- FOLLOWING LAMB - NORTH WEMBLEY - 04/05/2024

WELCOME

Happy Sabbath dear brothers and sisters and thank you for the kind introduction.

In the past I visited your Church few times but since it is the first time I have the privilege to speak from this place, let me say few words about myself.

My name is Slawek. I was born in Poland and my conversion took place in 1983. At that time I was addicted to alcohol and smoking. And because my girlfriend was afraid to be with with someone as foolish and selfish as I was, she finally decided to leave me. And when she did that, I fell in love with her, and was trying to do my best to change my life, overcome my addictions and become a better person. But although I tried repeatedly I failed miserably because of my pathetic will power. Finally, when I was about to give up, I decided to give God a chance. I didn’t know anything about God. My father was even an atheist and a member of communist ...

So I prayed and it was the first honest, heartfelt prayer in my life. After I prayed with tears in my eyes begging God, I wasn’t sure He existed, I felt a strange peace as if someone wanted to tell me that my prayer was heard and the help is on the way. Soon after that prayer, I was given a book.

Poland is mostly a Catholic country. There were only about 5 thousand SDA in Poland, millions of Catholics and hundreds of thousands of Evangelical Christians and Jehovah witnesses. But after that first honest agonising prayer God didn’t sent me a book written by a Catholic, Jehovah's witness, or Evangelical author but by SDA one by the name Ellen White and the title of the book was the Great Controversy.

I was so impressed by HS when I was reading the book that I never experienced anything like that before. I couldn't understand how it was possible I no one ever told me about those things.

Immediately I bought the Bible, started studying it and praying on a daily basis and I was born from the Spirit.

I felt a great desire to share what I discovered with others and I was sure they would accept it because it was so true.

And I was so surprised because none of my friends was interested and because my life was so different that my family thought I developed a mental problem. My own sister, who was a dentist, with tears in her eyes begged me to go with her to a ... psychiatrist.

In 2005 I moved from Poland to England. And I currently work as a nutritionist in Harrow and together with my wife Nosipo, who is another gift from the Lord, and who is with me here, we live in Harrow and are members of the Harrow Church.

Recently, Pastor Patrick invited me to share the Word of God with you, so by God’s grace I am going to do it now.

PRAYER

Let us have a short word of prayer before we start.

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INTRODUCTION

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John 10:27–28

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand."

First of all, since the Lord says, “my sheep hear my voice”, I must ask myself

Are my prayers fervent enough and do I spend with the Lord long enough time every day to be able to hear His voice?

SOP

“If we keep the Lord ever before us, allowing our hearts to go out in thanksgiving and praise to Him, … our prayers will take the form of a conversation with God as we would talk with a friend.

He will speak His mysteries to us personally.

Often there will come to us a sweet joyful sense of the presence of Jesus”.

Yes, we can hear His voice when we study His Word, but He also wants us develop a close, loving relationship through daily continual heartfelt prayers, so close that we could hear His voice or at least have our minds and thoughts inspired by Him.

Then, Lord Jesus says, “I know them”.

Can He say He knows me?

Do I follow Him wherever he goes?

If my answer to these questions is negative, I need to know what are the reasons? And, what to do to change it?

Although I am sure I was born from the Spirit, yet over time I lost that first love and became a double-minded Christian with one leg in the Church and one in the world.

DREAM:

But one day, I had a dream. I was dreaming about resurrection, and it was more vivid and clear than regular dreams.

It started when I was lifted up from the ground and slowly going up as if I was attracted by Christ at His second coming. So I was very happy as I thought it was the first resurrection and I thought that somehow, I was among the saved.

But while I was still slowly moving up, about 30 meters above the ground, I noticed people who were coming up from their graves, but they resurrected not in glories new bodies, but they were very ugly bearing signs of death and decay.

So I got very scared because I realized it wasn't the first but second resurrection, resurrection to condemnation and eternal death.

And I woke up sweating, filled with horrible fear, and with heart pounding so much that I could hear it.

Nevertheless, I thanked God it was only a dream and I understood the warning. God showed me that I had a great privilege of knowing and accepting the gospel that qualified me to be saved but if I continue my double-minded life, I will perish.

That dream was so scary that I never before I experienced that kind of fear, and it helped me to understand better how scary and horrible the eternal death is.

But is this tendency to live a double-minded life only my problem?

Revelation 3

Do we know ourselves better that our Lord knows us?

No.

And what is the diagnosis He gives us about our spiritual condition?

Revelation 3:16-17

We should listen carefully and treat it as a life and death matter because we are told that many of us will reject this message and that this will cause shaking among us. It means that those of us who neglect or reject this meassage will be lost.

In verse 16 our Lord, the faithful Witness, says that we are lookwarmth and nither cold nor hot.

...

Please notice that there seems to be a hope even for the cold member who produces works of the flesh, but no hope for the lookworm legalist who trusts in his own works for salvation.

Jack Sequeira, STUDY OF HEBREWS (last chapter):

“I learned some tremendous lessons in the mission field. 

The members who we thought would turn their backs to the Church the quickest, were the ones who stood for Christ under Idi Amin regime in Uganda and in Ethiopia during the Marxist revolution.

On the other hand, the members in high positions were the ones who often became the enemies of the church.

I was shocked when some of the members that I thought were liberal and worldly, stood up for Christ and were even willing to die.  But many of those who were regarded as holy and were always active, denied Christ and left the Church.

So I said to myself, 'we should never judge by outward appearance’ because we don’t know the heart of another individual.”

In Revelation 3 verse 17 our Lord states that we don’t even know we are wretched (hopeless sinners), poor (deprived of agape love), blind (spiritually dead because we are deprived of HS), and naked (deprived of the spotless robe of Christ’s righeteousness. Why? Because like the foolish wedding guest, we cling to the filthy garment of our own good works)?

So, in order to recover from our horrible spiritual condition I must accept the diagnosis of our Lord and understand that I am sick as only those that are not well need a doctor and Jesus came to not call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

I need to be humble before God:

“If my people who are called by my name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways”.

First we are to understand who we are and humble ourselves. And then when we pray wrestling with God like Jacob did and when we study the Bible with faith seeking God’s face, we can receive the Power of HS and “turn from our wicked ways”.

‌An elderly man who considered himself an outstanding art expert was visiting an art gallery with his wife and a group of friends. However, he forgot to take his glasses and being shortsighted, he couldn’t see the paintings clearly. Nevertheless, it did not stop him from expressing his criticism. Until finally he stood in front of a large painting showing a figure of a man. And as soon as he saw it, he began to expose its imperfections criticising the frame and wondering why the artist chose such a bad-looking, overweight model. And he was about to continue, but his wife suddenly stopped him and whispered in his ear: “What are you doing? You're standing in front of a mirror, making a fool of yourself!”

It was Seneca, stoic Roman philosopher who died in 65 AD (the same year Ap. Paul died), who said that, “We keep the faults of others before our eyes but turn our backs toward our own…”

Why do we have such tendencies?

It is so because of our proud, egocentric lower nature we are born with.

Let us be very careful to understand and remember that regardless of how good we are and what we do in the Church, the Bible clearly states that we are all lost sinners and that "there is no one who does good, not even one”, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and that “if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and make God a liar”.

Let us also keep in mind that according to Gal 3:10, “those who are of the works of the law (legalists) are under a curse” and that our only holiness, righteousness is in accepting the holy history of Christ’s perfect obedience in our flesh and His death on the cursed cross on our behalf.

If we understand this truth and remember, we will be able to accept, understand and appreciate the gospel, and will be merciful to other sinners in a similar way as God was and is merciful to us in Christ.

Luke 6:37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Matt. 7:1–5)

James 4:11 "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law."

How can we avoid judging?

‌We need to study and understand Romans 3 understand that there is none righteous not one, for all have sinned … and that thos who ard of the works of the law are under s curse … and after understanding our spiritual condition we must accept the true gospel for it is the transforming power of God (Romans 1:16).

‌After we accept the true gospel and are born from the Spirit, let us pray like Daniel who didn't commit the sins of Israel yet he IDENTIFIED himself with their sins and asked God for forgiveness as if he sinned.

‌We need to be more like Aborigines in Australia. When you ask them their name they would give you the name of their clan or tribe because they identify themselves with all their people whether good or bad. Without belonging to the tribe they lose their identity. Outside of their tribe they are nothing.

‌What did Jesus do when He came here to save us? He identified himself with us, with our nature, and took the blame for our sins. We are to follow Him.

A teacher of religion asked children: Why do you think my neighbours call me a Christian?

Children were not eager to answer because they were afraid that the teacher would scold them for giving a wrong answer. So the teacher asked again: “Why my neighbours think I'm a Christian?”

Finally, since no child was willing to try, the teacher pointed to one boy forcing him to answer the question. The boy feeling compelled to say something, without much consideration said: Maybe your neighbours think you a Christian because... they don't know you...?

The question we need to ask ourselves is, why others may think we are Christians?

I hope it's not because they don't know us.

And who would they consider us to be if they knew us as our wife, husband, parents, children know us, and above all, if they knew us as God does, who knows our thoughts, our hidden desires, and sees us when no man can?

At the birthday party, the kids bragged about their mothers …

“I don’t know but it is so good to be with her and I love her very much …”.

The most important thing is not what we can do, but who we are, and not who we are here at church (holy) but at home, work, and when nobody sees us.

In 1Cor 13, Apostle Paul says, “even if I have gift of prophecy… but have not agape I am nothing…” I am nothing without agape… because unlike my natural egocentric, conditional and short-lived, changeable love, agape is...

How can we have agape?

Romans 5:5

By faith, by accepting the salvation through faith and being born from the Spirit, we receive with indwelling HS also the agape love.

But only the beginning of agape in us as this love must be developed in us through loving intimate relationship with Jesus, through looking at Him in the Bible, through daily heartfelt long prayers.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ...

In Ephesians 3 Paul says

…

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Phil 1:27

"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

NEGLECTING THE READING OF GOD'S WORD

Another reason why we may not follow the Lamb wherever he goes could be that we do not study the Word of God as we should.

Some of you might have heard about the logo on the HMV Records which is a dog listening to an old-style record player. It was inspired by a true story about the owner of that dog who recorded his voice on a gramophone record, but died shortly afterwards.

Each time that recording was played, the dog came close to the tube of the record player and was listening intently to his master's voice.

The initial letters of the name of this record label are an abbreviation of the words "His Master's Voice".

We also have our Master who died. But our Master didn’t just die. Although He was God, out of great love for us He took a great risk, emptied Himself of divine prerogatives and the Word became flesh (sarx) and dwelled among us. Perfectly overcame sin as our Brother in the flesh, carried our representative corporate sarx to the cross, where it was condemned and annihilated by God in Christ according to Romans 8:3.

But in order to accomplish this great salvation our Master became a curse of the law meaning that there was time on the cross during the 3 horrible hours of complete darkness, when He was being eternally separated from His greatest love, His Father because of our sins. to save us from eternal death.

And His voice was recorded in the pages of the Word of God:

John 5:24

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word (voice) and believes in Him who sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

John 17:26

“Father, I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Taking into consideration how much our Master suffered to save us from eternal death and how much we owe Him, we should love Him and constantly long for His voice and His words much more than that dog missed the voice of his master.

We should appreciate and listen to our Master’s voice recorded in the Bible every day, with prayer, delight, and love, just like David did:

Psalm 119:103:  “Oh, how sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

The Word of God is not only sweet, praiseworthy and wonderful to our broken hungry spirits, it is also living, active, creative, powerful and sharper than any double edged sword:

The most vital part of the Word of God is the gospel.

What is the gospel?

It is the most amazing good news about what mind boggling free gift we all have received from God in the form of the holy history of the life in our flesh and death on the cross:

Romans 1:16-17

...

When we love the voice and words of our Master, when we value His voice more than all other voices and words we can hear and read in this world through internet, television, books, and phones, then the Word of God will also prove to be "living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword" in our lives (Heb. 4:12) and we will learn to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" by faith and by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

How to study the Word of God?

- With prayer, understanding, faith, and sharing.

- We are encouraged by the SOP to memorise the most vital Bible verses. We are not expected to be like John Andrews who knew almost entire Bible by heart, but the key verses:

“Study the Word of God. Commit its precious promises to memory so that, when we shall be deprived of our Bibles, we may still be in possession of the Word of God.” 10MR 298 (1909)

During persecution we will be deprived of printed Bibles and mobile phones, but the enemy can’t take from us what is memorised in our minds.

I have went through the entire Bible and chosen about 500 verses and placed them on my website. By now I have learned about 200-300 of them and continue learning new ones while repeating the ones I have already learned once a week to not forget them. And SOP encourages you to do the same. (500 Bible verses, 20 thousand words, 40 pages, 3-5 hours of reading):

“Let the more important passages of Scripture be committed to memory. Though at first the memory be defective, it will gain strength by exercise, so that after a time you will delight thus to treasure up the words of truth. And the habit will prove a most valuable aid to spiritual growth.” CG 511.4

It was exactly the same in my case. In the beginning when few years ago I started memorising the Bible verses it was difficult, but the longer I do it the easier it is and the more pleasure and satisfaction it gives.

“If we have some spare time, we will not go to a magazine to read some foolish, trifling, lying story, but we will find something in the Word to commit to memory.” WR, September 15, 1909 par. 6

“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” GC 593.2

NEGLECTING PRAYER

We do not pray as we should or we neglect prayer and because our prayers are short and superficial.

Matthew 26:40-41 “Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”.

We are to pray and praise the Lord for His love, salvation, freedom, and victory over sin day and night (at least "one hour"). We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.

Why without ceasing and why with fear and trembling?

Because we have it through faith which we can lose and because we have 2 deadly enemies that are much stronger than us. One is external and the other internal:

1. Army of invisible demons who are constantly eagerly waiting to be allowed to control us and destroy our faith.

2. The law of sin, selfishness, and death in us.

Romans 7:17

“But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

Apostle Paul calls this sin in us a “law”.

Why?

May I ask you now to STRETCH ONE HAND FORWARD AND KEEP IT stretched AS LONG AS POSSIBLE...

Don’t lift hand too much please as we don’t want to be accused of ...

How can we overcome the law of sin in us?

Romans 8:2 (NKJV)

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

How can we have HS in us?

Galatians 3:1–2

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

How we can receive HS?

By reading or hearing the sweet Word of God about Christ’s perfect life in our flesh on our behalf and death on the cursed cross for us and as us and by believing and accepting through genuine faith what He did for us. Then we are born from the Spirit and HS dwells in us and through HS Lord Jesus himself dwells in us.

Romans 5:5

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The presence of HS and agape in us is to grow through daily long heartfelt prayers and communion with the Lord:

SOP

„Satan knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Word of God, will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore, he invents every possible device to engross the mind.”

“Few pray all night, as did our Saviour, or devote hours in the day to prayer.”

“Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted, and the health of the soul be preserved… Neglect the exercise of prayer, or engage in prayer sporadically, as seems convenient, and you lose your hold on God.”

“Satan watches eagerly to find Christians off their guard (unprotected). O that the followers of Christ would remember that eternal vigilance (constant alertness, watchfulness) is the price of eternal life.”

Good Lord gave us the great privilege to talk to Him through prayers and to listen to His voice through studying His Word, because He wants us to have daily communion with Him and develop a loving, intimate relationship with Him because in this way Lord Jesus can reveal Himself in and through us.

CLAY & ROSE

I love to read a Persian story that tells about a wanderer who found a common lump of clay, but it was so redolent (re’dolent) of sweetest perfume that its wonderful fragrance scented the place.

'What are you? was his quick demand, 'Are you a spikenard in this rude disguise or other costly merchandise?'

'No: I am but a lump of clay.'

'Then, whence this wondrous perfume--say!'

'Friend, if the secret I disclose, I have been dwelling with the rose. And will not those who love to dwell with Sharon's rose, distil sweet odours all around, though low and mean themselves are found?'

This story always touches my heart because it reminds me that although I am like that common clay, sinful, lost, hopeless and insignificant in this endless universe, yet loving God placed me in His Son, through whose body I died and received the legal right to divorce my first husband - the law and marry Christ and be one with Him. Here is the proof:

Romans 7:4

“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.”

If we accept this amazing truth of our death with Christ, our freedom from the condemnation of the first husband - the law, and our union with Jesus through which we are complete in Him, we should fall in love with Him and our desire should be to develop a loving, intimate, relation with Him by looking at His beauty and love and listening to His lovely voice:

2 Corinthians 3:18

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

John 15:5

“He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

EASILY DISCOURAGED DUE TO PROBLEMS AND PAINFUL EXPERIENCES

Another reason: EASILY DISCOURAGED DUE TO DIFFICULTIES AND PAINFUL EXPERIENCES.

There was a bird that lived in the desert, and all it had was the only tree that grew there, giving it shade and food. One day, however, a tornado uprooted that tree. And, it seemed as if the bird had lost everything it had.

But, the loss of that tree forced the bird to leave that place and look for another one. The bird travelled many miles, and finally reached a place where there were many trees bending under the weight of juicy fruits.

If the tornado didn’t take away that one tree, the bird would never have found the much better place.

Good Lord, out of love for us, sometimes leads us through various painful experiences and allows us to lose something we may even treasure, but He does it in order to give something much better.

Unfortunately, often when we go through such painful experiences, we tend to be discouraged or complain and doubt.

Therefore, let us follow the example given to us by Moses about whom we read that,

Hebrews 11:24-26 "By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward."

Also the apostle Paul had the very same attitude when he wrote,

Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Philippians 1:29 "For to you, it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."

THREE TREES

There is a story about three beautiful and lofty trees that had dreams of what they wanted to become.

The first one said, “I want to become a treasure box, covered with gold and filled with precious stones.” But after it was cut, it was taken to a poor carpenter’s shop and was used to make a common trough (czro:f) filled with hey and used to feed animals. And the tree was very disappointed. But one day in that trough or manger (me’jndzer) was placed a little baby boy, who was the eternal Son of God and the Saviour of the world.

The dream of the second tree was to become a big and beautiful ship used by great kings. And the tree felt it was a disgrace when it was used to build a small fishermen boat. But the time came when from that boat the Son of God and the Saviour of the world preached the most beautiful sermon ever preached, and calmed the storm with His words making His disciples speechless.

The third tree was praying and asking God to let it grow until it would become the tallest tree in the world thus drawing the attention of its admirers to heaven - the source of great Creator’s love.

And the tree was happy growing taller and taller, until the sad day came, when the woodcutters arrived and cut the tree with the cruel axe. And the tree was crying out to God asking why He allowed that to happen?

But one day, the beams of that tree were used to make a cross to which the Son of God was nailed and died, thus forever pointing the attention of the entire universe to heaven, the source of self-sacrificing, everlasting love.

The dreams and prayers of all three trees were fulfilled and they were given much more than they asked for, but their dreams were fulfilled through humiliation and suffering.

“God forbid that I should boast except in the cross …”.

MUHAMMAD ALI & FLIGHT ATTENDANT

...

Sometimes we Christians we also are like the supermen able to fly on our own through the Satan’s territory. But it is possible only in Christ and our only safety belt is HS.

The devil is like a fanatical terrorist who is constantly hiding, no one knows where he is, he is elusive and can attack at any time. And the Lord Jesus does not promise us that we will not suffer from the attacks of this fanatical terrorist. He will always, as long as we are alive, try to blow up our plane, cause turbulence, engine failures, bad weather and threaten to kill us. However, the Lord promises us that if we keep faith and trust Him to the end, a safe landing is guaranteed.

In addition to this, while looking at Jesus we need to remember that the devil is not only a thief but he is also like a fanatical terrorist. No one knows where he is and we don’t know when he is going to attack again. So through all our lives he will always try to damage our aeroplane, he will try to frighten us, he will cause turbulences (te:bjulensys) of our aeroplane. He will cause a horrible weather and all kinds of problems to make our flight terrible.

And I am sorry but Lord Jesus never promised us a comfortable flight but He promised us that if we keep on flying and believing in Him until the end, in spite of Satan’s terrorism, then we can be sure that our lending will be safe.

This is what the earthly life (flight) of Christ, Job, Moses, Joseph, Elijah, Jeremiah, the apostles and Paul looked like:

2 Timothy 4:6–8

6. For soon I will be offered up as a sacrifice, and the time of my departure from life has come.

7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8. Now there is a crown of righteousness waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Paul's Christian life was a constant fight and struggle with the "terrorist".

The life of Apostle Paul was not an idyllic(idi'lik) holiday but it was a constant fight a war with his deadly enemy who hated Paul so much that he finally cut off his head.

Why head?

Satan hated Paul’s head because Paul’s mind was filled with the most beautiful gospel about our righteousness and our death in Christ. And Satan doesn’t want anyone to hear about it.

Famous German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was sentenced to death by hanging and killed by Hitler at the end of World War Two – said:

"When God calls you He calls you to die. First – God calls you to accept your death in Christ which took place 2000 years ago. Second – He calls you to die daily to self through the indwelling power of Holy Spirit. And third – He may also call you to die physically as a martyr when the time comes".

UNBELIEF

If I do not yet follow the Lamb wherever he goes, it is possible that one reasons could be unbelief and because my faith is not the faith that is "active in love".

TWINS

In the belly of a woman who was pregnant, one twin asked the other:

- Do you believe in life after birth? There must be something there. Somehow it seems to me that we live here to prepare for what will happen later.

- Nonsense! There is no life after birth. What would it look like?

- I don't know, but... maybe there will be more light, or we can run and eat with our mouths?

- Noo! It doesn't make sense! We can't run! And, and it is impossible to eat with mouth? After all, the umbilical cord feeds us!

- Yes, it is like that now, but I believe that one day it will change and we will finally see our mother and she will take care of us.

- Mother? Do you believe in Mother? Who do you think mother is, anyway?

- Well, we are in her now and we live because of her. Without her, we wouldn't exist...

- I haven't seen any mother which means mother doesn’t exist.

- Yes, we haven't seen her yet, but when we are quiet, we can hear her singing, or feel her touching our world.

Like those twins, we also live in the dark world, and we haven't yet seen our Father, but we are “hidden with Christ in Him”, and if we truly believe, at the return of our Lord, we will be borne into new wonderful eternal reality, with the unimaginable abilities, beauty, joy and excitement.

But do we really believe that Lord Jesus and the new reality is coming very soon?

During World War II, the Americans intended to bomb the area around Palermo in Sicily. Before they did that, however, American planes dropped a huge number of flyers, warning the Sicilians of an impending bombing raids.

Unfortunately, only few of them actually believed and were willing to leave that area before the attack.

And lo and behold, soon after dropping the warning fliers, American aircraft bombed Palermo and the surrounding area, resulting in the death of many Sicilians, and, as eyewitnesses reported, some of the killed Sicilians during the bombing were lying dead on the ground still holding in their hand the leaflets warning about the coming raids.

Rev. 18:2,4

2 And he (the glories angel) cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons…!”

4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.’

God is calling us to leave Babylon because soon (at the second coming of Christ) spiritual Babylon will be bombarded with God's plagues.

But if we do not stop worshipping our modern idols that take the place of Christ, if we do not accept the three angels' message, if we do not stop relying on our own righteousness (Rev 3 - Laodycea) in our pursuit of salvation, then this may prove that we ourselves have not yet emerged from Babylon. And if we do not leave this place, then the "bombs" will also fall on us and we will die, perhaps holding Bibles and literature warning about approaching plagues.

INGRATITUDE

Do we follow the Lamb wherever he goes?

If this is not the case yet, it may be because of the LACK OF GRATITUDE FOR WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US AND THE CONVICTION THAT GOD SHOULD REWARD US FOR EVERYTHING GOOD WE DO ON EARTH.

Col. 3:15

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were also called in one body; and be thankful."

Who are we grateful to? What for? Why?

Now, there is another very important mistake we need to avoid with regards to our communion with Christ.

May I ask our younger sisters and brothers to pay attention now as we are going to have another children story:

Certain 11 years old boy thought that his mother should pay him for doing his duties. So one day he took a piece of paper and wrote the list of duties for which he wanted to be paid and then he gave the list to his mother. So she took it and started to read the following words written by her son:

- for cleaning my room – 2 pounds

- for shopping – 2 pounds

- for good grades in the school – 5 pounds

- for removing rubbish – 2 pounds

- for watching my younger sister – 3 pounds

- Altogether – 14 pounds

When his mother finished reading, she smiled, took a pen and below her son’s list she wrote something and gave it to her son who took it and started to read the words his mother wrote:

- for carrying you in my womb for nine months – 0 pounds

- for many sleepless nights when you were sick and cried – 0 pounds

- for years of changing and washing your diapers – 0 pounds

- for all meals prepared for you during 11 years – 0 pounds

- for washing and ironing your clothes – 0 pounds

- for the money and time I sacrificed for your education – 0 pounds

- for everything else – 0 pounds

- Altogether – 0 pounds

When her son red it he got embarrassed so he took a pen and below his list he wrote: All paid. Than he gave it to his mom, hugged her and said “I am sorry Mom”.

Unfortunately, the sad truth is that we also like that boy have a tendency to consciously or subconsciously to make similar lists of our good works for which we expect God to reward us.

We expect that God will answer our prayers and bless us because we are good people, because we pray and read the BIble, because we try to keep Sabbaths, give tithes, go to the church or share the truth with others.

And when we do this, our good loving Father in the same way as this mother, could give us His list of everything He’s done for us because He loved us.

And I believe God’s list could look like this:

- for creating you and sustaining your life through the constant flow of my invisible energy – 0 pounds

- for the sunlight, water, air and food – 0 pounds

- for the humiliation, sufferings and death of my beloved Son – 0 pounds

- for justification from your sins, salvation from eternal death and the gift of wonderful everlasting life – 0 pounds

- for the service of my angels and the gift of Holy Spirit – 0 pounds

- for everything else – 0 pounds

We should never make any lists of our works especially if we expect God to reward us for them.

Let us always remember God’s list, kneel down before Him and say: “All paid” which means that we don’t expect any reward for our obedience but we want to obey Him out of love.

Gal 2:16

Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

Faith and Works we read the following words (1979), page 18:

“There is not a point that needs to be dwelt upon more earnestly, repeated more frequently, or established more firmly in the minds of all than the impossibility of fallen man meriting anything by his own best good works. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.” 2x

NOT HAVING THE SON YET

Do we follow the Lamb wherever he goes?

If this is not yet the case, perhaps it is because "we do not yet have" the "Son" (1 John 5:12)? And if we "do not have Him", we have no guarantee of salvation and we do not have the Holy Spirit in us, without which no one among sinful people is able to imitate Christ.

PAINTING OF THE SON

A very wealthy man had many works of art and priceless paintings in his collection. His only son inherited similar interests from him, and they could often talk for hours about the beauty of the paintings and other works of art they had. Unfortunately, when the war in Vietnam broke out, the son was drafted into the army and never returned from Vietnam alive. But he died like a hero, saving the lives of many other soldiers. The father loved his son above all else, losing him was a terrible experience for him and he could not come to terms with his death for a long time. Then one day a young man visited him.

- You don't know me - he said - but I'm one of those soldiers whom your son saved. When I was wounded, he tried to carry me to a safe place, but then he was hit by an enemy bullet and died. He often talked about you and your love of art...

- I know it's not much, and I'm not a great artist, but I believe your son would like you to accept it.

And when he had said this, he gave the father a picture he had painted of the figure of his son. With tears in his eyes, the father admired this beautiful painting, which now became for him the most wonderful work of art. He hung this painting in a place of honor in his large house, and whenever someone visited him, first before showing any famous work of art, he took the guests to where his son's painting hung.

Unfortunately, after a few months, the father also left his life, but in accordance with his last wish, after his death, an auction of paintings and works of art that he owned was held at his estate. Many influential and wealthy people came there wanting to see or buy at least one of the famous paintings.

However, the auction began with an auction for an unknown painting depicting the owner's son. The auctioneer banged his gavel and said:

- We start today's auction by bidding on this painting. Who would like to start bidding?

However, there was silence in the hall because no one was interested in purchasing this painting, so the bidder repeated the question, but this time there were no takers. And as he repeated the call for the third and last time, an old man from the back of the room raised his hand, who was the owner's gardener and knew his son well. He offered a relatively small sum for this painting, but it was all he could offer. And although the auctioneer then encouraged the auction participants to increase the price three times, still no one was interested in purchasing the painting depicting the owner's son, and most were even irritated that they were offered something that had no value to them. So the auctioneer struck his hammer one last time, announcing that the painting had become the property of the gardener.

And when everyone expected that the auction of real works of art would now begin, the auctioneer surprised everyone by announcing that, in accordance with the deceased's will, the auction had ended.

- What about the remaining paintings? – asked the outraged participants.

- I'm very sorry - replied the auctioneer - but before I started the bidding, the will dictated by the deceased was read to me. According to his last wish, only the painting depicting his son was to take part in the auction, while all other paintings and works of art together with the property were to become the exclusive property of the person who purchased his son's painting. So I declare that from this moment on, all the multi-million-dollar works of art collected in this house and the entire property become the exclusive property of the gardener. This is because in his will the father wrote: "HE WHO TAKES A SON WILL TAKE EVERYTHING."

HE WHO TAKES A SON WILL TAKE EVERYTHING!!!

1 John 5:12

"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Do we have a Son?

If we have the Son, we have everything, if we do not have the Son, we have nothing.

Exactly 2005 years ago, God the Father sent his beloved Son to this sin-degraded world, to the field of battle between good and evil, who died in this war. But he died like a hero, thus saving the lives of many people.

And his Father also wrote a will (Old and New Testament) and in this will he included his will, which reads:

HE WHO TAKES A SON WILL TAKE ALL ("Whoever has the Son has life.").

Do we follow the Lamb wherever He goes?

If we do not follow Him yet, maybe it is because we do not yet have the Son?

So let us take the Son, for if we take the Son, we take everything. Not only guarantees of a wonderful eternity, but also of the Holy Spirit, thanks to which we will finally follow the lamb wherever He goes.”

Rom. 8:31-39

WASTING TIME

We don't redeem time. WE FORGET THAT THE TIME WE WASTE ON TV, GAMES, EMPTY CONVERSATIONS, LISTENING TO WORTHLESS MUSIC IS irretrievably lost unnecessary shopping, watching football, etc.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be the last time to see your loved ones, which is why it is too dangerous to wait; Lt us start doing now. Wake up early enough in the morning to hear the voice of our Master from His Word and talk to Him in long heart-felt prayers, praising Him for His love, for sufferings for us for becoming flesh and dwelling among us, for becoming a curse to save us from the curse of the law, for becoming sin for us so that we may become God’s righteousness in Him, for protecting us, showing us the truth, for being patient with us, answered prayers and His miracles in our lives, surrendering all to Him, and praising for delivering us from death, condemnation and fear, for HS and agape and for enabling us to live by the power of HS and by faith, before we see the results.

Let us do it now because tomorrow may never come.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it to the best of your ability, for in the land of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

Please open Hebr 5:7-9

We have to remember that Joseph's obedient life and sufferings was not able to save anyone from eternal death. Joseph's life is to lead us to a greater example of perfection through sufferings, which is Jesus:

"During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him".

This text tells us about Christ's dream. And what was His dream?

It was to save us by assuming the ugly coat of our representative fallen nature, to allow that coat to be stripped of Him on the cross, and finally to create a new beautiful representative tunic of perfect holiness much better than the one we lost in the garden of Eden.

It is time to finish our study and as a conclusion let me read for you a beautiful quote from the book "Dream Releasers" written by Wayne Cordeiro:

“The richest spot on the face of the earth cannot be found in the diamond mines. No, the richest plot of land on this planet is the graveyard. Beneath those rectangular pieces of grass lie countless unsung songs and unwritten poems. The grassy plots overflow with brilliant ideas that could have transformed entire communities, saved the lost and brought hope to the weary. Our burial grounds reek (stink) with unattained successes unsung songs, and unrealised dreams.” (2x)

According to the analogy and metaphor used by the author of this beautiful quote we can say that the grave of Joseph and especially of Jesus was the poorest place on earth, because they sung all the songs they could sing and they wrote all the poems they could write they fulfilled all the dreams they had as they perfectly glorified God and served sinful humanity during their lifetime.

So now the final question is:

Will my grave or my life smell with rotten dreams when Jesus comes, will my grave or life be rich or poor?

Let us learn the new song, the song of Moses and the Lamb, the song of agape love, love able to sacrifice eternal life to save enemies.

Let us fulfil the dream of following the Lamb wherever He goes, before it is forever too late.

The burial grounds on this earth are filled with the bad smell of unsung songs, and unfulfilled dreams.

What will be the smell of my burial ground after I die?

The grave of Jesus, however, was the poorest place on earth, because He sung all the songs He came to sing for us and He wrote all the poems he came to write for us he fulfilled all the dreams he had about our salvation.

Graves of true Christ’s followers [Paul, Moses, Daniel, John, Mary Magdalene] are also the poorest places on earth.

Revelation 14:1-4

1. Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (they walk in Spirit) 3. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

PRIVATE RYAN

...

“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent...”

PRAYER

Let us pray.

Dear Father, thank you for the beautiful example we can find in the lives of Joseph, and especially for the perfect example of the life of Jesus. We thank you because they were victorious in the same flash we all have. It means that through faith and in the power of Holy Spirit we also can fulfill the dreams you gave us and finally become free from the bad smell of selfishness, independence, and laziness.

Amen