Dwayne Lemon - Excellent Service Part 1

[Music] you very thankful for the privilege to study once again I want to pick up where we left off when we were looking at practical instructions living the life of Jesus is an absolute imperative and you will find that the Bible you know one of the things I learned about God is that God is not prodigal does anybody know what I mean when I say prodigal very good whoever said that very good was that you Matthew okay I love that wasteful that's what the word prodigal means you always hear about the prodigal son the word prodigal means wasteful that that young man was wasting away the goods of his father one of the things about God is that God is not prodigal he's not wasteful meaning whenever the Lord puts an instruction in the word whenever Jesus leads by an example Jesus expects us to pay attention to those instructions he's not wasting time he's not wasting even ink and so when we understand that I want you to think about this you see when earlier today we were studying you remember that we were looking at different examples of the way in which Christ lived Jesus lived by the word he encouraged us to live by the word and to exercise faith and we learn that faith is fully trusting the Word of God to do what the Word of God said it's gonna do and to depend fully on the Word of God to do what it said it was gonna do without any other evidence Jesus expects us to understand the importance of praise he expects us to understand that we need to live lives that demonstrate that God is indeed good and that all things work together for good true story Ellen White was getting ready for an evangelism campaign I actually have the reference for this it's in my own notes I can give it to you after the meeting and when Ellen White and the Brethren were getting ready to do an evangelistic meeting they went to a building a place that was used for all sorts of different events and sister-wife said that she went to the people they talked about it they negotiated they said okay on this date we're gonna go ahead and do a BC evangelism meeting the person said sure no problem the date finally arrives the data rise and people are coming from north east south and west ready to hear the present truth and when the people arrived to hear the meeting sister white and the Brethren go in there some of our pioneers like a Stephen Haskell of course James White and as they went in they said okay we're ready to use the facility the people will be here shortly and we're going to go ahead and give the message the gentleman said I am so sorry that room is not available to you anymore she began to reason wait we talked about this we agreed on this and you know the person said the person said we did talk about it we did agree about it but you never signed a contract and as a result of not signing a contract someone else came behind you and signed a contract and therefore we had to give the room to them do you know that sister white and the Pioneers had to go back and tell those people we are very sorry there will be no meeting and those people had to go away you know what sister Weis conclusion was she said well we have to count this under Romans 8 verse 28 all things work together for good to them that love the Lord what do you think was the good that she learned from it next time you go to do a meeting sign a contract in other words I'll tell you these things are practical lessons what God is trying to teach us is that just because we believe the truths as it is in Jesus does not mean that we should do sloppy business we should be a stood we should be for we should have forethought we should think about the things that we negotiate and that we do so that way we can make sure that all of our eyes are dotted and all of our T's are crossed in all things we can praise God and we can learn lessons from them that make us smarter stronger wiser and better to give excellent service to the master and so it is that as we looked at these things I want to show you one more thing that I thought was worthy for us to consider obviously again prepare you the way the Lord make straight in the desert a highway for our God this is our text we've been focusing on throughout our weekend and when we look at this I want you to think about that isn't that beautiful that's a nice scenery isn't it and here it is that you know you got the rocks the mountains and the waters and the trees and all these things beautiful scenes of nature and there was a practical lesson about Jesus that I want us to see in this notice this in mark 1 and verse 35 the Bible says and in the morning rising up a great while before day he went out and departed into a solitary place and there did what he prayed now notice Jesus when it was time for him to pray it was a great while before day before the busyness of life when he went to commune with God because remember we learned earlier that the communion life of Jesus was his secret for a life of power we need more power we got tremendous talk but unfortunately we don't have enough power and so if we want more power God has already made the secret aware of us now notice this he went into a solitary place a private place a place without distraction and he went and he prayed now when I started to think about this a little bit more I then looked at this principle in Luke 6 and it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain that was a kind of solitary place a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God so notice that the solitary place that Christ was looking to go to that he could have time with God was not necessarily a private place in our house or in the house it was a private place in nature you will remember that the quote that we read in ministry healing page 51 that it talked about communion with God and with nature you remember that quote Jesus made it a practice that as long as it was two things practical and possible he would not spend time indoors having communion with God listen to my words very carefully Jesus left a lesson for us that whenever it's those two words who remembers the two words if it's what practical and possible we do not have communion with God indoors we should look to have our private communion time with God outdoors God left that on the map on purpose notice this desire pages 291 paragraph 1 by communion with God in nature the mind is uplifted and the heart finds rest there is something about being out in nature with God you know one of the things I thought was very interesting I go to a lot of places I was just a mom I was just kind of marveling over it over the past six months in six months I have been at meat ministry helping and strengthening different Brethren over there I then was at UC Pines helping and strengthening brethren over there and then I was at Wildwood helping and strengthening brethren over there and now I'm at Heartland helping and strengthening the Brethren here and it's interesting because I said you know all four locations are in the country but everybody often will have their communion with God indoors and I said why don't you pay attention to the example of Jesus why do we think that he's prodigal why don't we think that it was put in Scripture in the spirit of prophecy just so we could just talk about it God did not put it in inspiration just to talk about it God put it in inspiration because it was something special in first John to go to the book of first John and notice what it says in chapter 2 notice it was not just put there because God just wanted ink to be wasted it was not just put there so that you and I could just say oh that's cute God put that thing there because Jesus would say hey I'm trying to give you an example that you can learn from it the Bible says in the book of first John we're looking at what chapter very good we're looking at first John we're looking at chapter two and notice what the Bible says as we consider first John 2 and verse 6 the Bible says he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked do you see that now when the Bible says that we are to walk as he walked it didn't say that if Jesus did right foot and then right foot and then left foot and then let that's not the kind of walking that the Bible was talking about it's the same kind of walking that Enoch did with God Enoch walked with God and he was not he was translated because before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God that's the kind of walking it's about living as he lived worshiping as he worshiped studying as he studied praying as he prayed and Jesus made it a priority that every time it is practical impossible you see if there is a blizzard outside let me give you an example I live in the mountains in Massachusetts right now in the mountains in Massachusetts where I live just about two and a half weeks ago two weeks ago or so it was negative 31 outside that's why I don't want to hear nothing from you southern people when y'all start talking about how cold it is I'm like give me a break you're not gonna get any sympathy for me I guess five degrees I'm like listen negative 31 it was not practical or possible to have communion outside in the woods you understand that now let's speak to the South a tornado comes some areas in the South especially out in Tennessee where meet ministry was when we were living there sometimes tornadoes will rip through an area now if you clearly see lightning bolts flashing all over the place it is not practical and it's not possible for you to go outside and have a good communion with God when you got one eye closed praying and the other eye o open looking at the lightning bolts in there around you you're distracted you're going that so that's what I'm saying when I talk about practical possible but as long as it's practical as long as it's possible we are to say it is time to talk to the master I'm going out and I'm gonna spend some time in nature and I'm gonna commune with my Savior I would like to submit unto you do it it was an example that Jesus gave us I taught it to a whole bunch of missionaries as they were getting ready to go out and do their canvassing group and when we finished all of them were getting ready to do it and they were obedient and one of them praise God was my son my son Jared would get up everyone he said dad I don't know what it is he says all of us all of the students all of us because they were all doing a camp canvassing campaign and all of them were getting up in the morning early in the morning while it was still dark and because they were out there in the in the woods and in the mountains they were going places and they were finding opportunities to talk with the master and they said you know what there is something special about doing this now I'm gonna let you in even on a double secret I mean we're gonna walk in the footsteps of our master I want you to watch this go to Luke 11 watch this one I add this one it's a bonus I didn't even have this one prepared for you but I'm gonna go get I'll go ahead and give you this one watch this one in Luke the eleventh chapter I'm gonna show you another example about Jesus now you remember you you've been hearing me talk about careful study is that right remember we talked about that really paying attention to the verse I'm gonna give you an opportunity see if you get it and you know it's so sad sometimes people give right answers for wrong reasons you're going to Luke 11 I remember one time I was teaching I was doing a training and I was training missionaries and as I was training the missionaries I asked a tough question and when I asked the tough question I said what's the answer a lot of people didn't give the answer and this young lady very timid she raised her hand she said I know the answer brother lemon I said really tell me the answer the sister gave the right answer praise God I said sister stand up I had to stand up before the rest of the class and I said look at your federal classmates and I said please tell them how you discovered the answer I'm so proud of her because I mean I was I was really thankful for what she was able to that's it all men she knows the answer she's been studying and then that sister I said go ahead tell the class and then she put her head down I said no ed doesn't hear the right answer class she said I learned it from listening to one of your messages that was the right answer but the wrong way it was discovered you understand that we want to be able to say I got the answer because I looked and I studied for myself you understand that that's the best answer okay Luke 11 bonus watch this example of Jesus Luke 11 the Bible says in verse 1 and it came to pass that as he was doing what praying in a certain place when he ceased one of his disciples said unto Him Lord teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples all right well what are the people what did the disciples want to learn they want to learn how to pray what was Jesus doing and before the disciples asked the question what did Jesus what what what happened with Jesus in his prayer it stopped so clearly was Jesus okay let me not ask that question just yet verse 2 Jesus is now going to answer their question they want to learn how to pray verse 2 and he said unto them when you pray say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come Thy will be done as in heaven so in earth stop right there question what's the first lesson that Jesus taught about how to pray what's the first lesson Jesus taught say again that you what pray pray to the Father pray to the Father very good my sister got it say assistant he prayed out loud notice in the verse it did not say when he pray think that's not what he said did he he didn't say that he did not say when he pray meditate he said when you pray say Jesus was teaching us when you pray pray audibly pray audibly now you can couple this with steps to Christ page 93 when you get a chance to read it in your spare time steps to Christ page 93 and you will learn that what God actually teaches us is that when we pray pray aloud somebody says ah man I don't know should I do that with a devil will hear me who cares if he hears us he can't do anything about it seriously I think about that with fanatical country living people that's like oh you know I'm not gonna say the name but years ago I asked a brother who was living in the country helping people to learn how to live in the country I said hey can you give me a call left a voice message he called me back I noticed that there was a no I sent him an email can you give me a call got a you know blocked caller ID number that called me and I answered the phone it was that guy and I say hey brother can I call you back you caught me at a bad time yeah well brother I don't give up my phone number really I said why you don't give out your phone number I mean we're brethren he said well you know some of the law tells us that the time is gonna come when we're going to turn against brethren you know I wish I was joking because that's a pathetic thing for a man to say that claims the present truth but extremists are very much attracted to the present truth to mess it up all the time and this brother well brother you knows brethren we're gonna turn against us so what I'll do is I'll call you back that is so extreme but these were the same people at a time that used to say get a peel box address when you get your country place don't let nobody know where you live and I'm like you know people always knew where to find Jesus you read mark 1 verse 36 if they knew where to find them they knew where to find them Jesus didn't have to hide you see here's my here's the way I think about it if you show up at my house and you trying to mess with me and my family God if you're God's enemy that means you my enemy God will blind your eyes like he did with those people right at Lots door do you understand that I don't have to be worried about folks Enoch always brought people to his country home we don't need to hide and so it is we don't need to only pray quietly there's nothing an inspiration that says there's a danger when we pray openly how do I know that because Jesus just did it he was praying aloud and then he stopped and the disciples knew it and then they asked the question so if Jesus prayed a louder he didn't worry about it why are you worried about it even if the devil hears you he can't do anything about it you understand that Psalms 55 and verse 17 evening morning and at noon will I pray and cry how the Bible teaches us pray aloud you know one of the blessings of praying aloud God becomes more real to you I mean think about it you go outside in nature you are out there breathing that crisp air maybe you're in an area where you hear the water flowing you hear the sounds of nature the birds chirping because they're being blessed by God and here it is that you're surrounded by all of that and then here it is that you are upon your knees and you are lifting up your heart to heaven and you begin to say father and you start to talk out loud brothers and sisters your own mind becomes convinced that God is real you see when you and I pray silently and we do the silent thing one minute oh Lord next minute what time is it I mean I gotta go do grocery shopping no man I got to do that is it not almost very easy for our minds to wonder when we silently pray Jesus was teaching us he knows you become more convinced that I'm real the more that you talk to me I want you to have something to say to me and so I'm encouraging you that when you have your communion time with God as long as it's practical and possible go outside now for those of us who are coming from the city obviously we are challenged aren't we now if you're in the city but in the suburbs you at least probably have a backyard something like that that you can go ahead and do it well praise the Lord go in your backyard and do it then work with what you got until you can get more if you're living in an apartment building structure and there's cars passing all the time and it's noisy outside well then obviously you can't put this into practice yet so you might have to just simply go in your closet and say father I'm doing the best that I can until I get more but the ideal of God is try to find yourself a quiet place in nature and commune with the master is that simple enough amen now looking at some more instructions some more examples from Jesus you'll remember in acts 10 in verse 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power and what was he doing he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him this is our work family there's no way we're gonna prepare ye the way of the Lord while we're constantly thinking about ourselves working for ourselves and doing for ourselves we must understand that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power and he went about doing good if we are going to prepare you the way of the Lord we have to sit down and we got to think how can I be more intentional about going about and doing good to others what has God given me that can be a blessing to others even to the homeschooling parents many of you are in this room read welfare ministry page 120 when you read welfare ministry page 120 it tells us that even that homeschooling mother that she is to train her children to be helpers to her as she does evangelism so there's no excuse to just say well my flock right here is my ministry well that's true it's just not supposed to be your only ministry you're supposed to have a focus that when I'll train my children I am training them to be a helper to me as we win souls for the master and prepare the way see how simple that is so we must sit down and really think about it how can I go about doing good what do I have that's good that you gave me Lord that I can give to somebody else some of us have a knowledge on health some of us have a knowledge on cooking some of us have a knowledge on various practical skills carpentry cleaning etc some of us are very knowledgeable on budgeting and financing which a lot of people need what is it that you have that's good take it pray about it and go do that good thing for somebody else that's near you that's around you you must be intentional Jiri good family there's always going to be a reason to say I'll do it tomorrow procrastination is one of the devil's next rustiest tools when you think about discouragement that's probably his number one tool is discouragement but procrastination is real close to it we often know what to do we often have skillsets abilities and all sorts of gifts but we waste a lot of time thinking about it rather than putting it into action Jesus went about doing good Healing all manner of healing those who were oppressed of the devil and God was with him now notice this that was Jesus Luke 9 what did Jesus do for the disciples then he called his twelve and disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases and he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick the same power that was available to Jesus is the same power that has been made available to us and God says I want you to use that power and you can I you know I believe this family and you know in truth it's really nothing to boast about but you know the man that stands before you has as it relates to education a general equivalency diploma a GED according to the world standard I'm a very dumb ignorant man according to the world standard and so I always deem myself an underdog literally I'd be that I had people that called me names I had people even in our church that told me you're not gonna learn anything you're not gonna understand anything etc I came into the church 20 26 years ago and you know and I and I came in I didn't even understand where Genesis was I mean you know I'm saying it's like I did not understand these things and so it is that what did I have to do I started to study I had to apply myself people told me about okhla you need to go to Oakland you need to go to Oakwood something I believe is the Holy Spirit kept me from going I said no no that's it wasn't it wasn't God wanted to send me and brethren was said oh man you need to learn this you need to learn this and I had to read I had to pray I had to study I had to think I had to get all those cobwebs off my brain from smoking on weed and sipping some foolish substance and making my body sick and all these things started learning a health message that's one of the people right here that helped me learn his sister Hamilton started learning the health message health reform and all these things started learning these things and then here it is the Lord gave a ministry a worldwide ministry still have a GED all I'm saying I'm not saying that to impress you I'm trying I'm saying that to impress upon you that you don't need a lot of stuff that the world tells you you need to understand the Word of God to be able to let it have its sanctifying effect upon your heart and actually be used as an instrument by God to be a blessing to somebody else according to the world standard I'm a very very ignorant fisherman but God has used this ignorant fisherman to teach a lot of people a lot of things that has absolutely worked out for their salvation and for that I'm eternally grateful and what I'm telling you is that do not look to your deficiencies do not consult your weaknesses there is no mind to dull that God cannot make brilliant you have to start believing that you got to think that stop talking that foolishness of I can't Lord how can I just switch that switch the language it's not I can't do that look the question is Lord okay how can I do that you want me to do that how can I do that father if you want me to do that then I'm gonna need this and God says I love it do you know that desire of Ages 668 tells us that God loves it when we go to him and make demands to say Lord in order for me to accomplish this I need this you promise this and therefore I am coming to you and I'm asking I'm not talking about Pentecostal demands I command you to obey me Lord I'm not talking about that I'm not talking about that extremism Babylonian foolishness I'm talking about reverently coming to God and saying father you said in your word daddy it's like daddy you promised and therefore I come to you fully expecting you to fulfill your promise God says I like it when my children do that hold me accountable to my promise God will make your mind brilliant God will teach you what you need to know God will literally like the children of Israel coming out of Egypt filled with paganism and God will give you skill to know how to even build a sanctuary God will do that all he needs is willing hearts and so we can go about doing good just like Jesus did all we got to do is say Lord show me how I am here send me use me now let's talk about being used the completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless other Springs constantly from within what Springs constantly from within your heart if helping yourself out Springs constantly from within your heart then you need to cry out to God to say lord help me I'm a selfish man I'm a selfish woman I'm self-centered lord help me that I can get to a place that when I see people that my heart naturally leaps to say how can I be a blessing father how can I help them you know sometimes with these country locations especially schools you know these young people get caught up into these little bubbles and they don't know how to even act out in real society and that's why I believe any school no matter what it is every school should be able to engage our youth to go out into cities and all the slums and wicked places of the world and go out there and meet the real needs of people and come in contact with all of those various battles and challenges and learn how to walk through them through some godly examples in the context of teachers and professors and leaders we need that because sometimes we get locked in these bubbles anything the homeschooling children they homeschool all their lives don't always get in touch with society once they come out in touch with society they lose their minds they lose their minds I mean me me and my buddies back in the days we used to always say when I was in the world we said look if you want to have a good time go find one of them Christian girls that's always been locked up in their home this is what we used to say as worldly wicked men we used to say that go find them Christian girls that's been locked up in their homes because once they get out of their home they can't wait to just test and see what the waters are like and they do some of the most vile and sinful things part of that comes because of the way that some of us are governing our youth you understand that we need to know how to wisely and temperately be able to help them see the realities of what's happening outside of this precious little holy home that we have so that when they come back home they'll appreciate that home boy son and daughter we're gonna go to ABC you know ghetto we're gonna go to the hood we're gonna go to places where people are struggling and we're gonna go and we're gonna minister to those Souls and when they go in there and see the roaches crawling across the floor when they go and stare and smell those foul smells when they go in there and they look at that person's refrigerator and they see that that person is eating bonafide garbage when they see those individuals who are struggling and you're teaching the Word of God and they're struggling to even think through a simple text that nobody the child takes for granted when that child sees all of that bring them back home and say what do you think about what you saw today you're gonna hear a lot of those children say I didn't realize how blessed we are so yeah you are because you know what a lot of children is saying right now they're so blessed those folks in the world are so blessed why we want to be like them so a lot of our young people are saying right now they don't understand the gifts that they have they don't understand what it's like to have a mother and a father who loves Jesus and who actually says it's time for morning worship it's time for midday prayer it's time for evening devotion it's time to eat our breakfast and everything is whole food and CDF approved you know CDF for proof stands for councils on diet and foods approved everything they ate is CDF approves that right Bennion that's when those children say you know what thank you for making those whole-grain pancakes mom I don't want to know what I have has but when they get locked up in that bubble they think well and they start losing in mind so the key is is that God says listen I want my people to develop a burden and we can go Jesus with this we can say Lord give me a burden for sauce you can pray you can observe carefully but God makes it clear I want my character to be reflected in you and the completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others Springs constantly from within that's what God wants and it's also a nice little sign when you get to a place that you start thinking so much about people you start thinking so little about yourself that you start downsizing start selling stuff start taking those nice shoes and suits and sometimes you'll say you know what I want to go bless somebody with this it's nice when God gets your heart to that place it's a blessing and so as we think about this I want to walk us through something here you see this is what God wants if we're going to truly prepare either way we must start thinking how can I go about and do good so now what happens is everything is a means to an end my study time my devotion time is equipping me that I can meet other people and clearly and powerfully articulate the loving words of Jesus to them my communion time with God in the morning is to give me wherewithal that I know how to deal with the various battles of life that might come from husband wife children and certainly those outside of my home and I will know how to speak a good word as meet in due season becomes a means to an end even our devotional time is not just for us to just simply say praise the Lord I had a great devotion today even our devotional time is to build us up that we can better know how to minister to others the early seventh-day Adventist Church grew with such rapidity that to date it has not been repeated to date when you study our church right from about the 1870s to about 1905 1908 the seventh-day Adventist Church grew approximately 400% 400% and we were not growing like the way some churches grow today it's not like just making numbers no no we were making disciples back then back in those days the seven adventist was one to be feared you don't mess with a seventh-day adventist unless you know what you're talking about it was understood if you come in contact with even a common member of the seventh-day Adventist Church that when you start asking all your questions those seven day Adventist members were able to say thus saith the Lord notice what the Bible says right here and they were to walk you through Scripture we were a teaching Church we were a teaching Church we've never seen that kind of growth ever even all the way here now in 2018 never seen it and so it is that what was it that caused such rapid growth now watch this in the Bible I'm gonna give you some examples what was it that caused such rapid growth in our movement back then well let me go ahead and share some things with you number one the Bible says in the book of Acts 14 in verse 23 and when they had ordained them elders in how many churches every Church and had prayed with fasting they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed so what was established in the early church there were these elders now watch this and from milita's he sent to Ephesus and called the who elders of the church now watch this the elders it says take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you what overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood according to the Bible who were the over Sears of the church it was elders it was elder that's why in the New Testament you only find a word pastor come up once a pastor by the way in the Greek under Shepherd an elder by the way in the Greek under Shepherd pastors and elders were very much synonymous in Scripture it was a it was an interchanging of terms but they all meant the same thing literally when you look up the word overseer in the Greek it means Bishop it was an under Shepherd someone who was looking over the flock so in truth elders are like pastors you understand that you see today we live in a whole different system so what happens is if you call somebody pastor you know we're correcting us re not passive elder and the back but in today's society where there's a lot of accolade and all this other stuff connected to these terms you know people are getting mad and you know whatever I don't care what you call me I mean at the end of the day like my sister Vanessa says just call me what Jesus calls me my name is Dwayne and I'm your brother that's it I never forgot that call me what Jesus calls me I like that God is simply trying to say to us that when the early church started it was the elders who were running the church wasn't pastors pastors were not locating themselves and hovering over the churches that's not what was happening you know the people who function like the pastor's were the people like the pawls they were like the Barnabas they were like the Silas these were the individuals who sooner function in the capacity that if we were to call them a term we would say they were pastors now what was Paul doing he was traveling and going about and starting other churches what was Barnabas doing he was traveling and going about and starting other churches was Paul keeping in touch with the other churches sure he was he write letters today we got email write a letter how's everything going everybody's doing all right sometimes Paul will say hey I heard that this was happening in the Church of Corinth let me go ahead and send a word of admonishment but Paul trusted those elders take care of that flock you were the overseers of the flat now this was what we call the biblical model elders run the church pastors go as missionaries you want to know why we grew at 400 percent I'm answering the question it was understood elders were in the church pastors go out as missionaries now the seventh day Baptist interviewed the seventh-day Adventists the seven day Baptist interviewed the seven day Adventists because they wanted to understand why are you growing so fast we were growing so fast we got the attention of other denominations other denominations were calling us reaching out to us and saying please help us understand why are you growing so fast obviously because they wanted to learn how could they do the same thing here was the answer all seventh-day adventists clergymen are what missionaries not what located pastors and are busy doing what preaching teaching and organizing churches the world over that's what our pastors were doing in the days of our pioneers they were busy preaching teaching and organizing churches the world over that's what our pastors were doing continuing there was a secular news article I mean this is sweet I love this history this is sweet secular news article the secular news article in other words secular media started saying hey seven day event is Yala growing so fast we want to know why so we weren't just getting the attention of the religious world we were getting attention of the secular world in the Plain Dealer a news article newspaper here's what they've this this the article some facts and figures gathered from elders star he was a Regional Conference president it says some facts and figures gathered from Elvis star how they've grown in 40 years and what they believe question by what means have you carried forward your work so rapidly well in the first place replied the other we have what know settled pastors our churches are taught largely to do what take care of themselves and while nearly all of our ministers work as evangelists in new fields it was understood because it was the biblical model this is a no brainer this was the biblical model elders run the church pastors go as missionaries and preach and teach and organize churches it was understood continuing the Kalamazoo Telegraph I mean I'm showing you this on purpose I want you to see this is real stuff it's real history Kalamazoo Telegraph another secular article secular News Ken right you're at a DM Ken right haven't you forgive me for that small text I try to make all my text big but never the les DM can write phenomenal evangelist but he turned away from the church but listen to this it says in the quotation taken from the Kalamazoo Telegraph we find this statement at the time he dissolved his connection with them in other words DM can write dissolved his connection with the seventh-day Adventist Church it says when he did that it says he had the charge of 18 churches in Michigan one pastor overseeing 18 churches it says right here 18 churches in Michigan the fact in this case are these seventh-day Adventist churches maintain their regular worship without the assistance of any located pastors leaving our entire ministry free to act as evangelist in new fields George Butler Conference president in other words all I'm simply showing you I'm just showing you article after article after article they were making it plain this was something that was understood now if we want to see this type of fire come back in the movement then we need to come back to the philosophies that govern the movement during that time now this is let me go past that Ellen White they all said the same thing although I say the same thing our ministers are not to hover over the churches regarding the churches in some particular place as their special care and our churches should not feel jealous and neglected if they do not receive ministerial labor they should themselves take up the burden and labor most earnestly for Souls believers ought to have root in themselves striking firm root in Christ that they may bear fruit to his glory now I do need to show you this AG Daniel's he also was a conference president look at AG Daniel's said I have to show this to you he literally spoke the same contest what we're talking about but look what he said we have not settled our ministers over churches as pastors to any large extent in some of the very large churches we have elected pastors but as a rule we have held ourselves ready for field service evangelistic work and our brethren and sisters have held themselves ready to maintain their church serve and carry forward their church work without settled pastors now here's what he said as a conference president and I hope this will never cease to be the order of affairs in this denomination for when we cease our forward movement when we cease our forward movement work and begin to settle over our churches to stay by them and do their thinking and their praying and their work that is to be done then our churches will begin to weaken and to lose their life and spirit and become paralyzed and fossilized and our work will be on a retreat he said this what will happen if we start having ministers that is just hovering over the churches so point number one this would be something to the ministers in the room or to some of you theology students that if you were to go into pastoral ministry ministry I would say to you as students in theology that you make sure that if you do lead a church that you lead it the way God said it should be led now what were the church members doing since they were taking care of themselves notice it says one of the first place replied the elder we have no settled pastors our churches are taught largely to take care of themselves while nearly all of our ministers work as evangelists in new fields in the winter they go into the churches halls or schoolhouse and raise up believers so notice the three locations that they would go into churches halls those are kind of like theaters different places that you can rent out and and by the way they were always nice if you carefully study our history we never rented out junk we didn't rent out broke pasted places and was trying to broke down places and in trying to spend the littlest amount no the Brethren put money into getting a nice facility making sure that the people who come were comfortable the room was well lit etc then it says they would go to churches halls or school houses and raise up believers it says in the summer we use tents some of us don't even know what a tent meeting is anymore it says they would use tents pitching them in the cities and villages where we teach the people these doctrines this year we'll have about a hundred tents they were not playing oh it gets deeper than that watch this look at this one right here it says besides these we send out large numbers of coalporters the conference was sending out large numbers of coalporters some conferences have dissolved the publishing department but this is what they were doing we send out large numbers of call porters with our tracks and books so notice the call Porter's took tracks and books then it says who visit the families and teach them the Bible last year we employed I like that word they employed see the Brethren invested in the workers in the church they said we employed about a hundred twenty-five Cole Porter's in this manner Bible readings or Bible studies Bible readings is another class of work the workers go from house to house holding Bible readings with from 1 to 20 individuals so literally the members of the church were going house-to-house doing Bible studies this is what you and I are supposed to be doing I'm trying to give you a practical beautiful picture of this is how we were growing at Surat rapid paces back in our history it says last year they gave 10 thousand of such Bible readings at the same time we had employed three hundred Canvassers what's the difference between the canvasser and the colporteur notice we employed 300 canvassers constantly canvassing the country and selling our larger works so the coalporters would do the tracts in the book the little things but the canvasses were trained specifically how to get the larger materials out it was very organized very organized and we need to understand that the way and I would imagine that you do this here at Heartland I would imagine you're doing that that the number one way to support the school according to inspiration was to go out and sell the book Christ object lessons and all the funds that would come from Christ object lessons were supposed to help support the school we have a sanitarium on this campus don't we what was the number one book we were supposed to sell to support the sanitarium Ministry of healing you see God will bless when we do what he says he'll bless when we do what he says Ministry of hearing sales come from it supports the sanitarium Christ object lessens the sales that come from it will support the school and you'd be amazed we don't have to do a lot of gimmicks and stuff where we start getting ourselves in trouble compromising principles and standards God says just do what I told you to do so these are things that they were doing look at this in addition to this every church has a Missionary Society now I could really go into this one how many of you have ever heard of ays you ever heard of ays Adventist youth Society a lot of times it is merely edutainment a lot of times that's what that's what an average ays is it's just edutainment we're educating ourselves with entertainment but before a YS there was something called mV missionary volunteer those young people were trained to go into the fields and to have their friends and associates come back and they would teach and instruct the word and individuals were winning souls MV was a soul winning effort in comparison to what's typically held as a YS okay now understanding these things look at this every one of these members does more or less missionary works such as selling books loaning or giving away tracts obtaining subscriptions to our periodicals visiting families and looking after the poor and aiding the sick the bottom line I'm trying to say is that the members of our church were very very busy pastor hovering over them to tell them what to do it was a systematic understanding now in order for this to be done my brothers and sisters we have to remember and whatsoever you do do it how harder they do with the whole heart as unto the Lord you see when you work for Jesus you don't give him those sloppy work you understand that I'm very suited we're talking about excellence Jesus makes it clear whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men there's a lot of things that when we make promises to people we will break it and sometimes we don't even care what we promise I don't care I got to do what I got to do Jesus says do not treat me like you treat other men Jesus says whatever you do I want you to do with your whole heart as if you're doing it for me as if you're doing it for me five more minutes I want you to know but I'm tired one I want to respect the time but it's just challenging so here's the deal number one the study of the word to go forward with excellence we must start studying our Bibles what do I mean by this I want you to think about this okay with excellence the Bible says study to show thyself approved unto God okay study to show thyself don't be sloppy please study to show thyself approved unto God workmen that need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth study family what does it involve in studying lillas right in the verse rightly divide the word of truth how do you rightly divide the word of truth very simple notice this the study of the Bible demands our most diligent effort and persevering thought now notice that what should get our most diligent effort and persevering thought the Bible you know some of us do that with money sometimes when we do money and budgeting we are on those books but I hate that penny go I want to I want to know where every penny win some of us give persevering thought to how we manage our money but when we study the Bible sometimes we're sloppy we're not giving careful thought and so inspiration says very clearly the study the Bible demands our most diligent effort and persevering thought as the miner digs for the golden treasure in the earth so earnestly persistently must we seek for the treasure of God's Word now how do I do that in daily study the verse-by-verse method is often most helpful let's stop right there when you study the Bible if I could leave you with one gem there are many beautiful principles of study in the Bible but if I could leave you with this one gem when you study the Bible I'm encouraging you to go verse by verse and what I'm encourage you to do is do exactly what this quote says notice what the quote says it says let the student take one verse how many verses one verse take one verse and concentrate the mind on ascertaining the thought that God has put into that verse for him this is I mean this is very practical instruction take one verse concentrate the mind now notice this take one verse concentrate the amount of ask tender the thought that God has put into the verse for him and then dwell upon the thought until it becomes your own in other words don't move from the verse until you understand it too often we read a ton of verses we were like clueless clueless clueless clueless clueless okay I understand that one clueless clueless that's how a lot of us read the verses we're clueless we're like I don't know what that verse is saying I don't know what that verse is saying and I don't know what that verse is saying but I know what that one verse is saying right there and then we got the nerve to tell people yeah study I study the whole chapter God says no when you study the verse take one verse look at the verse think about the verse Lord what is what are you saying in that verse that is not only the truth but is also the truth that is applicable to me in my life in my circumstance study it and don't move from it until you grab it then it says one passage of the studied until it's significance is clear is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained so what God is simply saying is that when you your Bible you got to look at it prayerfully and carefully don't run past the verse it makes no sense to rush through Bible study it is illogical it makes more sense to say I'm a study this verse and I'm not moving from the verse until I understand what the verse is talking about if it means I got to go through five historic history books so that I can say I know exactly what that verse is talking about because let me tell you something when you study a book when you study a chapter or even when you study a passage of Scripture when you understand what it's saying you walk different you literally think different you handle yourself differently because you literally can say I know what the Word of God says on that subject you have no idea how many people are being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine right now because they don't know what the text says they don't know what the verses are saying God is trying to help us understand it you don't have to be moved like that now some people are unmovable in ignorance that's nothing to boast about some people like our born seven day Adventists I'm gonna die seventh-day Adventists but then you say what is the 70th Venice they like I don't know but I'm born in seventy of Venice I'm a diet seventy there we are seven day Adventists roman catholics you understand that that's what some of us are just just SDA roman kappa hype i cannot substantiate where I stand the prophet of God says it very simply in volume 5 page 707 she says there are many who profess to have a knowledge of present truth but they really don't know what they believe because they don't understand the evidences of their faith I ask you what do you believe you give me an answer I say where's your evidence and some of us don't know where to go but I'm born in 70 I mean I'm a diet 70 you understand that God's not I'm not God says listen don't there's nothing boastful about being unmovable in ignorance God says I want you to know what you believe because when you know what you believe there's a comfort there's a peace there is a wherewithal in the character I am serious when I said it it makes you walk different you you what you ever seen a person walk and they look like they got confidence the Bible says this is the confidence that we have in him that if we have anything if we have how does it go and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will sometimes you got to sing the script of song to get it back but that's the key is that God is saying that too he says I want you to be confident because it will affect your whole lifestyle you understand that [Music] you you

Channel: Hartland College

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Keywords: SDA, Hartland, College, Adventist, Convocation, Seventh-day, Bible, Christian, Religion, Truth, Ellen, White, Sabbath

Id: 7vGBt-1pcOI

Length: 58min 39sec (3519 seconds)

Published: Thu May 10 2018