David Kim reveals the missing ingredient from many of our attempts to be a witness; the lost art of opening one’s mouth and speaking Jesus.

<p>David Kim reveals the missing ingredient from many of our attempts to be a witness; the lost art of opening one’s mouth and speaking Jesus.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

The Nicodemus Society

David Kim

From the Mouths of Servants

Lord God, our Father, we praise you for the worship that we have partaken in so far, for the opportunity to worship you in giving back to you, in returning tithes and offerings to you, in lifting our voices in song, ourselves, and in hearing praises of music, of hearing the story of how you can use each and every 1 of us, and the testimonies, and in hearing about the work around the world.

Lord we have indeed been blessed already and we pray that even now as we open up your word, that the blessing would only be multiplied to your glory and that the Holy Spirit would truly rest upon our hearts to grant us conviction of that which you would have us to take away from this message that you have in store for us.

We pray this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

There are some Sabbaths where it is such a blessing to see how the Lord has assembled the components of the service.

And I feel that this morning has been 1 of those Sabbaths because without any external intermediary coordination, each of the components of our worship service have led up to and including the message that the Lord has given me to give to you.

Because as we see what is happening in the world today, whether at a global level, whether at a national level, whether at a local level, whether at a family level, or whether at an individual level, between you and God in the silence of your own mind.

At every level we can see that this world is not our home.

God created us in Edenic perfection so that we might be in a love relationship with Him for all eternity.

He created us that He might love us, and that we might in turn love Him in response.

This relationship was broken at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

This relationship was broken at that tree, but a way of escape was made at another tree, the tree which was at Calvary.

But yet that is not the end, brothers and sisters.

That was the beginning of the restoration because this will all come together at yet a third tree.

And that tree is the tree of life and the river of life which flows by that tree when the whole earth will be made new and that God will be with us and we will be with him yet again for all eternity as he intended from the very beginning.

We live in that time between the tree on Calvary and the tree of life in the kingdom.

We live in between that time looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

The very name of our movement, Seventh-day Adventist, proclaims this blessed hope.

Adventists, we look forward, we anticipate, And we believe that as Jesus came the first time in the first advent in a manger in Bethlehem, so he will also come a second time.

The greatest promise throughout all of Scripture.

He will be, there will be a second Advent.

And so we proclaim this Every time we understand that the name Seventh-day Adventist refers directly to this blessed hope.

And I pray that you have this hope today.

When will this restoration of all things?

In fact, Jesus himself told us, it is not for us to know the times or seasons which the Father has put under His own authority.

Among the very last words of Jesus before He ascended the first time was that it was not for us to know the times and seasons which the Father has put under his own authority.

But we do know what to look for in order to know that the time is near.

We have been given clear indicators, indications, signs of the times.

And 1 of the most important signs is found in Matthew chapter 24.

Please open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 24 verse 14.

Matthew chapter 24 verse 14 for 1 of the very important signs, indicators.

Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, chapter 24, verse 14.

And these are the words of Jesus Christ, and he says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.

And so 1 of the signs of that second coming of the end of the world as we know it today and the restoration of all things is the preaching of the gospel in all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come.

We see this elsewhere in Revelation chapter 14.

Turn to the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 14.

Revelation, the last book of the Bible, 14 verse 6, and it reads, then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.

The first of 3 angels, and let's see what happens after these messages are delivered.

In verse 14, then I looked and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud sat 1 like the son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, thrust in your sickle and reap for the time has come for you to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

So he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped.

And so we see here another vivid depiction of the second coming, the advent of Christ, and immediately before this coming we see that the everlasting gospel will be preached to every nation, language, tongue, and people.

And so we see very clearly in the scripture that the gospel must reach the entire world because every person will have a choice of who to follow, the lamb or the beast.

He will not hold someone accountable for a choice that that person has not had the opportunity to make.

And so that is why the gospel must go to the entire world and then and only then will the end come.

For example, in the year 2014, in our Seventh-day Adventist Church, I really appreciated the mission spotlight that gave us a sense of the history of our church and the growth of our church.

And indeed, our church is 1 of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing Christian church worldwide and even in North America.

And so for our church in 2014, there were 1.2 million baptisms worldwide.

And there were about 35, 000 baptisms in North America.

But worldwide, there were 143 million live births.

143 million new souls were added to our number worldwide.

And how many baptisms did I say there were?

In North America, there were 4.4 million births, live births, that year, 2014 in North America, but only 35, 000 baptisms.

In other words, for every 100 people that were born in that year, less than 1 person was baptized.

Do 100% of those who are baptized stay in the church, stay in the faith?

And are 100% of people who are baptized, do they truly have a heartfelt conversion, saving relationship with Jesus Christ?

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From the Mouths of Servants

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