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Deferred Obedience 1 - Part 3
Joshua Daniel

Joshua Daniel (1928 - 2014). Indian evangelist and president of Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International, born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, to N. Daniel, a mathematics teacher turned revivalist. Saved at 15, he began preaching at 16 to students in Madras, earning a Master’s in English Literature from Madras University. Joining his father’s ministry in 1954, he led Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship from 1963, headquartered in Chennai, growing it to hundreds of centers across India, Cyprus, Guyana, and London. Known as the “boy revivalist,” he authored Faith Is the Victory and delivered thousands of sermons, aired on TV and radio in multiple languages, focusing on salvation and revival. Married to Lily, they had three children, including John, who succeeded him. His annual retreats at Beulah Gardens drew 7,000-9,000, emphasizing prayer and holiness. Daniel’s ministry, marked by tentmaker missionaries, impacted millions despite later critiques of family-centric leadership.
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the importance of not deferring obedience to God's will, highlighting the tragic consequences of neglecting the lost and the vulnerable. It addresses societal issues like alcoholism, greed, and the impact of dysfunctional families on individuals and communities. The speaker urges repentance, seeking God's mercy, and taking responsibility for our actions to prevent further harm and destruction.
Sermon Transcription
Then that of the ninety, than of the ninety and nine, which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Oh, it's not God's will. You see, especially when almost on a daily basis or a weekly basis, a nation has to face sorrow and mourning, death from all kinds of sources, 9-11, you see, when a nation has to be commemorating these events, the Holocaust, and the few survivors of the Holocaust. See when all these dismal events are taking place around us, and when we see how young lives are being snatched away, the power of God's word to reach to the uttermost, almost the cynical representation of events by which the final word is, okay, we have had this tragedy on campus, but more students are dying from binge drinking and drugs, far greater number every weekend, nobody pays attention. Here is the tax money coming in from all these alcoholic drinks. On the one hand, you take this money from the taxes collected from the drunkards and the alcoholics whose families are being destroyed, and then you take that tax money and say, we are going to have special shelters for you, and we are going to reform you, can kind of dry you out. You know, it's going to be a long process, and you will have to keep returning to us periodically every month and go through the same process, but who initiated them, who started them, the father of the family, the children got a taste for that cursed stuff from whom, the dad, the mom, so greed has a devastating harvest, so when you're greedy for that money that comes from the distillers, you are saying, though the price is fine, I can sacrifice two million of the inhabitants to this vice. Oh, my dear friends, playing with the word of God, and pushing the self-destruct button, and defying the laws of God. Here, God says, I have no pleasure, so what is wrong? Deferred obedience, not seeking the lost. You know, the pastor is paid to do the job, you know. This is the workplace, and in the workplace, we don't want a mention of Jesus Christ. Don't you have any firefighting equipment in a workplace? Don't you have a little red chest which says emergency drugs or something? In Miami Airport, you can see every, you know, every now and again, at a certain distance from each other, emergency heart resuscitators. Well, they do not want people collapsing after a long flight in the airport. Now, a man comes to work after a fight at home, and his work is very poor because of his mind being totally distracted, and the product is very shoddy. It doesn't hold its place in the marketplace, and the market share keeps dropping, and the population gets depleted as the jobs have fled. Where did it all begin? A home that is dysfunctional. May God help us. Let us pray. Loving Father, help us to take stock. How much evil we have done by deferred obedience. The lamb was snatched, the lamb was crunched. We picked up a few bones, and we went merrily along. Is that our history? Father, Father, have mercy upon us. I beseech you, have mercy upon the nations and this nation. We don't want to pick up fragments of blown-up people and lost souls in plastic bags, nor those of our own children. We shall not defer obedience to our Lord. While the harlots and the publicans see the righteousness of God and repent, help us, Father, to have that broken spirit of repentance, and all the harm and the evil which our lives have begotten may be somehow erased. O Lord, the years which the canker worm and the caterpillar and the foolishness of our heart have eaten, restore to us, we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen. And if you have a problem or concern you would like to share, please do let us know. You can email us at post at lbfi.org or visit our website.
Deferred Obedience 1 - Part 3
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Joshua Daniel (1928 - 2014). Indian evangelist and president of Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship International, born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, to N. Daniel, a mathematics teacher turned revivalist. Saved at 15, he began preaching at 16 to students in Madras, earning a Master’s in English Literature from Madras University. Joining his father’s ministry in 1954, he led Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship from 1963, headquartered in Chennai, growing it to hundreds of centers across India, Cyprus, Guyana, and London. Known as the “boy revivalist,” he authored Faith Is the Victory and delivered thousands of sermons, aired on TV and radio in multiple languages, focusing on salvation and revival. Married to Lily, they had three children, including John, who succeeded him. His annual retreats at Beulah Gardens drew 7,000-9,000, emphasizing prayer and holiness. Daniel’s ministry, marked by tentmaker missionaries, impacted millions despite later critiques of family-centric leadership.