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By Amanda Bauler
"Can we expect the inhabitants of these cities to come to us and say, 'If you will come to us and preach, we will help you to do thus and so'? They know nothing of our message. The Lord desires us to let our light so shine before men that His Holy Spirit may communicate the truth to the honest in heart who are seeking after truth …" Evangelism, 61.
The Historic Message Church is a small congregation that meets in the Portland metro area, and the work before us is very large. As we look at the city around us, over 1.6 million people, the majority of whom are seeking the things of this world without regard for eternal realities, it can be overwhelming. But we know that we are not alone, and when God gives a command He has also supplies the promises, backed by His infinite power, to accomplish the work He has given us.
We set about to plan an evangelistic effort. We decided to hold a six week Prophecy Seminar on the southeast side of the city, not far from where our church meets. As we collected estimates for renting a facility, designing, printing and mailing fliers to advertise the meetings and the many other expenses involved in holding an evangelistic series it was easy to question, where will we ever collect the funds for such a venture.
We started out with a goal, mailing to just one zip code of about 16,000 and agreed that if the Lord blessed we would hope to mail to another zip code bringing the number to about 38,200 fliers. As we worked and prayed the Lord lead us to statements like this one, "Shall we not advance in faith, just as if we had thousands of dollars? We do not have half faith enough. Let us act our part in warning these cities. The warning message must come to the people who are ready to perish, unwarned, unsaved. How can we delay? As we advance, the means will come. But we must advance by faith, trusting in the Lord God of Israel." Evangelism, 62.
We do not have half faith enough. How sad, but true. How easy it is for us to become preoccupied with the details and the expenses, and looking only from a human perspective we become discouraged and filled with doubt. We forget that the God who we serve is the creator and sustainer of all and that it is at His command that we are to go out to warn a sin-filled world.
With humbled hearts, we in faith sought to follow the Lord's counsel and He richly blessed. The needed funds were raised and all 38,200 fliers were mailed and an additional 1,000 were distributed from house-to-house. As preparations were made for the meetings, each church member was given a task (in many cases three or four). Some greeted the people at the doors; others ran the registration table and sound equipment and some conducted meetings for the children.
The wise man said, "The generous soul will be made rich: and he who waters will also be watered himself." Proverbs 11:25. We have found this to be very true in evangelism. It is an incredible blessing to watch people as they discover many of the truths of the Bible for the first time. It is so amazing to watch their faces and see that the truth is dawning in their minds. Several told us, "I have never heard the prophecies explained so clearly. This is the truth, why haven't I heard it before?"
As the first couple of weekends passed, it became clear that there were a number of people in the audience who were seriously looking for the truth. After each meeting, Pastor Mike spent time answering individual's questions and during the week, he visited people in their homes, praying with them and encouraging them to study God's Word for themselves and see that the things that they were learning were the truth indeed.
The seminar is now over, but the work has only begun. The seeds have been planted and now they must be watered and nurtured. Pastor Mike has a full schedule of Bible studies with those who attended the seminar. We seek an interest in your prayers for each of these dear people who have received the seeds of truth and came all the way through the seminar.
We ask that you also pray for those who only attended a few of the meetings. Seeds were planted in their hearts as well, and it is our sincere hope that someday those seeds will also spring up and bear a rich harvest. One such example is a couple that attended only the first two evenings of the seminar. They were expecting a baby in only a week or two and so were unable to come to the rest of the seminar. However, when Pastor Mike visited them, they voiced an interest in continuing to study the prophecies. Since the seminar, Pastor Mike has begun Bible studies with the husband in the family. He is one of the pastors of a very large Romanian Pentecostal church in the Portland area and has attended seminary in this country and abroad. During their first study, he wanted to know about the Mark of the Beast. As Pastor Mike presented the Biblical truth about when the antichrist will arise and some of the characteristics of this power, he was intrigued. He told Pastor Mike, "I have never really studied the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation for myself. I know that I have just accepted what I have been told by others, I want to study what the Bible really has to say."
There is a great work to be done! There are many to be warned in our area, and many in your area, wherever you may be. We should ask ourselves daily, what am I doing today to reach out to souls who are longing for a ray of truth? God has promised that if we will work in faith, He will give the increase.
"We are individually to work as though a great responsibility rested upon us. We are to manifest untiring energy and tact and zeal in this work and take the burden, feeling the peril in which our neighbors and friends are placed. We are to work as Christ worked. We are to present the truth as it is in Jesus, that the blood of souls shall not be upon our garments. At the same time we are to feel entire dependence and trust in God, for we know we cannot do anything without His grace and power to help. A Paul may plant, and an Apollos water, but God alone can give the increase. Then we are indeed to go forward to the work, weeping, sowing the precious seeds of truth and trusting in God to give the increase." In Heavenly Places, 331.
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