Each Voice, One More Chance To Win The World

Good morning, everyone. When I come back, things have changed here. I was expecting a song, but this is good. Let's stand together to pray. Our Father and our God, we're here before you today, gathered in Jesus' name. What a joy What a blessing we are able to gather together to worship. We thank you, Father. Thank you for each soul here today. And thank you, Father, for your great love to mankind, manifesting that love through Jesus Christ, your Son, sending Him into the world to live, to show us your great love, and then to lay down His life and take away the sins of the whole world. But you rose Him, you raised Him again on the third day. Now He has ascended and seated at your right hand, interceding for us. So, Father, we are here today as children by faith, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, having our hearts changed and our lives changed because of your mighty working power, your amazing grace in the hearts of men. Father, I ask for a blessing on this message today. I pray, Father, you would take this feeble vessel and flow through it like a mighty river today, that your voice may be heard throughout, not just this building today, but in the days to come. Your heart, your vision, the things that you are doing and the things that you have done and the things that you're about to do, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and a mouth to speak the wonderful works of God. And, Father, thank you for this opportunity. We give you praise and honor in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. This must be one of the best worship services that I've been at for three months. One of the highlights of our time there in Las Vosges, Greece, is when we get together on a Sunday morning with the many different nations gathered together to worship God. And I completely, just about completely, missed that for three months there. I was at a forestry service last Sunday, Sunday before. I traveled on Sunday, last Sunday. That was the first service we had in that place for about three months. But I still miss that fellowship time together. I want to introduce the message today by putting the title up here. And the title is Each Voice, One More Chance to Win the World. I was privileged to sit in a Bible study with Shefi, the Afghani young man who cooks there for us. He came to Las Vosges over four years ago. And by watching the lives of our volunteers, he was intrigued. And we had him come to be the cook at the brick there for our volunteers for about two years now. But he had not, he was not saved. He had not confessed Christ. But no one put pressure on him. And sometimes new volunteers would come and they'd watch him for a couple of days and then they would kind of whisper to me, they said, is Shefi a Christian? And my answer to them was, ask him. And different ones would ask him. And he would simply say something, well, let's talk about that later. Last fall, he came to faith one day and he believed. And his life was transformed. And we sat down for a Bible study together a couple of weeks ago. He was reading in the book of Luke, chapter one. And he read through the place where Mary, after she meets with Elizabeth, Elizabeth proclaims the prophetic utterance there, and then Mary opens her mouth and she proclaims the wonderful works of God for about five or six verses there. And Shefi, this new born Christian, he said, that is a surah. And I said, what's that? And so he wasn't sure how to express it in English. So he types in his language and it comes up poetry or poem. And I've looked at some of those beautiful proclamations and I know that they're special. He said in their culture in Afghanistan, when there is an important meeting, like the high officials even in the parliament, in the national people, before the man gets up to make a speech, they'll have an introduction for it, and then some other person gets up and reads or says or quotes a surah, a poem. And the poem might have something to do with that situation or that day or what's happening that day. This is a very important thing in their culture. And he picked that thing right out and said, that is a surah. And I listened and I put my ears on and I said, I want to learn what he's saying. There's something here that he's saying. And it's a powerful thing in their culture. So I'm going to give you a surah this morning as I begin with the message here. It's just simply a poem, you might say, or a song. But the heart of the message is in it. It all starts with just one voice. That takes a stand, that makes a choice to live for God and not to hesitate. To tell the world about amazing grace. One day that seed somehow breaks through. Where there was one, there now stands two. And soon another takes his hand. And a ray of hope spreads out across the land. Across the mountains and across the sea. Soon others join in harmony. They found the cross still standing strong. And soon a mighty chorus sings along. Go tell the world. Reach one more soul. Bring one more lamb back to the fold. Each soul is like a flag unfurled. Each voice another chance to reach this world. Don't let me pray, Lord, for wealth or fame. But a spark that sets this world aflame. And help me reach the lost and alone. To tell of joy and hope where hope is gone. Go reach the world. Touch one more soul. Bring one more lamb back to the fold. Each soul another flag unfurled. Each voice another chance to win this world. Each morning I'd go into camp and do devotions for the volunteers there. Sometimes 20, 30, or 40 people. Last fall, especially, we were there. There was a lot of new arrivals coming every day. And I would walk out of that info place there, walk down out the street, and so many times in the morning there was a police bus or two sitting there unloading refugees at 8 o'clock in the morning. And even though I knew that it meant a lot of work for our teams, and they were overwhelmed with the thousands who were coming, in my spirit, I rejoiced greatly every single time I would see a bus coming in. I rejoiced because there would be people in that bus who have never heard the gospel. And they've never met a Christian before. And they're going to get to meet a Christian. And they're going to get to see the light of Christ. And they might just become one more voice to reach the world. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the waters. And then something happened. Something that made an eternal change in the situation. There was a noise. There was a sound. There was a voice. And that voice cried out. And it said, let there be light. And there was light. That was the voice of the eternal Son of God. And when He opened up His mouth, and He let those words come out over His lips, and He said, let there be light, there was light. And the light shined into the darkness, and the darkness could not contain it. The darkness could not grab ahold of it. The darkness had to flee. Because the light was proclaimed in that place. And this was before the sun was there, and before the moon the stars were. Days before that. He said, let there be light. That voice rings out today. It shines into our hearts for the God, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That same light shines today. It's shining into the darkness. But somebody needs to be there. There needs to be a voice to proclaim the light in the darkness. That darkness has to flee. Noah was a voice, a preacher of righteousness in his day. Moses, a voice in the Old Testament. Jonah, Samuel, David, the prophets. These voices have cried out, and they're still crying out. It says that the voice of Abel's blood cries out from the ground. And Hebrews tells us there's even a better voice that speaks now. The blood of Christ cries out from the ground and calls us to live for God. Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet. Ezekiel, a refugee in a foreign country, a voice to Israel in difficult days. And from the sheep coats of Amos the prophet to the top of Mount Carmel, Elijah, this voice continues to ring out. It's declared in the streets. It's sang in the assemblies. It's the mighty voice of God. In Psalms 29, you'll hear it in the thunder. You'll hear it in the lightning. You'll hear it in the wind. You'll hear the voice of God in all of nature. And the voice of God is loud and clear. You can hear it in the early dawn of the day when the birds are singing. You can hear it in the evening when the crickets are chirping. You hear it in the whispers of the wind blowing through the trees, the voice of God. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. Day on the day utters speech. And night of the night shows knowledge. There's no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Isaiah 42 sings the Lord a new psalm. His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea and all that is therein. The islands and those who live on them. Let them sing. Let them shout the praise of the Lord. Let the wilderness and the cities of those places lift up their voice. Let the villages of Kedar, where Kedar lives, let them lift up their voices. Let them sing and shout from the tops of the mountains. Kedar is one of my favorite things. I see it's one of the things I note. I didn't say it's a favorite. Kedar is the son of Ishmael. I believe that the children of Ishmael will come, are going to come and they are coming and we see it happen. The Samaritan woman, Jesus met her at the well. She became a voice to her village. Come see a man that told me all things. The Gadarene wanted to follow Jesus. He said go back to your hometown and tell the people what God has done for you. He became a voice to those people. John the Baptist, a voice crying in the desert. He lost his head because of it. He lost his head. The disciples, James and John, sons of thunder. Matthew, a mighty voice to the Jewish people, Israel, and to the whole world. That wonderful gospel of Matthew. He wrote it down. Maybe you're not a preacher, but maybe you're a writer. You can be a voice to this world. Mark became a voice to Gentiles in his fast moving gospel. Attractive to the Greeks who loved action. Let your voice be heard. Proclaim, preach, prophesize, sing. Write poems and use this influence to influence others. Your neighbors, your family, your churches, your homes, and the whole world. Become a voice for the Lord. Luke became a voice proclaiming the humanity of Jesus from his side of the story. Then we have the gospel of John. A powerful voice appealing to the whole world to believe on Jesus. Just believe. And the promise of eternal life to all who believe. They gave their stories about Jesus. This wonderful man. Savior of the world. I was looking through Isaiah a lot. I've been in Isaiah a lot the last couple of months. In fact, the last couple of years. Came to one place. It says, for the Lord, he is your maker, your husband. The Lord of hosts is his name, thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And I looked up. I studied that word redeemer. What does redemption mean to you? Someone tell me. What is redemption to you? Life. Restoration. To take someone broken and make them whole. So when Boaz redeemed Ruth. Did he do that? Because he had compassion on this poor refugee girl. Who was in absolute poverty, had nothing. Did he redeem her simply because he felt sorry for her situation? Is that the purpose? And I think sometimes we have it wrong. But why would he redeem her? Why would he waste money on some girl like that? Just to get her out of her situation? Out of her poverty? Is that why God redeemed Israel? He felt sorry for them in Egypt? I want you to be with me. We've been redeemed, dearly beloved. Because he wants us to be with him. He wants us to be with him. Yes, we were in a bad situation. But really, he wanted us to be with him. And he still wants us to be with him. The eleven disciples heard Jesus say, Go into all the world and preach the gospel. And they went. And God used their voices in a mighty way. Peter on the day of Pentecost used his mighty fisherman's voice. And three thousand people were saved. Stephen became one more voice to the Jewish nation. About God's heart in redemption, in sending Jesus Christ. Stephen became one more voice. And what did they do with that voice? They ran on him. And they gnashed on him with their teeth. And they stoned him. They tried to stop that voice. And they tried to stop many other voices. The Sanhedrin, the high priests. But they couldn't. You cannot stop a fast flowing mountain stream. You can try to dam it up. You can try to block it. You can put a wall there. But that fast flowing mountain stream, it's going to eventually fill up that space and overflow those barriers you put in there. And neither can you stop the voices of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. They're going to continue on. They're going to keep there. They're going to keep speaking. There's going to be others coming in. When one voice is silenced, God willing, there'll be ten others rising up to fill that place. I think of the day, may God give us a desire for that day, when the trump of God will sound and the voice of the archangel will be heard. And the dead in Christ, they will hear that voice. And when they hear that voice, they will rise from the dead. The power of one voice. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves will hear His voice. And on that day, everyone who's in the graves will hear the voice of God. And they will obey that voice. They will rise up out of the grave. And they'll stand before the almighty, eternal God, the creator of the universe. About a year and a half ago, I walked into camp one day and met an evangelist. He said, come with me to this tent to visit this man who believes in Jesus. So we went to his tent, slipped in through the back, you know, all the wiggled our way in through there, got to his door. They welcomed us inside. We sat down. They served us tea. And that man was excited. He said, 15 minutes ago, I had a dream. And in that dream, I saw you and this other man coming into our tent. And I'm like, okay. He was a new believer, but his wife was not believing. And that day I shared with her, I used my voice. And I told her the story of the one lost lamb. Bah! A couple of weeks ago, during this lockdown there, she sent me a WhatsApp message. And I have lots of people who send me messages sometimes. I'm not sure who they are because I don't remember all the faces and all the people. And then she said, She said, I am Zohreh, that little lost lamb. You came into our tent, and I've never forgotten the story of that one lost lamb. I want to know Jesus. Yes. Bring one more lamb back to the fold. So, heard a voice on his way to Damascus saying, I am Jesus. Why do you persecute me? And he fell down and he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? And Jesus said, Go into Damascus, and there it will be told you what you must do. And he went to Damascus there, and he was told what to do. I will send you to bring people from darkness to light. I will send you to the Gentiles to proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ. And Saul, that man Saul, became one more voice to reach the world. And what a mighty voice he has. And that voice is still ringing today. Muhammad, lost in his sin, hopelessly lost, lonely refugee. Someone shared with him about Christ Jesus, and he became a voice for Jesus. He lives in Finland. He comes to Lesbos as an evangelist, an Arabic speaker. An amazing ability to bring people into the kingdom. Met a couple men outside the gates of Moria camp in a short time, led them to Christ. Last winter he was in the, last winter, might have been last spring, not sure when it was actually. He came to Lesbos and he spent some time there at the community center called the Oasis there where we serve tea and biscuits. And he was there with his voice running, specifically watching for the Arabic-speaking people. And two young men, down by the bus stop right below, one said to the other, there's a tea shop up here, let's go get a drink. And the other guy said, nah, he don't want to. So the guy went by himself. He comes into the Oasis there, sits down, and Mohammed, the evangelist, comes over to him and begins to talk to him. This young man was so intrigued. He said, let me go bring my friend. And he went to get his friend named Ali. Now Ali had been trained, not in the ways of Moses in Egypt, but he'd been trained in the ways of the fighters in Mosul, specifically to kill Americans. Escaped Mosul because they were disappointed when they brutally killed his uncle for no reason. And their family escaped. He ends up in Lesbos. Now his friend says, come, let's go get some tea. So he takes him up there, and there he meets Mohammed. And Mohammed begins to share with him. He uses his voice to share with him the wonderful works of God. And this young man became so intrigued. They went out for supper that night in Mittalini, the restaurant. As he continued to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, they went to the second restaurant because they were staying there so long. And around midnight that night, Ali believed on Jesus. Because there was a voice that proclaimed that Jesus is what you really need. Jesus can take away your sins. That man, Ali, now has become a voice to win his people to Christ. One more voice to reach the world. If we could show a few pictures right now, we can do that. And I'll just go through it briefly. I will show a video at the end. But I'll just briefly show you some pictures here of a few things. We have Ahmed. And some of you have seen these on my updates. Ahmed, the hopeless atheist, grew up Muslim in Afghanistan, became atheist because Islam never did anything for me. Professing his antagonism and hatred for God and declaring that God is not, there's no God. And the believers in camp were trying to witness to him. He was an absolute drunk. He said, if I didn't wake up in the morning with a glass of wine within reach, he said, I was a bad man, you might say. And he was just in despair. One day, one of the believers challenged him again and again. And that evening, Ahmed said to God, I'm going to prove that you are not a real God. I'll prove to you, God, that you're not alive. God. God hears those things. That night he had a dream. He dreamed he's sitting in the mountain on a cushion with a, I don't know if it was wine or tea, but something, a cup of something, relaxing and this huge dinosaur came. I thought dinosaurs were extinct, he said. Must have been a dragon. He fled into the cave and this dinosaur was so big that only the head would fit in the cave, but it had a long tongue. And the further back that he went in the cave, the further that tongue came out after him. He kept going back and back until finally he was up against the wall in the back of the cave and that tongue kept coming at him. And he said, I knew I was going to die and I just gave up. I said, okay, I'm done. At that moment, the cave filled with light and Jesus was standing there with his arms open. Come to me. And the dragon fell away out of the cave and down into the valley and snakes were coming out of his belly to try to get him, but Jesus drove them away. And then Jesus left, but the mountain was still full of light. And he woke up, a completely transformed man. He had met Jesus and he is becoming a voice. God is using that voice. He's a singer. He's a musician. He made that music box. You'll see it on the picture. Found some old piano keys and made this music box like an organ. And he pumps it with his hand, but plays with his hand and sings. I took him a Bible. One of those days when I was in quarantine, met him at the gate. He wasn't allowed out and I wasn't allowed in, but we gave him a Bible. One of those days he woke up and God gave him a song and he began to write an Afghani song in Afghani style and culture. And the song just flowed and he wrote and he wrote and wrote and then God gave him a tune for it. And he sings that song. They tried to translate the song for me, but they said we cannot do justice to the beauty and the power of that song in our culture. He began to sing that song and they were doing an online Bible course. Thank God for coronavirus. Good things come out of it. They were doing an online Bible course and he was on Zoom and they get him to take his music box and lead the worship before they start studying the Bible. And he sits there singing this beautiful song. And there's 150 Farsi speakers on that Zoom call around Europe and the U.S. And he's using his voice to proclaim the magnificent beauty and glory of his Savior who changed his life.