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Dwayne Loberg

Medical Missionary Work

Medical Missionary Work, Part 1 - The Right Hand

I found out that there's a theme for the month of April here in South Church and that theme is new life.

I've been preparing for the sermon for almost 2 months.

I thought, Lord, I can't put this sermon aside and start with a new whole concept and be prepared in a week.

And so we went to bed that night and and I just kinda forgot about it and I thought, well, we'll see what happens in the morning.

So I got up the next morning and I went to study my Bible and opened up my Bible to Romans chapter 6, which is where I'd left off from the day before.

White Study Bible and there's always headings for each chapter.

And the heading for chapter 6 in Romans was, Death to sin, resurrection to newness of life.

I went, whoa, maybe the Lord's trying to tell me something.

You know, this can't be a coincidence, You know, that the Lord's telling me I have to preach about newness of life.

And so I thought, well, maybe I better start reading this chapter 6 with a little bit more detail to get a better idea of what I should be talking about today.

And as I was reading through Romans chapter 6, it begins by talking about baptism, which we know is where we most of us begin our newness of life as a Christian.

And it goes on to talk about walking in newness of life after we're baptized.

Does anybody remember when they're baptized?

You know at that time for those of you that can remember were you on fire for the Lord?

I was baptized in December of 1995 after a Leo Scribner seminar and I had a zeal for truth.

I wanted to study, I wanted to learn, I wanted to become closer to God, I just couldn't get enough of the Lord.

And I would go around and I would thump people on the head and try and teach them that new truth and it didn't get me anywhere.

You know, because I was so full of fire, but the zeal just wasn't quite in the direction the Lord wanted to go.

But you know, as the years went by, I started to lose some of that zeal.

And I praise the Lord that I can't say decades, but it was years, because I've only been in the church since 1995, so I can't say decades yet.

But, you know, I realized that I was losing that relationship with the Lord that I had when I first was baptized.

And as I was thinking about today's sermon, I continued reading in Romans, and I'm thinking, Lord, you know, I'm not going to talk about baptism.

And I started thinking, what is newness of life for people who have been baptized a long time ago?

And as I thought about that, I thought newness of life would have to be defined as revival.

Do we need to come to that zeal that we had when we were first baptized?

And as I was reading this, I thought, okay, revival, yep, we need revival.

And as I was reading Romans chapter 6, it went on repeating several verses the same thing and that was, yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

And I thought, wow, yield my members, my hands, yield my members, servants to righteousness and to holiness.

And then I realized that what I've been preparing for almost 2 months is newness of life.

And I'm really hoping that today's presentation, we're going to have some revival because I believe we serve a mighty God and He can revive us, can't He?

So today I'm going to give an introduction to a large topic of study that has become very dear to my heart.

Has anybody ever asked themselves that question?

You know, I would have to think since the beginning when we were told that Christ is coming back, I think every 1 of God's people at some time or another have asked themselves, why hasn't the Lord returned?

And I know I've asked myself that many times.

But what is He waiting for us to do or become?

I have to believe that we're not waiting on the Lord, that the Lord is waiting on us, because I think He's always prepared.

In fact, we're told way back in 1888, he was ready to come.

So what is he waiting for us to do or become?

If we don't know what he's waiting for us to do or become, how can we do what we need to do to make it possible for him to come back?

The judgment scene will take place in the presence of all the worlds, for in this judgment the government of God will be vindicated.

We are intricately involved in the vindication of God's government.

Until God's government is vindicated to the entire universe, he will not come back.

But how will the government of God be vindicated?

If we don't know how the government of God is going to be vindicated, how can we be doing the right thing to speed His return?

By the restoration of the image of God in man.

This is how God's government is going to be vindicated.

Ever bear in mind that they, medical missionaries, are working for the restoration of the image of God in man.

Have you ever thought that the Lord might have given us an order, a procedure of how we are to do our witnessing so that we can bring more lost souls into the kingdom?

Because as disciples of Christ isn't that what our mission here on earth is to do?

Is to be missionaries for Him to bring lost souls into the kingdom of Christ?

And that's what we're supposed to be here doing.

But, you know, we have to look at what's the first thing the Lord told us to do, because if we don't do the first thing, and we just jump ahead to the last thing, are we going to be successful?

His last injunction to his apostles, his representatives on earth, was to lay hands on the sick that they might recover.

That's the last thing that the Lord told his disciples here on earth that we're to do when he left.

Their physical health was to be first cared for, and after their health was cared for, then in order that we might be prepared for the truth to reach the minds.

We know the great controversies over the battle of the mind, right?

So, if we don't do what is needed to prepare the mind for the battle, how can we gain access to the world's mind?

We have to do what the Lord says so that we can have the access to people's minds.

Did we ever think that there's a specific pioneer work that the Gospel has that we need to be doing?

It's like the first thing we're supposed to do, the beginning starting point?

It, medical missionary work, is the pioneer work of the Gospel.

Medical missionary work is the most effective instrument by which the ground is prepared for the sowing of the seeds of truth.

Now, is there anybody here who is a farmer?

Medical Missionary Work, Part 2 - Unity In Practical Work

Today we're going to be talking about unity in practical work.

And before we get into the practical applications of the work that we can be doing for the Lord, we need to do a little bit of a review.

How does the world view Seventh-day Adventists?

Seventh-day Adventists are to be represented to the world by the advanced principles of health reform which God has given us.

Now we know that the world presently does not recognize us as that, and we need to be thinking about what can we be doing so that we get to the situation where the world does recognize us by our advanced health principles that we are supplying the world with.

What then is the example that we are to set to the world?

We are to do the same work that the great medical missionary undertook on our behalf, And that we know is doing Christ's work.

If they, referring to the people of the world, see that we are intelligent in regard to health, they would be more ready to believe that we are sound in Bible doctrines.

You know, we always, many of us struggle with how can we present the gospel to the world.

And they don't want to hear that they need the Lord.

And yet we're told that if we present sound health doctrines, they'll be open to hearing Bible doctrines from us.

What line of work is to shine the brightest?

And what's the most noble work that we as God's people can engage in?

I wish to tell you that soon there'll be no work done in any ministerial lines but the medical missionary work.

If it was soon in 1901 that soon the only work we could do is medical missionary work, what is soon today a hundred and 7 years later?

How do we go about presenting this message in a way that's practical for the world, that will draw them into Christ so they'll want to hear the Gospel?

We are to link up with our brethren and pull together.

And God will give us influence and self-control.

Now as I studied this statement, I started thinking about that.

And I definitely want to have more of God's influence in my life.

You know, when I studied this, God is saying that if we want to have more self-control in our life, and we want to have His influence in our life, we first have to be together in unity.

If we are not working together in unity, He is not going to pour out His influence to the degree that He wants to and give us the ability through His Holy Spirit to have self-control in our lives if we don't first work together in brotherly love and unity.

We are now to unify and by true medical missionary work prepare the way for the coming of our King.

If our hearts are humble, if we have learned in the school of Christ to be meek and lowly, we may all press together in the narrow path marked out for us.

We have to first learn in Christ's school of meekness and lowliness before we're able to press together in unity on the narrow path towards heaven.

First we talked about we have to unify, but now even before unifying, we're told that we have to learn from Christ's school to have a meek and lowly heart.

We have to have the meek and lowly heart, then we work together in unity, And then finally we can all press together on that narrow path, preparing ourselves and others for the coming Kingdom.

You know, I think there's a statement that says, press together, press together, press together.

And as I thought about this, I thought, you know, we're so blessed that in nature God has given us so many examples of how we can take something that we see in his creation and apply that to a spiritual application.

And it made me think of the Emperor Penguins.

The Emperor Penguins live exclusively in Antarctica.

And here we have a group of male penguins, Emperor Penguins, and they're pressing together.

And they're actually, what this is referred to, it's called the huddle.

And you notice that they're in a circular form and they're all pressing in towards each other.

They're facing each other in towards the center of the circle.

And this is a very specific reason for this because they're preparing for the winter storms that are about to come upon them.

If they weren't prepared for the winter storm that was going to come upon them, they would die.

Because when the winter hits in Antarctica, it's minus 80 degrees, and I don't care whether it's Fahrenheit or Celsius, it's cold.

So when it's minus 80 degrees in Antarctica, these male emperor penguins have to take this position in order to live.

If they didn't press together tight like this, they would die.

Not 1 of them, but every single 1 of them would die.

And as they do this formation, they each have to take their turn.

And the 1 who's in the center has to go out to the outside circle.

But it's not just a simple process of walking over here and then walking over here.

They've got an unborn penguin egg sitting on top of their feet between their legs.

And they have to walk without dropping that egg, without exposing it to the cold, and take their new position in the huddle for preservation of life.

And the ones who are not physically strong enough, when they get to the outside of the circle, they die.

And when they die, the unborn penguin dies as well.

And so we, as God's people, need to be spiritually strong, that when we're working together in unity, When it's our turn to be on the front line in the world that Satan's attacking us, we have to be spiritually strong.

Because if we're not spiritually strong, we're going to die spiritually.

And we're not going to be able to succumb the attacks of Satan.

So, you know, that thing is a very good spiritual application as to how in nature God has shown these penguins work together for life.

And of course the beginning of that starts with the family.

You know we can talk about the church having unity and working together as a unit, But if our individual family units within the church are not unified, how could the church possibly be unified?

You notice here that you have the male and the female mother and father penguin pointing toward each other, focusing in on the family.

You know in today's world it's so easy to each 1 of the family we could still be in a circle but we're all looking out into the world and what's the world got for me here and what's the world got for me there and then we wonder why our families fall apart.

If our families, the parents and the children we all focus together in towards each other as a unit how much stronger will we be and how much better chance we have of saving our children and so this has to be the foundation before we can even talk about the church being unified.

Oh what a wonderful work might be accomplished if all would come together in unity.

You know we can all have the idea that we're going to finish the Lord's work and the Lord's going to come but it is not going to happen until God's people unify.

And the people that choose not to unify in God's work as it together as a group are probably going to be the ones who are not going to be spiritually strong enough to endure the end when the real trials hit us.

Unity with Christ establishes a bond of unity with 1 another.

So now we learn, Once again, before we can have the unity together, whether as a church or as a family, we first individually have to be unified with Christ.

This unity is the most convincing proof to the world, the people that we meet, of the majesty and the virtue of Christ.

You know, we think of how many different ways can we present to the world Christ.

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Series

Medical Missionary Work

Medical Missionary Work, Part 1 - The Right Hand

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Lets go Home

37m

Eye Care

Touched by Grace: Reflecting Christ Through Practical Community Eye Care

44m

True Education

Agriculture & Medical Ministry

51m

Gospel Medical Missionary Company Evangelism

Picking Up the Pieces - Learn the Lessons

55m

Plenary

Evaluating the Final Impressions

51m

Plenary Sessions

Knutson Family Testimony

1h 30m

The Sabbath and Atheism

1h

SWYC 2006 Plenary Sessions

The Final Conflict

1h 10m

History of Medical Missionary Work

1h 34m

Get Ready!

44m

Sound Doctrine