Restoration 2012: Restoring Power

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Restoration Ministry

John Bradshaw

The View from Mount Nebo

Our Father and our God, we come to you in Jesus' name.

And so I pray that you would do a great thing.

Lord, often I have prayed that you would not leave this to me, that you would not rely upon the frailty and the errancy of the messenger.

And so again, Father, I pray that you'd be merciful enough to me, to all of us, to work in spite of the instrument and do a work through the power of your Holy Spirit that will leave us recognizing your claims on our life and your goodness and your power.

Lord, let us collide with your grace today.

Without a doubt, it is 1 of the greatest adventure stories in all of history.

In 1914, a British explorer named Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set sail from England, intending to sail to the great southern continent of Antarctica and cross the Antarctic by foot.

It's a long journey from England to Antarctica, you know.

They made it down there in their sailing boat.

They spent 6 weeks, once they got there or near there, battling their way through pack ice.

And it was then that things started to get interesting.

They were just a day's journey away from beginning their monumental trek when the boat became trapped in a mass of ice.

They couldn't go this way or that way or any way.

And they were stuck with their ship, the Endurance, held fast in that pack ice for 10 months.

Now I don't know if you know much about the weather down there near the South Pole, but it's cold down there.

And they were uncomfortable living on the ship.

Then they had to get off the ship, living on the ice, eating little more than seals and penguins and the most meager rations upon which they could lay their hands.

The wind sometimes got up to 120 miles an hour.

They were often caught in violent blizzards, but for Shackleton and his men, the best or the worst was still ahead.

The ordeal had just begun because if they didn't get help somehow, they were all going to die down there.

And so they realized they had to make a run for it.

Now, the lifeboats that they had, because ultimately the endurance was crushed into matchsticks, No good, I mean just destroyed.

They had lifeboats, open boats, 20, 22 feet long.

And they weren't good for much but preserving life.

But now these fellows, these mariners, well actually they weren't all mariners, but the mariners among them were gonna have to guide these boats to a place that they could live.

And so they took the little boat to an inhospitable place, there were about 3 of these boats I think, 3 maybe 4, and they transported themselves and what supplies they could salvage to a place called Elephant Island.

And Elephant Island, if you were to Google it and look at pictures of it, you would say, oh, they couldn't possibly survive there.

But they did, They survived, but that's all they were doing was surviving.

And it was from Elephant Island that Shackleton and 4 of his men would make 1 of the most incredible journeys ever attempted.

They realized somebody had to go for help.

There was a whaling station or 2 on an island called South Georgia Island.

They would take 1 of these things and they would sail using nothing but a sextant for navigation.

They were gonna go 800 miles across what might possibly be the most violent stretch of water on the planet, and attempt to rendezvous with something, a glorified rock, really, is all South Georgia Island is.

They only took enough supplies for 4 weeks, because if they sailed out there for more than 4 weeks, it meant they missed Elephant Island, they were going to die, so why waste the food?

Might as well leave it back for the other guys.

They would survive by living underneath their upturned boats.

Essentially they were eating what they could catch.

And Shackleton said, when I get back, be ready.

Because we're not going to have a lot of time for formalities or for dilly-dallying around.

When I get back, be ready to move, because we're gonna have a window of opportunity about this big.

When I get back, get ready to get on board the boat.

If Shackleton didn't make it back, all 23 men would surely miserably die.

Across the most treacherous seas on the planet, Shackleton traversed with his 4 men 800 miles.

It was 1 of the most daring voyages ever attempted.

Few people gave them any chance of getting back in 1 piece.

On that journey, remember, it's a 20-foot long boat.

They encounter waves 90 feet high, winds 150 miles an hour.

Historians have said that they piloted that little tub through a hurricane.

And what's interesting is there was a 500 ton steamer that sank in the same storm that Shackleton and his 4 compadres sailed through in a wooden 20-foot long boat.

The story of what happened next is just as remarkable.

They did reach South Georgia Island, But they could only make it to the wrong end.

The whaling stations were at the other end.

And so a few of them decided that they would walk the length of South Georgia Island.

They would climb over glaciers and 10, 000 foot peaks and all they had was virtually no food, clothing that was completely unsuitable for the trip.

A little carpenter's axe and 50 feet of rope.

Decades later, climbers using the most sophisticated equipment that they could get their hands on said, we just cannot understand how Shackleton and his men made it from 1 end of the island to the other.

So Shackleton got a boat from the whaling station, a ship.

He sailed back to Elephant Island, couldn't get in because of ice.

He had to make the trip 3 times, or was it 4?

And finally, when he arrived, his men saw him, and even though they had waited in dreadful conditions, even though they had feared for their lives, even though they thought they might freeze to death or starve to death, Even though Shackleton took so long that they were convinced that he and his men were dead, when Shackleton arrived, those men were ready and waiting.

They made the transfer in minutes because when Shackleton got back, the men were ready.

They were waiting And they were watching and they said let's go men Shackleton is back the captain's here.

Let's get on board that ship just as quickly as we can and every last man was Saved when this dramatic rescue took place but I read my Bible and I discover that Jesus has talked about an Even more dramatic rescue and in the same way he has said I'm gonna come back There will be a brief window of opportunity when I come back be ready if you're ready Everything's gonna be okay.

Open up your Bible, please to John chapter 14 John and the 14th chapter John chapter 14 will start at the beginning of the chapter John 14 verse 1 John 14 verse 1 familiar passage If you take your time catching up is alright John 14 verse 1 Jesus said let not your heart be troubled I like that.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

And Jesus said this, I am going to prepare a place for you.

He said, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will do what?

I want to hear the people on the balcony tell me.

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The View from Mount Nebo

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