ASI 2020: Three Angels' Messages - Our Urgent Calling

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Plenary

Julia O'Carey

Members in Action

Now we're going to enter into our favorite part of the ASI convention and that's the Members in Action.

And Julia, you're used to being the interviewee and now you are the interviewer.

I loved meeting all these amazing people and seeing how God's working through them It was a wonderful experience and I'm really looking forward to hearing them as I know you will But our first member in action is very interesting because this is a Korean who is working in Bolivia.

Yes, I had to smile at God because Korean in Bolivia.

I love how we serve a cross-cultural God, don't you?

And you know, his name is Dosung Kim, and he's the president of a missionary training school with about 100 attending, and so many miracles are happening down there.

It's so good to see you all the way in Bolivia.

It's good to be here with the ASI family.

Well, we have a medical mission training school, and we also have a bakery, gardening, and a very practical part of the training here.

So I'm just curious how COVID-19 affected you in Bolivia.

Well, it has definitely affected our ministry, though our campus doesn't have any cases and the villages nearby don't either.

But at the beginning of crisis, even with only a handful of cases in the whole country, the government put it in complete lockdown.

We were only allowed to go out 1 day a week and only for 5 hours to the closest town.

And the few markets that were open did not want to sell us more provisions than for only 1 family, not understanding that we were cooking for more than a hundred people.

That must have been a huge challenge for you.

And I know that you mentioned to me before that the people were thinking that maybe you were bringing the virus there.

And How sad when you're a missionary wanting to spread the gospel to them, you must have felt stuck.

Well, during the lockdown, I began to pray and claim God's promises and I began to study.

And God really brought me to a chapter in Isaiah, chapter 58, and I was especially impressed with the words in verse 7.

"'Is this not the fast that I have chosen, "'to loose the bonds of wickedness?

"'Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out?

And the Lord convicted me and our team to change our approach and follow his instructions in Isaiah 58.

To reach the world, we must begin with our neighbors.

And the fast that God wanted us to do was spelled out right here in Isaiah 58.

Actually I just memorized that a few weeks ago.

And what I love about it is all the promises that are just in there for us.

So tell me, after you and your team did that, what were the blessings?

We started a project called Here Am I, based on Isaiah 6, 8, led by our students and organized by them.

We began baking bread for the nearby community since all bakeries were closed and no 1 could buy bread.

We shared a bag of bread rolls to every family in the village, which is about 45 families or 50 families.

They were very appreciative, And this started to open their hearts to us again.

About 1 month into the quarantine, the first case of COVID-19 was found in a journal that New York's found to us.

And they did a complete lockdown with police and military presence and forced a lockdown.

And in the middle of this, we continued sharing our intuit with our neighbors, even with the dwindling resources that we had.

Wow, that must have been a test of your faith.

We had basically nothing left, but God kept providing for our needs as we kept sharing with our neighbors.

Yeah, and you ran out of food, but then God worked a miracle and he provided the food through somebody who opened their shop that wasn't supposed to.

Sure, well, 1 week they went out with food for 60, but miraculously served almost twice as much by the end of the day.

And we're not only doing giving out bread, but also doing haircuts and medical services and hot food, hot meal once a week.

And our students and staff are donating and they're going hungry donating their meals to them.

Wow you know when I think about all this humanitarian work I also wonder how is it affecting people spiritually?

Well, Julia, that's the most exciting part.

A leader of 5 other villages came to us 1 day, not asking for food, but he was asking for hope.

And he wanted more than anything, someone to come and pray with the people, to give them hope during this time of desperation for many.

And people started to come to our church about 6 weeks ago.

Each Sabbath, our attendance is increasing in number, and last Sabbath we had about 25 people from the surrounding communities, not even counting the children.

And we have even local government workers coming to our place for a day or 2, or even just a few hours, to receive physical, mental, and spiritual nourishment before they head back to their work.

And the local government 1 time sent us 5, 000 mandarin oranges to show their gratitude for our services.

And also, not only this, our students and staff, when they come back from 1 of these outings, They tell us their stories and testimonies.

And 1 time we had, we spent 3 hours listening to testimonies and it was so inspiring.

And we kept wanting to do more and more, reach out to other towns and the bigger cities.

You know, there's been so many hindrances along the way but it's amazing when you and a group of people put God's Word into practice and do what He says, the results and the amazing miracles that come out of it.

Thank you so much, Dosung, of sharing this testimony.

And I just want to ask that God will bless you richly.

I know you have a huge vision of reaching many cities with millions.

And I believe God will do this as you continue to sacrifice and do what he says in Isaiah 58.

You also can memorize and apply Isaiah 58 and these blessings are not only for Bolivia, but they're for you and for your neighbors in your community as well.

Our next interview is with Happy Family Bible Seminars, and we're going to hear from Gordon Martinborough.

Denzel, I think you're going to be really excited about this new resource that they made, because it combines 2 of your passions, health and Jesus.

Well, It's so good to have you here, Gordon, from Florida.

And I just would love to hear about your series, the Healthy and Happy series that you're putting out there.

Tamyra Horst

Called to Share the Message?

How many of us would have expected when this new year came in January 2020 that all the things that have happened would have taken place and taken place so rapidly.

Our world, our communities, the way we do life, the way we do business has totally changed.

We believe like never before that we're living in the end times and people are experiencing fear and anxiety and they need hope and they need the gospel and they need to hear the 3 angels message.

It's an urgent call for us to share the everlasting gospel that Revelation 14 talks about.

But if you're like me, you may struggle with that a little bit.

Isn't that something that pastors do, evangelists do?

How do I do that?" Or you may be sitting there and thinking, well, you don't know me.

I am just not good enough to be able to share the gospel, to be able to play a part in this great adventure, this great battle that's going on.

I don't have what it takes to fight for other people or to share the urgent call.

I'm pretty sure that Peter felt that way too and he is who we're gonna look at today.

When he first met Jesus he was a rough redneck fisherman.

You know he was working nightshift in his world.

Fishermen were not considered high-class society.

He smelled of fish and water dirt and grime.

We read in Luke chapter 4 that Jesus after he's finished the synagogue he came to Peter's house and healed Peter's mother-in-law.

In the next chapter in chapter 5 we learn that Jesus came down to the docks as morning was rising, as the fishermen were coming in after a night of catching nothing.

And after what he'd done for Peter's mother-in-law, I'm sure that Peter was willing to do whatever to help this rabbi, this teacher, be able to share his words and his message.

And as these fishermen cleaned their nets, they listened to Jesus teach.

There was something about his teaching, something powerful, something different than what they were hearing in the synagogue.

And something inside Peter was stirring, you know, just listening to him and having seen this miracle of his mother-in-law.

And when Jesus finished preaching, he said to the fishermen, go out in the deep and cast your nets.

Now, I am not a fisherman, so I don't know anything about fishing, but I've been told that the best fishing for them was at night, not in the deep, not that.

And I know from a practical sense that they've just cleaned their nets and they've just spent a night of fishing and catching nothing.

And this rabbi, this teacher that has nothing to do with fishing, as far as they know, He's a carpenter and not a fisherman, tells them something to do that sounds really crazy.

But there's something about Jesus, something different about him.

And so Peter shrugs his shoulders, gets back in the boat, gathers up these clean nets, goes out, casts the net, and suddenly there are more fish than his boat can hold.

His boat starts sinking and they have to call to another boat to come over and help him, and They barely get the boats back with all this fish.

And Peter recognizes that he is standing on holy ground.

And he goes to him and he falls at his feet and he says, depart from me for I am an evil man.

Peter recognizes that he just doesn't have what it takes.

He is not enough to even be in the presence of Jesus.

Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

And there is something about his invitation that causes Peter to walk away from what is probably the best fish catch of his life and follow Jesus.

And for the next 3 years, he is following Jesus.

The healing of his mother-in-law was nothing compared to the healing of Lazarus, of the blind man, of the lame man, of the lepers.

The teaching that he heard that day was just the beginning of the teaching that he would hear.

He was on the mountaintop when Jesus was transfigured.

And suddenly we pick up his story 3 years later.

At what is the end of his journey with Jesus on this earth in a physical sense, But Peter doesn't know that yet.

They are in the upper room and they have just had what we call the Last Supper, but Peter and the disciples didn't know that.

They thought that they were just preparing for the Passover.

They didn't realize the magnitude of what was going on.

And so turn in your Bibles if you have your Bibles with me or pick up your devices and turn with me to Luke chapter 22 beginning in verse 31.

Luke chapter 22 beginning in verse 31, I'm going to be reading from the New King James Version.

Jesus and the disciples, remember, are sitting around the table when Jesus suddenly addresses Simon Peter.

And he says to Peter, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.

But he, Peter, said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." And then he, Jesus, said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny 3 times that you know me.

First, let's look at what Peter said when Jesus says you are going to you're gonna fail me he says let's let's unpack what Jesus said first he says I have prayed for you the enemy has asked to sift you as we You know this is kind of reminiscent of Job's story where the enemy comes and he talks to God and he wants to sift Job and test him and see what he's made of and now we see this in Peter's story that that the enemy is asking for the same thing.

Let me show you what he's really made of.

Let's see if Peter is really dedicated and committed to you.

I don't know, but having 2 stories like this in the Bible, I can't help but wonder if this is our story too.

If the enemy goes to Jesus, goes to God and says, let me sift her, let me test her and see what she's made of.

Let's prove it here and now on the stage of the earth.

And that many times the things that are happening in our lives, the trials and the circumstances and the hard things in our lives are opportunities that the enemy is attempting to use to take us out, to cause us to doubt God.

See, I believe with all my heart that the Great Controversy is more than just a book on our shelves.

That the Great Controversy is the life that we're living in this world right now.

I think the news shows it day after day, this controversy that we're living in, this battle for good and evil.

I believe that the Bible is very clear that we have an enemy and that he has a goal to steal, kill, destroy, and devour.

I believe that there are 2 ways that the enemy wants to destroy our lives.

Number 1, he wants to destroy how we see ourselves, that we do not see ourselves as people that can make a difference in this world, that we do not believe that we are who God says we are, forgiven, chosen, righteous, called, called to preach the everlasting gospel in our way, in our community, to the people that God puts in our path.

I think the other thing that he attempts to steal, kill, destroy, and devour in our lives is our view of God.

He doesn't want us to see as a God that can be trusted, a God that keeps his promises, maybe for other people, but not for us.

He wants to cause us to doubt ourselves and doubt God because he knows what will happen if we don't.

He knows what will happen if we can trust that we are who God says we are and That He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says that He will do in us and through us.

They will come and start worshipping in our churches with us, be a part of our small groups and stuff, it will change lives if we could only believe.

And so he asks to tempt us, to take us out, to show what we're really made of.

But notice what Jesus says, I have prayed for you.

We know that Jesus is even right now sitting at the right hand of the Father in the sanctuary praying for us.

You know that we have a high priest that understands what we're going through, been there, done that, been victorious over it, and he prays for us.

And he says to Peter, I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail.

Dee Casper

The Faith of Jesus

This evening we're going to be looking at a specific series of events in Christ's life that is referred to in Revelation chapter 14 as the faith of Jesus.

Some events that I think most clearly depict this.

And I believe that this is 1 of the most powerful and life-transforming stories that any of us will ever encounter when we take the time to reflect and sit at the foot of the cross.

And I would encourage each of us, as we're listening this evening and going through this, to be praying throughout the length of this message, God, speak to me.

God, I don't want the cross to be this common thing that I've heard for years.

And so I invite you to join me as we pray.

Sweet Jesus, thank you for this privilege to come into your presence.

Thank you that I believe you have a blessing in store for us this evening, and I'm just asking, oh God, that you would do something in this place, in this very moment, that none of us would soon forget, for your glory's sake.

And as Moses prayed, I pray, O God, that you would show us your glory.

Time doesn't permit me to be able to give you all the references that we'll be using this evening, but the narrative for this evening's story is drawn largely from the 4 Gospels.

Isaiah chapter 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 18, multiple chapters in Desire of Ages, Gethsemane, Calvary, and It Is Finished.

And the second volume of the testimony is a chapter entitled, The Sufferings of Christ.

But we're told in the 1888 materials that the want or the need in the religious experience is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel.

This is what people are looking for in their Christian experience, and this is what our people desperately need.

Jesus tells us in Luke 19, verse 10, that the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost, And this applies a few things.

The first is it implies that Jesus saw value in the thing that he's seeking.

He saw something of value in what he's pursuing.

But the second thing that is implied is that he's the 1 taking about the initiative to bring about the solution, even though we are in a horrible condition.

We're told in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is an important theme throughout this message, but when in conflict with men who were inspired by the very spirit of Satan, he could say, he that sent me is with me.

The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him.

But now he seemed to be shut out from the light of God's sustaining presence.

Now he was numbered with the transgressors.

The guilt of fallen humanity he must bear." And she's referring to the Garden of Gethsemane.

"...upon him who knew no sin must be laid the iniquity of us all.

So great is the weight of guilt which he must bear that he is tempted to fear that it will shut him out forever from his father's love.

Feeling how terrible is the wrath of God against transgression, He exclaims, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

And as they approached the garden, the disciples had marked the chains that came over their Master.

Never before had they seen him so utterly sad and silent.

And as he proceeded, this strange sadness deepened, yet they dared not question him as to the cause.

They don't even have the courage to ask him why.

And his form swayed as if he were about to fall.

Upon reaching the garden, the disciples looked anxiously for his usual place of retirement that their master might rest.

Every step that he now took was with labored effort, and he groaned aloud.

Jesus wails in this moment, as if suffering under the pressure of a terrible burden.

Twice his companions supported him or he would have fallen to the earth.

Jesus's legs literally give out from under Him in this moment, and the disciples have to catch Him or He will fall to the ground.

He felt that by sin He was being separated from His Father.

The gulf was so broad, so black, so deep, that his spirit shuddered before it.

In this agony, he must not exert his divine power to escape.

As man, he must suffer the consequences of man's sin.

And as a man, he must endure the wrath of God against transgression." So Jesus here now is standing in a completely different attitude from that in which he had ever stood before.

And as the substitute and surety for sinful man, Christ was suffering under divine justice.

Hitherto, he'd been an intercessor for others, but now he longed to have an intercessor for himself.

I've given and given and given, but right now I need somebody else to give." And he gets nothing.

And the psychological agony that Jesus is going through is so intense that physiologically he begins to bleed through his pores.

Now you and I under these similar circumstances, we kind of have this infrastructure built within us, and anyone who's worked in a trauma setting can vouch for this, that we just check out, right?

We kind of get that thousand yard stare and the lights are on but no one's home, right?

And we can have these circumstances where emotionally we can just shut down because it's too intense.

And Jesus has to suffer and he suffers alone.

But what was to be gained by this sacrifice?

How hopeless appeared the guilt and ingratitude of men.

In its hardest features, Satan pressed the situation upon the Redeemer.

The people who claim to be above all others in temporal and spiritual advantages have rejected you Jesus.

1 of your own disciples who's listened to your instruction and has been among the foremost in church activities will betray you.

1 of your most zealous followers will deny you.

All will forsake you." Christ's whole being abhorred the thought that those whom he had undertaken to save, Those whom he had loved so much should unite in the plots of Satan.

The conflict was terrible and the sins of men weighed heavily upon Christ And the sense of God's wrath against sin was literally crushing out his life.

Behold Jesus contemplating the price to be paid for the human soul.

In his agony he clings to the cold ground as if to prevent himself from being drawn any further from God." You know, the human soul longs for suffering, we're told.

And this longing Christ felt to the very depths of his being.

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