OCI NAD Convention 2022: Mission Revival

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Outpost Centers International

Norman McNulty

End Time Soul Winners

My parents even thought about moving to Wildwood at 1 point.

And then we ended up moving to Uchee Pines.

So I had a year at Uchee Pines and gained the experience that year as a 13-year-old of what it's like to be at a supporting ministry or self-supporting institution and that was a really good year for us and I see Jonathan and Hannah here.

I'm on the board of Butler Creek so thankful for that ministry and so we're just thankful I'm thankful to be here and I'm thankful to be among friends who support God's work in various ways.

I'm just going to ask the Lord to be with me as I share this morning and we'll get right into the message.

So, Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this weekend and for the wonderful things that have been shared and I pray that as I speak for a few minutes now that you would guide my mind and that the words that are shared this morning would add to what's already been shared this weekend and thank you for what you are doing with OCI and all the ministries represented.

So speak through me now, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, so the title for my message this morning is, In Time, soul winners.

You know, as Seventh-day Adventists, we have been given the Gospel commission, which Jesus gave to his disciples to take the Gospel to the world, and we have the 3 Angels' Messages to take to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

This is why we have outpost centers all over the world.

It's not just an idea that we're sharing, it's the last message of mercy.

It's a message of mercy, and it's a message designed by God to bring salvation to those who are alive at the end of the world.

So we're not just part of some special club where we have a nice group that we can hang out with that has a similar lifestyle.

No, we have been entrusted with the last message of mercy to a lost and dying world.

And when we have that perspective, it will shape how we relate to everybody else.

And so evangelism and Adventism, I mean this is such a core part of who we are as a people, this is the often missing piece in character development.

It's something that, you know, growing up as a kid and you were around other people, there's this attitude of like, well, the pastor can do this, but I certainly don't know what I'm doing.

And yet, this is something that all of us have been given a commission to do, that it's not just for the pastor, it's not just for the Bible worker, but it's for everybody who is part of God's end time movement.

You know, when you look at Scripture when Jesus says, go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations.

To make a disciple is not simply to make a member.

I mean, that's a good start, and a lot of people struggle to even do that.

But we're not just looking for people to fill seats at church.

We're looking for people who catch the vision for the 3 angels' messages.

And so if we don't have that vision ourselves, we can't share it with others.

Now I realize I'm probably speaking to a more motivated evangelistic crowd than most places that I would share this at.

But I'm gonna speak to you like I would to anybody else, just to encourage all of us that we want to be sharing this message to everybody that we can.

Now I'm gonna share 1 statement as we start.

This is from Selected Messages, Volume 3, page 259, to remind us that we're not just trying to fill seats, that the way we do evangelism is important.

Notice this, God calls upon the workers in this mission to elevate the standard and to show their regard for his requirements by honoring the Sabbath.

From this place the publications are sent out and the laborers go forth to proclaim the commandments of God.

And it is of the greatest importance that a right influence be exerted by this church, both by precept and example.

Now listen, the standard must not be placed so low that those who accept the truth shall transgress God's commandments while professing to obey them.

Better far better would it be to leave them in darkness until they could receive the truth and its purity.

Now again, I realize I'm probably speaking to the choir here, but you know there used to be a thing called clearance for baptism, and we should still be doing that.

Like sometimes it turns into a numbers game where you try to baptize as many people as you can and then it's like, look at how many baptisms we've had.

And I'd rather have 2 really solid disciples that join the church that become soul winners than 100 who are Laodicean.

Because the 100 Laodicean baptisms, unless they become converted later, aren't gonna do much good for the cause compared to the 2 that are on fire.

So we don't wanna lower the standard when we're bringing people in.

And I was somewhere in the world at 1 point in my life where people were being baptized who hardly knew what they were being baptized into, and then they were calling their Adventist pastor to perform last rites for their dying grandmother 2 weeks after they were baptized.

So we don't wanna do that kind of baptism.

We want solid, biblical, Adventist baptisms where people are being baptized into the faith who understand clearly what they're being baptized into.

A lot of people just aren't doing evangelism at all.

And so I want to encourage us to have a soul winning mentality.

Many have been discouraged from doing evangelism in the church because it has been done in an improper way.

So you hear like the story that I just talked about and it's like, oh, this is not even worth trying.

Let's just focus on other things that God wants us to do.

And yet we have to go back to the Gospel Commission.

Go ye therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

It's to be given to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

And that's not just to white people in North America.

Sorry to be a little bit rude here, but it's to all the world.

And so some people just kind of stop trying because, oh, we're not doing it right.

But, you know, perhaps we start to focus on just making sure our church has its theology correct and we will engage in evangelism later.

And while that certainly has a place to make sure that we're giving the right message, Evangelism is part of correct theology.

So if you have correct theology in your church, soul winning will be part of that correct theology.

I mean if you're not doing soul winning, then you're starting to just create a culture of a club where everybody feels comfortable that you agree the same way, but then you're not going and doing outreach to expand God's kingdom.

We're not just to feel comfortable in a club.

So clearly more work needs to be done in educating churches to do evangelism properly, but that doesn't mean that we just sit around and wait.

Now, where does evangelism fit in end-time Adventism?

And I've talked about this a little bit, but evangelism rightly done is the final and vital piece to end time Adventism.

We must be engaged in that, that's why we exist as a people.

And I've talked about this but Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 and 7 you see this angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.

So we're not supposed to be quietly sharing the end time message, it's to be given with a loud voice.

Too many Adventists are almost embarrassed of our end time message, and yet Revelation 14, 6 and 7 say that this message is to be given with a loud voice, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come.

We understand that we're living in the hour of God's judgment, and so there's an extra degree of urgency to this end-time message because we understand that since 1844 we're living at the end of the world and that this gospel of the kingdom is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

Now it's 1 thing to give this message evangelistically where we share the content, but there's more to it.

People can tell when we do this because it's our experience as opposed to doing it out of a sense of obligation.

The final fulfillment of this end time gospel message going to the world is in Revelation chapter 18.

And in Revelation chapter 18, we see this powerful picture where an angel comes down from heaven, having great power, great authority, and the earth is lightened or illuminated with its glory and that glory is God's character.

And so right now we are in the proclamation phase of the evangelistic 3 angels messages, but when the loud cry goes forth, yes, it will be given with a loud cry, but it will also be seen as a demonstration.

The world will see that what we are proclaiming is demonstrated in our lives, and I believe that even now, as we connect with the Lord, and as we surrender our lives to the Lord our Evangelism will be more effective when it's connected to the gospel actually changing our lives So when the gospel changes our lives and we are enthusiastic about sharing the 3 angels' messages to a lost and dying world, they see the contrast with the peace and the joy and the love that we have for the Lord as it's seen in our lives with the way the world is.

And if you look at the world right now, it's a big mess.

I don't know if you've noticed that recently or not.

And what frustrates me is I see many Seventh-day Adventists who are more evangelistic for Joe Biden or Donald Trump than they are for the end-time message.

And somehow we think that, oh, if we could just get the House to flip in the midterm elections then life will go back to being good again.

That's the way some people see it, and other people are like, we've got to hang on for dear life so the Republicans don't take over, and I'm like, wait a minute, we have an end-time message to take to the world and you guys are more fired up about fighting for politics than you are for pushing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that shows where our priorities are.

It shows where our heart is, where our affections are, because when we put our energy into the political fights of the modern time, we show that the kingdom that we belong to is not the kingdom of heaven, but the kingdom on earth.

And so then we show up to church on Sabbath and we're like, oh yeah, we should be witnessing for the Lord.

And we think about it for a little bit and by Saturday night and Sunday morning we've heard all of the latest spin from Fox News or CNN or MSNBC and we're ready to do battle the rest of the week on social media hoping that our team wins in the elections or whatever it is.

By beholding we become changed And those political fights that happen out in the world then come into the church and then we partake of the same spirit And we wonder why the gospel has not gone to the world as a witness.

And we've become changed so that I saw Adventists justifying – and look, I'm not here to promote either political party, so I'm just making some statements.

Don't take this to mean that I'm supporting 1 side.

But I saw Adventists saying, you know, I know those tweets are bad and I know they're unchristian, but at least the end result is good.

I'm like, you know, if we start to justify clearly sinful behavior, we're not preparing ourselves for heaven.

And look, I could say the same thing about both sides, about things that are said publicly and how they're defended and justified.

And yet, here we have a commission where the gospel is to be preached as a witness.

And when I look at my Bible and I read Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, when I read what the gospel is supposed to do in my life and in your life, it says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

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End Time Soul Winners

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