THE NATHAN REPORT: October 2014

Sunday, October 26, 2014

October 26, 2014 | Are you sleeping?

Dear all, welcome to THE NATHAN REPORT!
We started off with praise and worship. Below is the playlist:

1) We will worship the Lamb of Glory - Dennis Jernigan

2) Nothing is impossible - Israel Houghton

3) My redeemer lives - Reuben Morgan

4) Here is love - Welsh Hymn

5) How great is our God - Chris Tomlin

Beautiful session worshiping our Lord. This followed up with today's announcements:

- The VBS went very well and children as well as their parents were encouraged. Thank you for all your prayers.

- One of our church member, brother Richard, was unwell. He has recovered very well and has been able to attend today's service.

Today's topic is, "Are you sleeping?"

Followings are few of the very basic reasons when you can guess if someone is sleeping, Pastor Daniel Olukoya explains:

1) When thoughts of heaven and eternity cease to be regular in your life.

2) When you are singing Christian songs when you are singing christian songs and chanting christian words just from the lips and not from the heart.

3) When services in the house of God hold no delight for you.

4) When with the slightest excuse you avoid spiritual duties, you have slept.
5) When you are working for the Lord and not with the Lord.

6) When you are contended with your lack of spiritual power and you no longer seek power from high. The first key to spiritual power is lack of rest in your soul because you are not satisfied with your present level.

7) When spiritual discussion becomes a source of embarrassment to you. For example, in your office, talking about Jesus or spiritual things becomes highly embarrassing because you know that those around will certainly know that you are not behaving like a Christian.

8) When things like leisure, sports, recreation, entertainment, etc. take a large part of your time, sleep has crept in and if you don’t wake, up the enemy will come and sow tares or lay eggs if they have not already done so.

We need to repent if one of these things from above matches our lives. And this is a clear signal that, "We are sleeping!"

Like Paul said to Christians, “Awake thou that sleepest and Christ has shown you light.” So, it is time to awake from our sleep because now is our salvation nearer than it was before. Do not waste time clearing the evil eggs that the enemy has laid in your life while you were sleeping. The time you should do useful things for the Lord, you are busy using it to do deliverance for what happened to you while you were sleeping. It is better to be awake and pursue the enemy right into their gates. This is a serious matter and must be tackled aggressively.

Illustration: Someone asked a riddle, "What is it which is Red, White and Black?" Well, someone after a long wait answered, "Newspaper".

In the Bible, there are books which are called "Wisdom Literature". The books that make up the Wisdom Literature in the Bible are as follows: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. The general focus of wisdom literature is a reflection on the realities of life. The purpose for this is to make one walk in Lord and serve and the key is "Fear of God." Bible says fear of Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge, Joy and moreover Christian faith.

Few References:
Proverbs 3:7, "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil."

Proverbs 16:7, "When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."

Proverbs 10:27, "The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short."

Proverbs 10:26, "Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him."

Proverbs 14:27, "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death."

Proverbs 15:16, "Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it."

Proverbs 19:23, "The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm."

Proverbs 22:4, "The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life."

Proverbs 11:28-30, "Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. 29 Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise."

The true believer is a branch of the living Vine. When those that take root in the world wither, those who are grafted into Christ shall be fruitful. He that brings trouble upon himself and his family, by carelessness or by wickedness, shall be unable to keep and enjoy what he gets, as a man is unable to hold the wind or to satisfy himself with it. The righteous are as trees of life; and their influence upon earth, like the fruits of that tree, support and nourish the spiritual life in many. Even the righteous, when they offend on earth, shall meet with sharp corrections; much more will the wicked meet the due reward of their sins. Let us then seek those blessings which our Surety purchased by his sufferings and death; let us seek to copy his example, and to keep his commandments. The wise is the one who wins souls for Christ. Here we are not talking about the cleverness but the wisdom given by God.

Mark 16:15, "And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

Luke 14:23, "And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled."

Daniel 12:3, "And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."

Psalms 126:6, "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

From the verses above, we clearly can see that God is interested in saving souls.

Paul W. Powell, in The Complete Disciple, described this condition: “Many churches today remind me of a laboring crew trying to gather in a harvest while they sit in the toolshed. They go to the toolshed every Sunday and they study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and then get up and go home. Then they come back that night, study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and go home again. They come back Wednesday night, and again study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and get up and go home. They do this week in and week out, year in and year out, and nobody ever goes out into the fields to gather in the harvest.

You might be very intelligent, not wise. Crooks and thieves can be intelligent as well, definitely not wise. The one who wins souls is wise. We must understand the heart of Jesus and passion. He shed his blood blood for all of us, not to heal the sick or not to give satisfaction to a hungry stomach or to do miracles, but to save us.

1 Timothy 2:4, "Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ says, "Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior."

If we’re going to be the Church, sharing our faith is not a choice. We have to be reaching out to others with God’s love and sharing the message of Jesus and telling others what He has done in our lives.

Few characteristics of a wise person:

1 - Wise person understands the heart of the father and wins soul.

What is the most basic reason of Jesus? Not to sit with the tax collectors or the fishermen to feast. The reason Jesus came on earth was to save us and to establish our relationship with God.

Paul said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"

Mark 16:15, "And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

Matthew 28:19-20, "19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”"

The evidences of the truth of the gospel are so full, that those who receive it not, may justly be upbraided with their unbelief. Our blessed Lord renewed his choice of the eleven as his apostles, and commissioned them to go into all the world, to preach his gospel to every creature. Only he that is a true Christian shall be saved through Christ.

2- The wise will not give up.

If you want to win souls, don't give up.

Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Many excuse themselves from the work of religion, though they may make a show, and profess it. They may impose upon others, yet they deceive themselves if they think to impose upon God, who knows their hearts as well as actions; and as he cannot be deceived, so he will not be mocked. Our present time is seed time; in the other world we shall reap as we sow now. As there are two sorts of sowing, one to the flesh, and the other to the Spirit, so will the reckoning be hereafter. Those who live a carnal, sensual life, must expect no other fruit from such a course than misery and ruin. But those who, under the guidance and influences of the Holy Spirit, live a life of faith in Christ, and abound in Christian graces, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. We are all very apt to tire in duty, particularly in doing good. This we should carefully watch and guard against. Only to perseverance in well-doing is the reward promised. Here is an exhortation to all to do good in their places. We should take care to do good in our life-time, and make this the business of our lives. Especially when fresh occasions offer, and as far as our power reaches.

3. Wise people have an eyesight of God.

Luke 10:2, "And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

Romans 10:14, "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. All believers thus call upon the Lord Jesus, and none else will do so humbly or sincerely. But how should any call on the Lord Jesus, the Divine Saviour, who had not heard of him? And what is the life of a Christian but a life of prayer? It shows that we feel our dependence on him, and are ready to give up ourselves to him, and have a believing expectation of our all from him. It was necessary that the gospel should be preached. Somebody must show them what they are to believe. How welcome the gospel ought to be to those to whom it was preached! The gospel is given, not only to be known and believed, but to be obeyed. It is not a system of notions, but a rule of practice. The beginning, progress, and strength of faith is by hearing. But it is only hearing the word, as the word of God that will strengthen faith.

Illustration: When Henry Ford purchased a large insurance policy, the Detroit news papers blazoned the fact, since the amount was so large and he was so prominent. The story was read by one of Ford’s old friends, who I happened to be in the insurance business. The old friend went to confront Ford to see if the story was true. When Ford assured him that it was, the friend asked him why the policy was not purchased from him, since he was a personal friend and had been in insurance for many years. Ford’s reply was, "You never asked me."

How many of our friends can say to us, "You never asked me," as to our sharing Christ with them? God’s concern is people and He uses you and me to reach them. Do you share God’s concern? Do you have a passion for people?

Illustration: There was a boy, who felt eating an egg but had no money to buy it. He approached the store and realized that the storekeeper is busy somewhere. So this boy without giving any other thought stole an egg and brought home. He asked his mother to cook it for him, so she boiled it. The same thing repeated the second day and the third day and on and on until this boy started stealing bigger thing. One day he planned to rob a house, but the house owner caught this boy. This scared boy in hurry stabbed the owner to get rid, later realizing the man has died. Boy gets arrested. Due to past records of other crimes, this boy was sentenced to execution. The boy was asked if he has to say anything, he pleaded to speak to his mother once. As soon she arrives, the boy bit the ear of his mother so hard, stating, "She never asked me, where I bought these eggs from. Had she asked the very first day, I might not have ended like this."

When Dwight L. Moody was in London during one of his famous evangelistic tours, several British clergymen visited him. They wanted to know how and why this poorly educated American was so effective in winning throngs of people to Christ. Moody took the three men to the window of his hotel room and asked each in turn what he saw. One by one, the men described the people in the park below. Then Moody looked out the window with tears rolling down his cheeks. “What do you see, Mr. Moody?” asked one of the men.

“I see countless thousands of souls that will one day spend eternity in hell if they do not find the Savior.”

Obviously, D. L. Moody saw people differently than the average observer does. And because he saw eternal souls where others saw only people strolling in a park, Moody approached life with a different agenda.

Proverbs 11:13, "Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered."

A faithful man will not disclose what he is trusted with, unless the honour of God and the real good of society require it.

Illustration: While I was young, I completed my education for Lord's ministry. There was one of my friend, who used to laugh at me when I took my mission studies and tried to speak with him. Later on, I was blessed by becoming a minister of God, even this friend started respecting me. He passed away few years back without Christ. The point is, God keeps His children and brings them above everyone.

There was a fiery old revival preacher named Peter Cartwright who was famous for telling it like it was. He was preaching one time near Washington D.C. and the people of the church heard that Andrew Jackson was coming to visit. So they pulled Mr. Cartwright aside and said, "Listen Peter, the President is going to be here on Sunday and we know that sometimes you can get kind of offensive, so would you tone it down. We don’t want to upset the President." So Peter got up in the pulpit the next Sunday and his first three sentences were these. "I understand that the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson is with us this morning. I have been asked to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to Hell is he doesn’t repent." The church was appalled, but when worship was over Andrew Jackson grabbed Mr. Cartwright’s hand, shook it and said, "Sir, if I had an army of men like you I could whip the world."

In 1980 a young man from Rwanda was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:

"I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, worldly talking, cheap giving & dwarfed goals.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won't give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me & when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear."

Dear friends, I have a question for you, "Are you sleeping?"
If yes, then this is the time when you need to wake up from your slumber and repent as seek Lord's guidance to establish your relationship with Him and let Him use you for the purpose you have been made.

Let as all pray:

Dear father, thank you for today! We pray for our slumbers to vanish and we arise in doing what we have been created for. For the very purpose that you made us for. Wake us up from every spiritual sleep, in the name of Jesus. Every evil seed sown into our lives while we were sleeping, be removed by fire, in the name of Jesus. Cover us with your blood and by the fire of your Spirit O' God. Help us reach out to people who may end up in an eternal hell and that they even don't know what a gracious God you are. Lord, help us reach out and speak to our friends, our neighbors, our colleagues, our relatives. For this we will be requiring your strength and wisdom. Bless us with it dear God that whatever we speak be spoken through your spirit and all our actions be guided by you dear father. Built opportunities for us to meet peaple and that we share the word of your wisdom. We trust in you and with your most beautiful name, "Jesus", we pray. Amen!

Post service, we had few testimonies from parents who testified their and their children's experience during VBS. Below are few of the photographs:

We hope you enjoyed today’s service. We will meet you again next week. God Bless!

Image source: Blyznytsya Mountain, Ukraine Via "All That Is Interesting"

Sunday, October 19, 2014

October 19, 2014 | Are you awake? It is a high time!

Welcome to "The Nathan Report!"
A Bright sunny day, simply beautiful!
We started off with praise and worship, here is the playlist:

1) Tell the world - Hillsong United

2) Shout to the north - Delerious?

3) Blessed Assurance - Fanny Crosby

4) Hallelujah (Lord I stand) - Don Moen

Powerful praise and worship ended with a strong prayer and we move on to the weekly announcements:

- VBS for children will start tomorrow, i.e. 20th - 26th October at Indian Airlines School, Kalina. For more information, visit our Church website by clicking here.

- Women's fellowship will be on 25th October, 2014 at 4:30 PM, at Avion Hotel. Women are welcome to join.

- There us a book launch at Mumbai Central, YMCA at 5:00 PM. You all are invited to be present there.

Today we will be discussing about, "Are you awake? It is a high time".

Romans 13:11, "Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed."

This portion is written to God's people who may be sleeping. The Bible says, "Don't slumber, don't sleep, don't be lazy, now we are much more closer to the Salvation." Paul is talking about people who believe in Christ. You need to believe in Jesus and you need to search your heart.

Not only you Church, I also need to search my heart. We need a revival, Church needs revival, this nation needs a revival. The Church needs to arise from the sleep.

Few things are here taught, as a Christian's directory for his day's work. When to awake; Now; and to awake out of the sleep of carnal security, sloth, and negligence; out of the sleep of spiritual death, and out of the sleep of spiritual deadness. Considering the time; a busy time; a perilous time. Also the salvation nigh at hand. Let us mind our way, and mend our pace, we are nearer our journey's end. Also to make ourselves ready. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; therefore it is time to dress ourselves. Observe what we must put off; clothes worn in the night. Cast off the sinful works of darkness. Observe what we must put on; how we should dress our souls. Put on the armour of light. A Christian must reckon himself undressed, if unarmed. The graces of the Spirit are this armour, to secure the soul from Satan's temptations, and the assaults of this present evil world. Put on Christ; that includes all. Put on righteousness of Christ, for justification. Put on the Spirit and grace of Christ, for sanctification. The Lord Jesus Christ must be put on as Lord to rule you as Jesus to save you; and in both, as Christ anointed and appointed by the Father to this ruling, saving work. And how to walk. When we are up and ready, we are not to sit still, but to appear abroad; let us walk. Christianity teaches us how to walk so as to please God, who ever sees us. Walk honestly as in the day; avoiding the works of darkness. Where there are riot and drunkenness, there usually are chambering and wantonness, and strife and envy. Our great care must be to provide for our souls: but must we take no care about our bodies?

Napoleon had once said, "Let China sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world."

From the Section above (Romans 13:11), the final verses call Christians to action given the shortness of the time before Jesus returns, Sleep here is a metaphor for a life of moral carelessness and laxity. SALVATION is viewed as future reality here and it draws nearer everyday. THE DAY IS AT HAND! The nearness of the end summons, Christians to put off all evil works and to live in the light. Here Paul is talking about worldly cares and to wake up from that.

Matthew 26:4, "And plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him."

Our Lord had often told of his sufferings as at a distance, now he speaks of them as at hand. At the same time the Jewish council consulted how they might put him to death secretly. But it pleased God to defeat their intention. Jesus, the true paschal Lamb, was to be sacrificed for us at that very time, and his death and resurrection rendered public.

Jesus said that we are supposed to be active. We need not to be lazy, but aggressive.

Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

Those that take up short of true grace, will certainly find the want of it one time or other. An outward profession may light a man along this world, but the damps of the valley of the shadow of death will put out such a light. Those who care not to live the life, yet would die the death of the righteous. But those that would be saved, must have grace of their own; and those that have most grace, have none to spare. And while the poor alarmed soul addresses itself, upon a sick-bed, to repentance and prayer, in awful confusion, death comes, judgment comes, the work is undone, and the poor sinner is undone for ever. This comes of having oil to buy when we should burn it, grace to get when we should use it. Those, and those only, shall go to heaven hereafter, that are made ready for heaven here. The suddenness of death and of Christ's coming to us then, will not hinder our happiness, if we have been prepared. The door was shut. Many will seek admission into heaven when it is too late. The vain confidence of hypocrites will carry them far in expectations of happiness. The unexpected summons of death may alarm the Christian; but, proceeding without delay to trim his lamp, his graces often shine more bright; while the mere professor's conduct shows that his lamp is going out. Watch therefore, attend to the business of your souls. Be in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

What is sleep?

Paul said they were sleeping and had to wake up. If physical sleep is very bad what about spiritual sleep?

In general, sleep is a period of rest during which the sleeper loses the awareness of his surroundings. So, the danger in sleep is the loss of awareness. The elder brother of sleep is what medical people call “coma.” Some people are in spiritual coma. Messages and prayer do not worth anything to them. They may be at church service but would not hear what the preacher is saying because they are already dead spiritually, even though they are alive physically.

When a person falls asleep, all his physical activity decreases, his muscles relax and he could have a nightmare. Occasionally a person sleepwalks. A person who is sleep-walking can rise up, go to the kitchen, drink something go back to the bed and continue to sleep. And if you say, “Who drank this thing?” He would say, “I never stood up, I did not go there.” I pray that it will not happen to you, in Jesus’ name.

Illustration: There was a school girl, living in a hostel. One fine night, she woke up in her sleep (yet she was still in her sleep), took and wore her uniform and went to the railway station. There she found a bench, and she slept on it. In the morning, when station master saw a girl sleeping on the bench, he immediately called the school authorities since he recognized the familiar uniform of that school. As soon the authorities arrived, the station master asked, shall I wake her up? The responded, "No, don't wake her up, if she wakes up in her sleep, she will be very upset about this whole condition. Let her wake up on her own."

Some people even discuss in their sleep. That is why a local proverb says that sleep is the friend of death. It is during sleep that the agents of Satan in our environment lay evil eggs in people’s lives and they try to make sure that their victims do not know what they have done, because if they know, they will shake off the evil eggs. That is why the Bible says that while men slept, his enemies came quietly, planted evil and went away. It is not all enemies that will attack you directly. In fact, most enemies will not attack you directly. They just come, lay their evil eggs and go away.

When you lose the battle of the bed, you lose all battles. Satan has destroyed so many good things because of sleep. When you are addicted to sleep physically it is bad, but it is even worse when it is transferred to the spirit man. Sleep gives the enemy a chance to sow tares. While men sleep, many human tragedies occur. For example, fire, hurricane and tornadoes sweeping homes and cities away sometimes before the victims wake up. So, sleep is a time of insecurities: you cannot protect yourself at that time. It is a time of inactivity, and a time of delusion when you assume that all is right only for you to wake up to see a great change. So, we need to be aware of the dangers of spiritual slumber. Great changes may occur for the enemy may be at work.

Some people would say, “When I went to sleep last night, I was okay but by the time I woke up, I had become another person." Some people go to bed sound,only to wake up mad. The powers of the night waited for them to sleep, and then planted things in their lives.

In sleep we are not able to defend ourselves and during this period, many things change. There many dangers and satan is keeping a watch. Most of us are doing very well and fall under certain comfort zones, but hundreds and thousands of people are going in hell. We need to be on guard and need to share the love of Christ with them. There is more than 6 billion population world wide, how many of them other than faithful believers know Jesus as their personal saviour? Have you tried anything or you too are sleeping and letting them go to hell? Time is running and we need to wake up and we need to bring many lives to salvation and save them from hell.

Illustration: As a child, I used to enjoy playing cricket. I used to play from morning till 5:00 PM. It was the time when it starts becoming little dark. As soon the clock used to hit 5:00 PM, we used to realize, "What??? So early??? How can time fly???"

The Bible categorizes spiritual sleep into many classes. We will look at some of them. This will help you to know whether you are awake or not. The fact that somebody’s eyes are open does not mean that he is not sleeping spiritually.

Jonah 1:1-6, “1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

The Characteristics of the sleep of Jonah

It was an unrealistic sleep, a sleep of illusion. The storm was raging; men were in danger but Jonah did not realize it at all. Likewise many people today think that they can put a cover over their head and all the bad things they are seeing around them would go away simply because they are sleeping. No, they will not go away. The sailor confronted Jonah, “What meanest thou, O sleeper arise, call upon thy God. Can’t you see what is happening around?” There are many people like Jonah; a lot of things are happening around them, yet they are sleeping. Many, today are roaming about sleeping unrealistically. Their sin is raging like the hurricane and is as dark as the night and the danger is great,but they want to believe that everything is going to be all right. That is why Paul warns: “Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and the light of Christ shall shine upon thee.

Unfortunately, many will die under this delusion because their eyes are covered; they think that the world will just go on like that and that nothing will happen. They believe that politicians will be politicians, military men will be military men, governors will be governors, etc. No, very soon, things will happen. If you are sleeping like Jonah, I pray that the Lord would deliver you, in Jesus’ name.

Some people have the call of God upon their lives and God has told them where to go, but they have slept off like Jonah and have also decided to go another way. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but he headed for Tarshish and slept off on the way. Eventually, he went from his bed of sleep into the mouth of a fish and was there for three days. He did three days dry fast in the belly of the fish because of unrealistic sleep. He was running away from God and consoled himself by sleeping.

Today, people are exhausted and weighed down, and their senses are dumb spiritually. There is a need to be watchful, for the enemy will attack when we least expect. While righteous men sleep, the enemy does not sleep. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant for the devil, your adversary walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Evil lurks in every corner when the righteous people are weary. The disciples slept the sleep of weariness and we see where it landed them.

Many Christians are very lazy. They don’t want to do the Lord’s work. Just as a lazy person cannot do well physically, also a lazy person cannot do well spiritually. Laziness is the reason people give excuses for not doing what they are supposed to do. For example, they would complain that Bible studies usually take time and that is why they do not attend. Many are inactive when it comes to sowing the seed to the kingdom. Lazy people lack spiritual exercise. Family worship and Bible study are foreign to them. Just as a lazy farmer will not receive the best crop, a lazy Christian, too, will not receive the best from the Lord. The sleep of carelessness that many people sleep cannot fetch them anything from the Lord.

How do you know whether you are already deep in spiritual sleep?

1. When prayer ceases to be a priority to you.

2. When you become content with the spiritual knowledge that you have already acquired.

3. When your biblical knowledge is not applied inwardly. You just go to church, hear the message and read the Bible but you cannot apply them inwardly. They have no effect on your thought life or on your way of life.

4. When thoughts about heaven and eternity cease to be regular in your life. You don’t think about heaven. It does not cross your mind that this world is not a permanent place. You are only concerned about material wealth. It is a sign of spiritual slumber. You forget that our period on earth is temporary, that very soon all you have acquired in this world would become raw materials for fire.

5. When services in the house of God hold no delight for you. You are not interested in what goes on there.

6. When spiritual discussion becomes a source of embarrassment to you. For example, in your office, talking about Jesus or spiritual things becomes highly embarrassing because you know that those around will certainly know that you are not behaving like a Christian.

7. When things like leisure, sports, recreation, entertainment, etc. take a large part of your time, sleep has crept in and if you don’t wake, up the enemy will come and sow tares or lay eggs if they have not already done so.

8. When you commit the sin of the mind and body without your conscience pricking you.

9. When the aspiration for holiness is no longer paramount in your heart. When you look for Scriptures to back up your unholy behaviour, you know the truth but you are running away from it. People can always recognize the truth when they see it and they can always know when they are trying to wriggle away from the blunt truth. The truth may be bitter and unpalatable but it is very stubborn. No matter what you do to it, it will stand looking at you. If you knock it down, it will stand. You throw it away, it will stand. You bury it, it will come up. It is very stubborn. It may take time to manifest, but it must manifest.

10.When acquisition of worldly material is the major part of your thinking.

11.When you are singing Christian songs and chanting Christian words just from the lips and not from the heart.

12.Surrendering to Jesus, only what is convenient is a sign of spiritual slumber.

13.Taking the Lord’s name in vain shows that you are sleeping. You talk about the Lord as if He was your houseboy.

14.Saying that He has spoken something when He has not spoken: you did not receive a revelation and you say you did.

15.Watching movies and T.V shows and reading impure literature is a sign that you have already slept. A lot of people can stay glued to the T.V for hours without sleeping but immediately you say, “Let us pray” they sleep off.

16.When with the slightest excuse you avoid spiritual duties, you have slept.

17.When you are contended with your lack of spiritual power and you no longer seek power from high. The first key to spiritual power is lack of rest in your soul because you are not satisfied with your present level.

18.When you pardon your sin and your laziness by saying that God understands, you are spiritually sleeping.

19.When you as a Christian can easily adjust to the life style of the world. You dress differently to church and differently outside. It is a sign that you are spiritually asleep. If you still crack dirty jokes with unbelievers, or they feel at ease in your company to do whatever they like, then you are asleep. The correct position is that they should find it very difficult to do or say certain things before you.

20.When you are willing to cheat your employer, you have slept.

Today, my cry to God for you is that you will wake up like Paul said. Paul was not talking to unbelievers. He was talking to Christians. He said, “Awake thou that sleepest and Christ has shown you light.” So, it is time to awake from our sleep because now is our salvation nearer than it was before. Do not waste time clearing the evil eggs that the enemy has laid in your life while you were sleeping. The time you should do useful things for the Lord, you are busy using it to do deliverance for what happened to you while you were sleeping. It is better to be awake and pursue the enemy right into their gates. This is a serious matter and must be tackled aggressively.

It is not a good thing for you to say that you go to church and God does not speak to you. You cannot hear Him even on simple things of life such as your job. You are a Christian, yet you are gambling with life. When somebody begins to experiment with life, he does not get the best out of it. The best thing is to be in the right place at the right time and to be sure what the Almighty wants to do with your life. The fact that what you are doing is good does not mean it is divine.

If you have things to sort out with the Lord, do that now. Look back at your spiritual life. Look at what is happening now. Are you having the best? Haven’t you noticed the mistake that you have made because you could not hear from heaven? Haven’t you noticed the mistake was because you were spiritually asleep? You have given your enemy opportunity to plant weeds. Sort yourself out with the Lord. Make a promise that, as from now on, your spirit man will be on fire and that fire will be burning on the altar of your life. Why should your ears be making noise and you are hearing nothing? Why should your eyes be itching but you are seeing nothing. You know everything about your field of specialization, but you do not know what the Holy Spirit is saying about your life.

Please, pray aggressively!

Let us all pray...

Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful opportunity to bring us to Church today and hear this wonderful message. Dear Lord, wake us up and help us be aggressive in our spiritual lives. Help us wake others who have been sleeping and might be missing a precious gift of entering a place where the Lion and Lamb sits together. Jesus, we know we have been very lazy and the time is near, please bless us with your mercy of Grace so that we fulfill the purpose for what we have been created by you. We rebuke any evil plan in Jesus' name and take protection from your blood all over us. Lord, keep us alert and active so that we reach out to others who need you. With your most precious and gracious name, 'Jesus Christ', we ask. Amen!

We hope you enjoyed today's sermon. We look forward seeing you again next week. God Bless!

Image source: Japanese Spring Pink Flowers and Sakura City Lights - http://www.zastavki.com/eng/Nature/Nature/Seasons/Spring/wallpaper-39780.htm

Saturday, October 18, 2014

October 12, 2014 | Witnessing

A bright sunny day, a perfect day made by our Lord. Welcome to 'THE NATHAN REPORT'!

We started of with beautiful praise and worship, here is the playlist:

1) We will worship the Lamb of Glory - Dennis Jernigan

2) Nothing is impossible - Israel Houghton

3) My redeemer lives - Reuben Morgan

4) Here is love - Welsh Hymn

5) How great is our God - Chris Tomlin

Beautiful Praise and Worship followed by the announcements. Here are the list of announcements:

- We have three services every Sunday, 8:00 AM, 9:45 AM and 5:30 PM.

- Men's Fellowship will be on 16th October at 6:00 AM at Hotel Avion.

- VBS will begin on 20th Oct till 26th October. The topic will be "Weird Animals". Bring your children to learn about it.

- There will be a trip to Orissa in November. Pray for the planning and safety during the tour.

- Pastor Vivek is back and he will be leading the service today after almost one month of unwellness.

Today we will be talking about "Witnessing".
Have you ever imagined, a tiny mosquito can be responsible for sending people to hospital beds. If you ever did, then imagine, what man can do to glorify God? How many people he can bring to the beloved savior?

Illustration: On the evening of April 15, 1912, a most horrible and tragic accident took the lives of over 1,500 people. What is more horrifying is the fact that there were 16 lifeboats and four rafts with enough space to accommodate over 1,700. There were almost a 1,000 more people on board the Titanic than there was space in the lifeboats. Many of the dead bodies recovered from this event are now resting in three Halifax Cemeteries. And this is the real tragedy, not the fact the Titanic sank but that there were so many who died, who possibly could’ve lived. In her book “Titanic a Night Remembered” Stephanie L. Barczewski recounts the testimony of the survivors of this fateful night. Several of the crew men who were assigned to the lifeboats testified that they wanted to go search for survivors in the water but the rich and influential passengers convinced them to row away from the scene. They were concerned that the lifeboats would be swamped with people trying to escape the frigid waters and the boat would be overturned. Only one lifeboat ultimately made it back to look for survivors, boat 14, but, it arrived too late and only saved 3 people out of the hundreds who died. Survivor Eva Hart remembered this night, she said, "I saw all the horror of its sinking, and I heard, even more dreadful, the cries of drowning people."

Only one lifeboat out of twenty decided to go back and save the drowning passengers. The other nineteen rowed aimlessly for hours and because of their fear kept a distance from the dying. "I came to seek and to save the lost," Jesus said. And he commissioned us to do the same. But we face a large obstacle: fear. While people drown in the treacherous waters around us, we are tempted to stay dry and make certain no one rocks our boat.

I believe we want to be more like lifeboat 14 than the other boats. Our mission statement says, “we exist to increase and mature God’s people.” So we need to discuss what it means to increase God’s people. What we’re talking about here is sharing our faith with others. There are two reasons why sharing your faith is vital. The first reason has everything to do with life; Eternal life.

There are many people who are drowning, who do not have Jesus. We need to witness them, not for us, but to save them. In our Church, following is the mission statement: "We are convinced that God has called us to make disciples of all people (all nations, tribes, tongues and races) by reaching them with a great offer of the gospel, exhorting them to pursue a love for and knowledge of God, teaching them to obey everything Christ commanded, and equipping them for spiritual service in the home, church, workplace, community and the nations." We need to stay on the path of the Lord and keep on reaching out and witness to ones who are lost. Jesus said, "For I came to seek and to save the lost".

There are only two destinations:
- Heaven.
- Hell.
Every individual's life will determine the destiny. Thousands are dying in front of us everyday, what are we supposed to do? We need to witness and bring the lost to Jesus. It is our choice and not chance that determines our destiny.

Few references:
Daniel 12:2, "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Romans 5:15, "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many."

Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."

From the illustration above, people who died in Titanic was not the tragedy. The real tragedy was people who moved away. God has provided the salvation from eternal death - this is the essence of witnessing.

A brief description of Hell
1. Hell is a conscious torment.
- Hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Fire and brimstone. (will torture but never consume).

Matthew 13:5, "Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil."

Mark 9:48, "Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."

Revelation 14:10, "He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb."

Revelation 19:20, "And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur."

It causes unquenchable intense pain and agony.

Ezekiel 20:147, "Say to the forest of the Negeb, Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from south to north shall be scorched by it."

Matthew 12:20, "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory."

Mark 9:43-48, "43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.[b] 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."

2. Hell is eternal and irreversible
Matthew 18:8, "And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire."

Matthew 25:41, "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Matthew 21:46, "And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet."

Revelation 14:11, "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

The gospel is the great means whereby men are brought to fear God, and to give glory to him. The preaching of the everlasting gospel shakes the foundations of antichrist in the world, and hastens its downfal. If any persist in being subject to the beast, and in promoting his cause, they must expect to be for ever miserable in soul and body. The believer is to venture or suffer any thing in obeying the commandments of God, and professing the faith of Jesus. May God bestow this patience upon us. Observe the description of those that are and shall be blessed: such as die in the Lord; die in the cause of Christ, in a state of union with Christ; such as are found in Christ when death comes. They rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution; for there the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. Their works follow them: do not go before as their title, or purchase, but follow them as proofs of their having lived and died in the Lord: the remembrance of them will be pleasant, and the reward far above all their services and sufferings. This is made sure by the testimony of the Spirit, witnessing with their spirits, and the written word.

How can we save people from going an eternal hell? By witnessing them!

Revelation 2:14-15, "14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

The word of God is a sword, able to slay both sin and sinners. It turns and cuts every way; but the believer need not fear this sword; yet this confidence cannot be supported without steady obedience. As our Lord notices all the advantages and opportunities we have for duty in the places where we dwell, so he notices our temptations and discouragements from the same causes. In a situation of trials, the church of Pergamos had not denied the faith, either by open apostacy, or by giving way so as to avoid the cross. Christ commends their stedfastness, but reproves their sinful failures. A wrong view of gospel doctrine and Christian liberty, was a root of bitterness from which evil practices grew. Repentance is the duty of churches and bodies of men, as well as of particular persons; those who sin together, should repent together. Here is the promise of favour to those that overcome. The influences and comforts of the Spirit of Christ, come down from heaven into the soul, for its support. This is hidden from the rest of the world. The new name is the name of adoption; when the Holy Spirit shows his own work in the believer's soul, this new name and its real import are understood by him.

3. Hell is an utter impenetrable darkness.
2 Peter 2:17, "These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved."

Jude 1:3, "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints."

Matthew 22:13, Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Some people don't believe that heaven or hell exist. I believe in this, because the word of God says this. Those that walk unworthy of Christianity, forfeit all the happiness they presumptuously claimed. Our Saviour here passes out of the parable into that which it teaches. Hypocrites go by the light of the gospel itself down to utter darkness. Many are called to the wedding-feast, that is, to salvation, but few have the wedding-garment, the righteousness of Christ, the sanctification of the Spirit. Then let us examine ourselves whether we are in the faith, and seek to be approved by the King.

The word of truth is the water of life, which refreshes the souls that receive it; but deceivers spread and promote error, and are set forth as empty, because there is no truth in them. As clouds hinder the light of the sun, so do these darken counsel by words wherein there is no truth. Seeing that these men increase darkness in this world, it is very just that the mist ofdarkness should be their portion in the next. In the midst of their talk of liberty, these men are the vilest slaves; their own lusts gain a complete victory over them, and they are actually in bondage. When men are entangled, they are easily overcome; therefore Christians should keep close to the word of God, and watch against all who seek to bewilder them.

4. Hell is also for them who reject Jesus.
God's desire is that no one should go to hell. It was originally designed for satan and demons.

Matthew 25:41, "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

Matthew 13:41, "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,"

Matthew 13:50, "And throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Revelation 20:10-11, "10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them."

Revelation 20:15, "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Revelation 21:8, "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

Illustration: Pastor Rick Warren put out a survey about the Purpose of the Church that shows why some Christians aren’t motivated for Evangelism. In the survey, 89% of the church members said the Church’s Purpose is to “take care of my needs and those of my family.” Only 11% said, “The purpose of the church is to win the world for Jesus Christ.” (The Purpose-Driven Church, Page 82)

But according to Jesus Christ, spreading the Good News is our MAIN purpose. Some people think of Evangelizing as a heavy burden. It’s just one more thing to feel guilty about. But that’s not the way we should be looking at it, because the call to evangelism is actually a HEAVENLY HONOR. Moreover Church is the only organization with a place for non-members.

John 1:41-42, "41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter)."

John 1:44-46, 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

John Piper sais, "When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to just news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart spring of love is dried up.

The keener the memory of our awful rescue the more naturally we pity those in a similar plight. The more deeply we feel how undeserved and free was the grace that plucked us from the flames, the freer will be our benevolence to sinners."

Illustration: Dwight L Moody never forgot the day Kimball came behind the counter “and put his hand upon my shoulder, and talked to me about Christ and my soul. I had not felt I had a soul till then.” Moody stood astounded by the presence of this man who had known him only a few weeks yet wept over his sins. Years later Moody said, “I don’t remember what he said, but I can feel the power of that man’s hand on my shoulder tonight.” Within a few months, the young shoe store clerk surrendered his life to Christ and expressed a willingness to repent and be mentored in the faith by Edward Kimball and a few other men in Boston’s Mount Vernon Congregational Church. The young convert admitted that he soon found himself in “a conflict with my will. I had a terrible battle to surrender my will, and to take God’s will.”

Friends, start witnessing people to keep people away from hell. It is a place of darkness, agony, terror. Witnessing is not an option, but it is required. Do we care for those who are trying to get fulfillment in vain things and are distressed?

Witness is our business. Fear keeps away witnessing, but this is the time when we need to ask Lord for the support and fearlessness. Church is not our need, God fulfills our needs, We need to witness, that is Church's need.

Let us all pray!

Dear Lord, thank you for a wonderful message. Open the eyes of our heart God. If we think our friends may be going to hell or our loved ones are going to hell, we proclaim, "We want to witness." Give us strength of Lord. Help us reach out the unreached. We know, our life has a purpose, and we completely submit our lives to You dear God. Please help us reach hundreds of people and save them from entering eternal pain, terror and agony. May your word be known to them, so use us dear Lord. We rebuke any evil plan in Jesus' name and proclaim the blood of Christ's protection upon us. Prepare us father and help us be victorious of fear. We want to witness, please make a way for us. With your most precious name we ask. Amen!

We hope you enjoyed today's service. Before closing, we had a holy communion service and a beautiful song in the background. Below are few photographs and the link to the song.