HopeLives365

Mark Finley: The power of one. You're not some insignificant speck of dust on a planet called earth. You were shaped by God, and by the grace of God, you can make a difference for His kingdom.

Announcer (Female): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: The Power of One. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: It seems that the foundations of society are crumbling. This has produced an uncertainty and anxiety, an insecurity on the part of many. Let's look at a few statistics of what's happening in the world, and these statistics almost read like Jesus' words in Matthew 24 and in Mark 13 and Luke 21.

If you look, for example, at the statistics on world hunger, 690 million people went hungry in 2019. 2022, it's over 700 million people. 8.9 percent of all the people in the world today are hungry globally. 19 percent of the people in Africa suffer from hunger. That's one in every five Africans goes to bed tonight with not enough food. Two billion people in the world are unable to access food that's safe and nutritious. I mean, that's staggering.

57 percent of sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia are unable to afford a healthy diet. Jesus speaks about famines, speaks about world hunger. We see that being fulfilled. But let's look at the refugees, the displaced people. Over 108 million people worldwide last year were displaced from their homes as a result of persecution or conflict or violence or human rights violations.

Let's look at wars around the world. We talked about the war in the Ukraine. Hundreds, thousands dead, tens of thousands more injured. And then you see recently, a week ago today, this last Sabbath, an attack on Israel. And there, now Iran, China threatening to be involved. United States sending an aircraft carrier support group to the Mediterranean.

When you take a look at what's happening in the world from the area of war, did you know that over 500,000 people, a million people this year will die because of war? And that's tens of thousands more injured. Now, if you add to that almost 400,000 people dying because of violent crimes, something's going on in the world. World hunger, refugees, wars.

But then you look at natural disasters. You say, well haven't we always had natural disasters? In 2022, the Emergency Event Database recorded 387 natural disasters worldwide. Do you know that in that one year alone, there were 223 billion dollars spent on natural disasters? Then if you look at the nuclear threat around the world, there's a group called the Atomic Scientists and they publish every year what's called the Doomsday Clock. And they've just moved up the hands on this Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds before midnight.

Now midnight, of course, is the time with these atomic scientists believe that life on earth will be extinct. And this is what their global report said: The clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to global catastrophe it's ever been.

What does Jesus say about all of this? Take your Bible and turn to Luke the 21st chapter. What is Christ's message to His people when we see the signs in the natural world, when we see distress in nations, when men and women's hearts are failing them for fear? What is Christ's instruction to us?

Luke chapter 21, verse 28: Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws nigh. When these things begin to happen, are these events taking place all around us today? When these events begin to happen, do what? Be filled with fear and anxiety because of the events? Look up because your redemption draws nigh.

There is an amazing statement that was written well over 100 years ago in a little series called the Ninth Volume of the Testimonies, page 11. Listen to this one: The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones. Do we see great changes taking place in the world today? And is the pace of change rapidly increasing?

Now as we contemplate the state of our world and these rapidly deteriorating world conditions, it's very easy to become so perplexed you just throw up your hands and you say, well there's nothing really I can do about it. I'm simply only one person on a planet out of control, and that's it. There's nothing I can do, these things are simply happening.

I'm reminded of a statement by Dwight Moody, the renowned American evangelist. He wrote these words in his Bible. He said: I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. What I can do I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.

Because I can't do everything about all these conditions in the world doesn't mean that I should refuse to do the something that I can do. Now there's only one you. You're the only person with your exact heritage. You're the only person with your life story. You're the only person who has your personal convictions, your skills, your appearance, your touch, your voice, your style, your surroundings, your sphere of influence.

You're the only one who, by the grace of God, can make a difference in your world. You can make a difference in your family. You can make a difference with your husband, your wife, your children. You can make a difference with your neighbor. You can make a difference with your working associates. You make a difference with students in a school, nurses in the hospital where you work, the computer program. I am only one, but I can make a difference in my world.

In 1654, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell the control of England. In 1649, one vote caused Charles the First of England to be executed. In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of the German language. If there wasn't that one vote, you may be speaking German today. You may speak it anyway.

In 1839, one vote elected Marcus Morton governor Massachusetts. In 1845, one vote, one vote brought Texas into the union. Or otherwise, Texas would be part of Mexico. One vote. In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic. In 1876, one vote, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the United States presidency. In 1923, one vote, one vote gave Adolf Hitler control of the Nazi party, and it changed the world.

In 1941, one vote saved the selective service system where young people are brought into the armed forces. One vote saved that system 12 weeks before Pearl Harbor. When I read the Bible, when I read God's word, I find individual men and women that made a difference for Christ.

From Genesis to Revelation, we see God's hand in the lives of individuals who did what was right because it was right, regardless of the results, and they made a difference for God. In the Bible, we discover the power of one person, guided by the Holy Spirit, one person's influence making a difference for God. One person's decision changing the course of history. One person's actions impacting the scores of other lives.

One person's witness changing their world. One person's kindness making a difference in the lives of the people around them. Heaven's vision for a last-day people is this: God's people, filled with His spirit, proclaiming His love and grace and truth everywhere, making a difference. Evil will not have the last word, God will. We look at the wars, we look at the famine, we look at the natural disasters, we look at the strife and conflict all around us. But there's something else that we look at: the promises of God's word.

Let's look at some of those promises. Matthew chapter 24, verse 14. Men and women in a last-day church, saved by grace, charmed by God's love, filled with His spirit, going out to make a difference in the world. That's our calling. That's our destiny. That's the purpose for which God has brought us into existence.

Matthew 24, verse 14: This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world. Notice it doesn't say may be preached. Will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, then the end will come. This is not simply a command, it's a promise. It's the promise of God that He will raise up an end-time people that are so in love with Jesus that in the sphere of their influence, that one man, that one woman, that one boy, that one girl makes a difference.

Announcer (Female): You're listening to HopeLives365. We'll be right back. And if you like what you're hearing, we invite you to check out our website, hopelives365.com. There you can find many ministry resources, encouraging messages, and even a link to our HopeLives365 YouTube ministry. And of course, an opportunity to sow into this valuable ministry. Find out more by going to hopelives365.com. That's hopelives365.com. And now back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Look at Revelation chapter 14. Evil will not have the last word. This world will not be destroyed by some nuclear holocaust and turned into a spinning globe of ash with dead bodies across the earth. The destiny that God has for you and for me, the plan that God has, Revelation 14, verse 6: And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven. Here's something that is urgent, having the everlasting gospel. Here's something that's eternal to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. So the vision that John had is the vision of the gospel going to the ends of the earth.

Look at Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 14. Here are the promises of God. Here is the word of the living God. Habakkuk chapter 2, verse 14: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Matthew 24:14, Jesus says this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all the world. Revelation 14, verse 6, the angel flies in the midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Habakkuk chapter 2, the earth is filled with the glory of God. How will God accomplish this mission? Who does God use?

When you look back at the first century, what do you find? God uses a fisherman, filled by the Holy Spirit, to baptize 3,000 in a day. Did Peter ever think five years before this time when he's casting those nets on the Sea of Galilee and pulling in fish and sorting them with stinky, smelly fisherman's hands, did he ever think that he was going to be used of God to see 3,000 baptized?

What about Matthew when he was doing that tax collecting? What about Matthew when he was that accountant counting that money at the end of the day? Did he ever think that he was going to write Matthew's gospel and 2,000 years later you and I would be reading it? Or think about Thomas the Doubter. Did he ever think that God would send him as a missionary to India, the most populous nation in the world?

Or what about those two demon-possessed young men? Did they ever think that God would send them out as the first missionaries, two demon-possessed men that were delivered, that wanted to go with Jesus? Think about who God uses. Or what about the Samaritan woman, a woman caught in adultery with multiple husbands? Did she ever think four or five years before that time that she would be a missionary to Samaria and that Jesus would come there, and later Philip, and the whole city would be converted? Who does God use? God uses ordinary people, people like you, people like me, common ordinary people, filled with the spirit of God to do extraordinary things.

I want you to think about it. The New Testament church gathered in Jerusalem. Common ordinary men and women. You've got Peter, you've got James and John and Mary. You've got Matthew. And as they gather, they have a danger. And the danger they have is the church is growing in Jerusalem. And the danger they have is wanting to stay where they're comfortable. The danger they have is not wanting to break out of their comfort zone.

God allows persecution to come. And there's a very instructive statement in the book Acts of the Apostles, page 105: Success had attended the ministry of the word in that place, that's Jerusalem, because you remember 3,000 were baptized. There was danger that the disciples would linger there too long. I want you in your mind underline the word linger. Unmindful of the Savior's commission to go to all the world, forgetting that strength to resist evil is best gained by aggressive service.

Notice two things about this. Their danger was to linger where they were comfortable. Secondly, they were forgetting something. Does it say forgetting that strength to resist evil is best gained through prayer? Prayer's important. Does it say forgetting that strength to resist evil is best gained through Bible study? That's important. Why do you think this says forgetting that strength to resist evil is best gained by aggressive service?

Can you think of anybody in the New Testament that prayed a lot and studied the Bible a lot, but they crucified Jesus? Who was that? The Pharisees. Were the Pharisees praying a lot? Were the Pharisees studying the Bible a lot? But did they crucify Jesus? Why? Because everything was focused upon themselves. So the disciples had a danger.

The reason God sends us out in mission, in service, to share His love with others, is not simply so they can be saved, it's so we can be saved. Because service strangles selfishness to death. As we serve others, we grow spiritually. We grow as we go. Can you say that with me? We grow as we go. Once more. We grow as we go.

Now let's look at this statement as it goes on. They began to think that they had no work so important as that of shielding the church in Jerusalem from the attacks of the enemy. Instead of educating the new converts to carry the gospel to those who had not heard it, they were in danger of taking a course that would lead all to be satisfied with what had been accomplished.

Have we accomplished a great deal in the last five years? God has blessed this church enormously. But is there a danger? The danger is that we come to church on Sabbath morning, that we listen to powerful messages from God's word, that we enjoy our Sabbath school, we enjoy our Pathfinders, but that we focus inward on ourselves.

God is leading this church to be a missionary church in this community, to be a light of the world, to plant other churches, to assist other small churches, not to simply be satisfied. Why is God leading us to do that? For two reasons. First, so that we grow spiritually. We grow as we go. Secondly, God is leading us to do that so that we will be an impact in the community. God wants to use one to reach many. There's Holy Spirit power that flows into the life of a godly man, a godly woman. God wants to do much, much more with our lives than we can ever imagine.

Shortly, a few days ago, I was with the president of our work in China, and he was sharing this story. China has 145 cities with over one million people in each of those 145 cities. China has 10 cities with 10 million people in it, and it has 21 cities with five million people. So China is incredibly populous. We have about a half a million believers in China that are Seventh-day Adventists right now.

One of those cities of a million people or more had no Adventist believers in it and almost no Christians. One man got on his knees and began to pray. God, show me what you want me to do. God, whatever you want me to do, Lord, I want to do. And the Lord impressed him, move and go to that city that has a million people in it where there are no Adventists and very few Christians. He said, what should I do when I go there? I'm just a masseuse, I'm a massage expert. I don't know what to do.

The Lord impressed him, set up your massage table in the city square and offer free massages. So he set up his table and he begins massaging these people as they come. Well, he saw this old man walking up who just had had a stroke, and this old man had this cane and he's limping, could hardly walk. And so he went up to him and he said, look, how would you like me to massage your leg? I think I can really help you. And the old man said, okay, massage my leg.

The guy got on the table, began to massage his leg. The Lord began to impress this man, I am miraculously healing this man. Tell him to get up, drop his cane and walk. And he said, what? Lord, I don't know if I got that message right. Tell that man to get off the bed and walk, he's healed.

So he looked at him and he said, you're healed. Get up, walk, throw your cane away. The man got up, threw his cane away and began to jog. And he came back and he said, I don't know what happened, but I'm healed. He said, God just healed you. The man said, look, you've got to come to my house. You've got to tell my neighbors about this. You've got to tell my friends about this. Today there is a church in that house of 70 people worshipping God.

God wants to use one man, one woman, one boy, one girl. We grow as we go. As we go for Christ and do something out of the ordinary for Him, our own spiritual experience grows dramatically. If you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples shall and win souls for Him, what happens to you when you do it, when you get involved in the lives of others? You'll feel the need of a deeper experience and a greater knowledge of divine things. You'll hunger and thirst after righteousness. You'll plead with God and your faith will be strengthened.

Your soul will drink deeper drafts at the well of salvation. Encountering opposition and trials will drive you to the Bible and prayer. You'll grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ and will develop a rich experience. The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character. It brings peace and happiness to its possessor. When you and I get involved in the lives of others, when we unselfishly serve, when we go out of ourselves, we grow spiritually in ways that we could not grow otherwise.

Announcer (Female): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: What's that expression? We grow as we go. The Holy Spirit is poured out on those that are witnessing for the Savior. But you say, wait a minute, Pastor Mark, God does not call the qualified, He qualifies those He calls. When God invites you and gives you a vision of blessing others, all God's biddings are enablings. God is going to equip you. I don't know what ministry God's calling you to, but I know God's calling you to a ministry.