With everything that’s happening around the world now how should we be preparing?

Wildwood 80th Anniversary

<p>With everything that’s happening around the world now how should we be preparing?</p>

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Wildwood Lifestyle Center

Dwayne Lemon

What Now?

I am very thankful for all of us to be here together.

I know that God has been showing us wondrous things from his word, and I know that he has more to show us.

And so without any further delay, let's get into the word.

Let's go ahead and let's have a word of prayer, and then we will go ahead and dive in the word.

If you can't kneel, just bow your heads where you are and let us go ahead and receive what the Lord wants to give.

Our loving Father, we are grateful that once again we can come back together as your people, that we can study to show ourselves approved unto you, that we can be workmen that need not be ashamed, for we have rightly divided your words of truth.

Lord we invite the presence of your Holy Spirit once again to speak to our hearts and grant us wisdom and give us minds that are open for direction, redirection and reconstruction even of how you would have things to be done here if it be thy will.

Lord, we just simply avail ourselves to you and truly as Jesus prayed, not our will, but your will be done.

There are many things that I firmly believe, affirm, and I'm thankful that Wildwood has done very well as it remained an instrument in God's hands for righteousness.

And there are, you know, trainings that you have done.

There are seminars you have used, especially the ministry through light to help spread the message throughout the world, starting mission schools, training schools the world over.

I am privileged to have promoted and encouraged and told others to go to these schools and to take a look and to be educated and trained in gospel, medical missionary evangelism.

And for the things, you remember that when we review a legacy, we want to pay attention to the things that God has given us success in, but then we also want to look at the areas where we are worthy of improvement.

Pertaining to the things that Wildwood has done well, pertaining to the things where you proved yourself faithful, pertaining to the things that you can truly say after following all of what the Lord has commanded, that you can say we are unprofitable servants.

We have only done that which God has told us to do.

Pertaining to these things, I want to give you 3 admonishments from the Word of God.

Let's go to the book of John, the gospel of John.

3 things that I want to share with you from the word of God for those areas that we have been faithful in doing the Lord's work as 1 of his institutes after his order in honoring him and benefiting and blessing our fellow man.

And when you get there, let me know by saying amen.

In John chapter 8, it was right there in verse 31 that Jesus said this.

In John 8 and verse 31, the Bible says, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.

My first admonishment is whatever you have learned from the Word of God, as a movement, as a ministry, over these several years, in contemplation of what you can leave behind as a legacy, is to encourage others to Continue in the word of God.

To never ever stop, never get satisfied, never feel that you've studied enough.

Whatever it is that brought you to this precious place that you are in your walk with God, continue in the word and go higher and still higher in every round of Jacob's ladder.

Guard your hearts against the exaltation of men's opinions.

Guard your heart against the exaltation of tradition.

Guard your heart on simply saying, we've been doing it this long and everything's been fine, so let us just continue in that.

I often tell people, never ever confuse God's mercy with God's will.

Do not confuse God's mercy with God's will.

When I was first trained in professional sales, I remember that my manager, Chad, he asked all of us as young sales reps, this was my first sales job, and he said, how many of you guys ever heard practice makes perfect?

We were like, oh, yeah, we know that phrase very well, practice makes perfect.

We said, oh, yeah, man, we believe that wholeheartedly.

And he said, practice does not make perfect.

But then the next thing he said was, he says, sometimes you can practice doing the wrong thing for 50 years and become perfect at doing the wrong thing.

And he says, so the first thing you want is the perfect model.

And then once you have a clear picture of the perfect model, then you practice that perfect model point by point until finally its perfection is perfected in you.

Boy, does that fit the principles of the gospel.

The Bible is very, very clear that we want to make sure that as we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so we should walk in him.

And if you receive him wrong you're gonna walk wrong.

But if you receive him right, oh yeah, you'll walk right.

And as you practice it'll get better and better and Christ will perfect what he wants to perfect in each and every 1 of us.

Never, ever put the word down, even when we look at moments and say, well, we've been doing it this long and everything has been fine, that is not enough.

That's what that precious little book, great controversy under the chapter, our safeguard, our only safeguard.

It makes it very, very clear that we are to test everything according to God's Word.

So my first admonishment to you at Wildwood is continue in the Word.

But then there's 1 more thing to continue in, Colossians chapter 4.

In Colossians the fourth chapter, there's another continue.

As I told you, I said I had 3 admonishments, we just covered 1.

In Colossians chapter 4 we now consider the next and it was in Colossians the fourth chapter that there's another continue that I would like to say.

You know Elder Frazee made it very very clear that in the erecting of Wildwood, in the running and maintaining of Wildwood, it was not enough that brethren would study the Word of God in great effort, but they saturated their efforts in prayer.

They spent a lot of time pleading the throne of God in the most holy place and asking, Lord, what is it that you would have us to do?

And here goes the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 4 verse 2.

And what does the Bible say in Colossians 4 and verse 2, continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving.

I wanna encourage you, I wanna admonish you, continue in prayer.

Do not neglect your times for fasting and prayer.

Do not neglect times to come together as leaders and pray.

Never get so busy that you don't have time to have earnest, heartfelt prayer.

Earnest heartfelt prayer, 1 with another.

God is not asking you to grunt and growl and make all sorts of noise to get his attention, but he wants you to come to him sincerely, earnestly, like, Lord I need you right now.

Father, You said according to Your Word that You would do thus and so.

We are asking for You to fulfill that for us as Your children at this time.

The Bible encourages us, Continue not only in the word, but continue in prayer.

Never allow your prayer time to become routine.

Sometimes we can Just come together in the morning and say, all right, let's pray.

And it's almost as if we don't believe a single thing we're even praying about.

Never allow prayer to just become the habit or the thing that you do before you go ahead and do the work that you're really gonna give your energy to.

When you come together for prayer, you understand that the whole throne room of heaven is now available at your calling.

And when you come together and fall upon your knees, you pray as if you believe that when you get up, God has answered your prayer.

Believe that and accept it be that you're not clear on his will.

You see, we can, the Bible is very clear, isn't it?

1 John 5, 14 and 15, this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to His will, what's the promise?

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What Now?

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