for many years he has cleared my guilty conscience and banished all my fears he is coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and when the dead in christ arrives to the world i'll say goodbye are you ready christian ready for the shout the trump the voice will his coming make you tremble or cause you to rejoice are you daily walking with him taking to him all your cares are you living so close to heaven that when he comes he'll take you there yes friends we're adventists and because jesus is coming we need to know god that's a personal work that we have to do because jesus is coming we need to be faithful to his word because jesus is coming we have a work to do the proclamation of the three angels messages and because jesus is coming the best is yet to come amen god give us strength this week as we look at this glorious message that god has asked us to take to the world

Channel: Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Views: 2,215

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Seventh-day Adventist, Campmeeting, Michigan Conference

Id: OCkJ_xSfeSA

Length: 52min 4sec (3124 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 19 2021