P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

Finding the Savior

Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery, and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. 

     CONNIE: You know, speaking of winning the lottery, I was reading some interesting stories the other day about people who’ve won and the changes it’s made in their lives.

     LONNIE: I suppose it does make some real changes in people’s lives.  But it doesn’t really solve all the problems, does it?

     CONNIE: Well, it may solve the money issues--at least temporarily, but it sure doesn’t solve everything.  In fact I read one story about a man who’d won 3.6 million dollars in Massachusetts.  He was so stressed out by it that he died a couple of weeks later of a heart attack.

     LONNIE: But Connie, today we’re focusing on instant life-changing experiences that make life BETTER.

     CONNIE: I know.  And I think that’s what you spoke with Mark Finley about recently, wasn’t it?

     LONNIE: Mark, of course, is the director/speaker of our sister broadcast, It Is Written, and he was kind enough to drop by our studios and share the story of his own life-changing moment.

     CONNIE: Well, what are we waiting for--let’s roll the tape!

     LONNIE: Mark Finley, welcome to our studio here at the Voice of Prophecy.

     MARK: Thanks Lonnie!

     LONNIE: This is kind of a rare moment because you have been so busy these past couple of years.  It’s like that Daniel description of the beast whose feet touch not the ground, right?

     MARK: Sometimes I feel that way.

     LONNIE: You know It Is Written has become an phenomenal presence for God in the world hasn’t it?

     MARK: It really has.  It Is Written, Lonnie, now is on in 130 different countries, eight languages around the world, the United States in 5,000 cities.  It’s really incredible what God has done through the telecast. 

     LONNIE: And we’re so proud to be able to quote you from time to time, from books and materials that It Is Written jointly shares with us at the Voice of Prophecy, and I still have a very soft spot in my heart for It Is Written, having spent five years of my own life there.

     MARK: And we appreciate Voice of Prophecy so much.  You know on the air we constantly offer our viewers the Discover Bible School, the Discover Bible Course, and it’s such a powerful tool to lead people to know Jesus.

     LONNIE: Now people recognize you all over the planet, not only because of the television presence, but by live satellite events.  You’re heading over to where next?

     MARK: New Guinea.

     LONNIE: New Guinea, and by the tens and tens of thousands, evern in Moscow and great cities of the earth, they recognize Mark Finley, but very few people know about your story.  Mark today we’re talking about the conversion of the disciple Andrew.  Do you identify with that particular Bible Story?

     MARK: Lonnie, Andrew has always been a favorite Bible character of mine.  Andrew’s conversion was dramatically different than the thief on the cross’s conversion for example.  Andrew, no doubt was brought up in a religious home, Andrew was brought up in a family where church was a regular thing.  He came, no doubt, from a Jewish background, but Andrew’s religion was rather formal, there was something external, something missing deep down inside.  In my own life, I was brought up in a religious home.  I didn’t have one of those dramatic conversions where I was on drugs or involved in alcohol, or involved in some kind of heavy party style life.

     LONNIE: What we sometimes call a sensational conversion.

     MARK: Exactly.  I can really identify with Andrew.  I was brought up in a religious home.  It was formal.  I went to church on a weekly basis, but there was something missing in my life.  Something deep down inside that I didn’t have, and I was filled with a lot of guilt when I made mistakes in my teen years.  When I sinned, I remember often lying on my bed at night and just tossing and turning.  To me death was a dark hole in the ground and the grave was a long night without a morning.  My stomach was in knots.  I was filled with a lot of pressure, and I thought, “When I die, I’m certainly not worthy enough to see God.  I cannot enter into the holiness of God.  God is too holy, God is too righteous.  Mark Finley is unrighteous, Mark Finley is unholy, I’m unclean.”  And so I went through that tremendous struggle in my teen years, identifying with Andrew. 

     LONNIE: Like also Martin Luther in a way too.

     MARK: That’s right!  Sure!  And I came to the point in my life where I knew I needed something more.

     LONNIE: Well how was your conversion experience then somewhat parallel, somewhat similar to Andrews?

     MARK: There was a point in my life when I was seventeen, I was a senior in high school, and I worked with my father in a machine shop, and every morning we’d travel to work together.

     LONNIE: You have a little accent, and this is the East coast, isn’t it?

     MARK: It’s an East coast accent.  Occasionally when I get excited in preaching, it’s more New York because my father was from New York City, but my dad accepted Jesus when he was 33 years old, and he had a really meaningful experience with Christ, and so when I worked with him that summer, he kept sharing with me about how to have peace.  He’d share with me texts like 1John 1:9 where the Bible say, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins.” And Acts 4:12 , “There is no other name unto Heaven we can be saved, except through Jesus.”  And like Andrew had that encounter with Christ, and his life was dramatically changed, all that summer of my senior in high school I continued to study the Bible.  I had never studied the Bible before, and dad said, “Mark, start reading the Bible.  Mark, get into scripture.”  And so I began to go through the Gospels.  I began to read on the life of Christ.  In Matthew 21:21 the scripture says, “And she will bring forth a son, and you’ll call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins.”  And I began to read about Christ touching the eyes of the blind and they were opened, touching the ears of the deaf and they were unstopped.  This Christ who forgave the women caught in adultery, and this Christ who forgave the people that were nailing Him to the cross, and this Christ who said, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing,” and when I saw the compassion and the mercy and the forgivenss and the pardon of this Christ, it just transformed my life totally.

     LONNIE: And what difference has Jesus made to you now that you’ve met this person, Jesus Christ, as it did perhaps with Andrew back in his day?

     MARK: Jesus has made all the difference for me.  You know He’s taken away that guilt, He’s taken away that condemnation.  No, Mark Finley is not perfect.  No, he doesn’t always act in ways that he ought to act, but I have that sense that Jesus Christ died for me, that His righteousness is my righteousness.  That the forgiveness He offers from the cross is mine.  That when Jesus said to the thief, “I say unto you this day, this day I’m dying on the cross, this day that there are nails in my hand, you will be with me in Paradise.”  Jesus is saying that to me, on that cross, He gives me the assurance of eternal life.

     LONNIE: What a testimony.  Thank you Mark Finley for being with us here today.

     MARK: It’s been a delight Lonnie.

          CONNIE: I think we’ve all heard Robert Frost’s poem that begins “Two roads diverged in a yellowed wood¼”--it’s a compelling piece about the difference that seemingly small decisions can make.  And Mark’s story is a great illustration of that.

     Our focus today is on meeting Jesus and how that can change a person’s life.  Cynthia Clawson’s song “I heard About a Man” tells how meeting Jesus changed her life.

           “I Heard About a Man”, Cynthia Clawson, from  The Way I Feel CD, Track 14

     CONNIE: “He blossomed forth in me¼”  That’s what meeting Jesus is all about, isn’t it?  Just hearing about Him is one thing, but really bringing Him into our hearts and letting Him blossom there is what makes a difference. 

     That was Cynthia Clawson, and the song is found on her CD “The Way I Feel.”  For more information about music heard on our broadcast, stop by our web page at  www.vop.com.  

     I know you’ve heard about Jesus too--but would you like to meet Him up, close and personal?  Mark Finley and Steve Mosley have written a book that will help you do that.  It’s called Jesus Face to Face.  And the good news is that today, in honor of our interview with Mark, we’re offering his book for free to all who ask for it.  Just call 1-800-872-0055 if you’d like to have a copy.  We’ll send it as our gift.  Mark has had the privilege of introducing thousands to Jesus as their best friend, and this book will help you meet the Savior on that wonderful, personal level too.  Why not call 1-800-872-0055 right now and request Jesus Face to Face.

     There are a lot of influences that can change our lives, but as Ken Wade points out in our commentary today, there’s just nothing to match the changes God makes.

           KEN: Sitting in a hotel room recently, I flipped on the television and scanned through the channels.  My eye was caught by the image of a blindfolded man with a helmet on, sitting in a laboratory.  As I watched, I became intrigued with the experiment he was participating in.

     A prominent brain researcher had designed the helmet the man was wearing, and from what I could tell--picking up the show in midstream--the researcher was sending electrical impulses through the helmet, hoping to affect what was going on in his subject’s mind.

     I’ve always been interested in the brain and how it works, so I watched the rest of the program.

     The man who’d had the helmet on later described what had flashed through his mind during the experiment--various colors, and the image of a childhood friend’s mother.  It was interesting to speculate as to whether the magnetic field in the helmet had caused these thoughts or whether they were just random wanderings of his mind.

     But what really got my attention was the scientist’s explanation of his reasons for experimenting with the brain.  What it sounded like to me was that he’d like to learn to play God.

     Here’s what I mean:  The scientist was well aware of countless stories of people whose lives had been transformed by a religious experience--an encounter with God.  But as he put it--the very existence of God was a theory he didn’t need.  He doesn’t believe in God.  He thinks that what happens when a person is converted is something like throwing a switch in their brain that suddenly transforms them into better, happier people.

     He likes what conversion can do to a person, but he has no use for the God who brings about the conversion.  He hopes his helmet and wires can replace God.  He’s looking for a way to throw the conversion switch without having to rely on God.

     I found myself totally flabbergasted by the good doctor’s vision and hopes.  Does he really think he can give a person hope and peace and joy by throwing a brain switch?  What would be the basis of their hope?  A change in brain chemistry or brain circuitry?

     As for me, I say “No thanks.”  I may need some switches thrown in my brain.  But what I need even more is a God and Savior that I can depend on.  I’d rather put my hope and trust in God than in someone’s electromagnetic miracle machine.

         CONNIE: I’m with you on that, Ken.  A real-life encounter with Jesus really does change lives, as Lonnie points out in today’s message “Finding the Savior.”

SERMON

     LONNIE: The two young men didn’t know that their lives were going to change forever that day.

     Oh--things had already been changing a bit for them recently.  But nothing quite so drastic as what happened to them when they saw the stranger for the second time.

     Andrew and John had become disciples of the famous Jordan River Preacher--the man known as John the Baptist.  They’d spent quite a bit of time with him, listening to him preach, watching as he led people down into the water and dipped them under it.  He said he baptized them to wash away their sins and prepare them to be a part of something exciting—a brand new kingdom he said would be established soon.

     Let me pause just a moment in the story to say that we here at Voice of Prophecy really resonate with the spirit of these men--John the Baptist and his disciples.  In fact, we see ourselves as their spiritual heirs.  Our mission, like John’s, is to proclaim the soon-coming kingdom of God, and to call people to forsake their sins, begin living life for God, and prepare for the coming of Jesus.

     In our radio and television ministries, as well as in our Bible school, we’re calling people to come and hear the word of God, so I’m really glad you’re listening.  Our prayers are with you--that you’ll be like the two young men whose story we’re looking at today:  Honest seekers after God and His message for this special time.

     Andrew and John were no great scholars--they were simple fishermen from the Sea of Galilee who had heard about John the Baptist and decided to go “give him a listen.”

     The reports they’d heard up in Galilee said that John was calling people to repentance--saying that everyone needed to forsake their sins and get close to God if they were going to be ready for the new kingdom.  So Andrew and John left their nets and their families and set out on a spiritual quest--a search for answers that would satisfy the deep-down longing in their souls.

     John the Baptists was a curious sort of fellow.  He wore coarse camel-hair garments and lived off the land.  He spent his days preaching and baptizing--denouncing the pious but encouraging the penitent.  Andrew and John had been captivated by his message, and had stayed around long enough to become bona fide disciples--students who followed their teacher, listening and absorbing his every word.

     John not only called people to repent and prepare for the coming kingdom of God.  He kept talking about something more--a leader who would come AFTER him, but would be more even more important.

     He referred to himself as “a voice crying in the wilderness¼ ‘Prepare the way of the Lord!’ ”

     He set the people up with great expectations for the future.

     But not everyone would be part of that great future--you had to be prepared.

     Andrew and John would be prepared--because they managed to be in the right place at the right time.

     Here’s how it happened. 

     They were sitting on the river bank, not far from John one day, listening to him preach, when he suddenly fell silent.  The jostling crowd that had gathered around him--some to hear, some no doubt to heckle--suddenly quieted as well. ¼[2-second pause]¼¼.. There’s nothing like a long pause to get people’s attention!

     And then all eyes turned--following John’s gaze.  He looked down toward the Jordan River--at the Hajlah Ford, where people could wade across the river. 

     There was a man coming across just then, and John followed His every movement. 

     Andrew and John watched Him too, and the thing they noticed first was His face. 

     The man’s face was hollow and gaunt, as if He’d been living on starvation rations for a long time.  But this was not the face of a beggar.  The eyes were not furtive, looking down, hoping for a handout.  No.  The eyes radiated strength, decisiveness¼spiritual power.  It seemed clear that if this man had gone hungry, it had been by choice, by spiritual design, not out of necessity.

     The man came across the river, paused briefly, fixing the Baptist with that intense gaze, but then turned and continued on up the road.  John watched Him for a moment.  Then the words came slowly, softly, so that only those who really wanted to would hear.  “Look!  There He goes!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I’ve been talking about--when I told you I’m just the forerunner.

     “Remember when I told you that a Man would come after me who’s greater than I?  Well, that’s the one!  He’s the whole reason I’ve been preaching and baptizing.  He’s the fulfillment of it all!”

     John’s excitement captivated Andrew and John.  They watched as the stranger passed, and both of them no doubt wondered whether they should maybe leave John the Baptist and follow this new “greater” Man.

     But then the moment passed, and they turned their eyes back to John, who resumed his sermon right where he’d left off.  He didn’t make a big deal of the stranger’s appearance, but those closest to him heard what he said, and knew it was a VERY big deal.

     Listen, can’t you just picture John and Andrew later that night, talking about what they’d seen?

          “You know, when that Man came across the river?” Andrew says. “Did you feel anything? Something special?”

     “Yes,” John replies. “Did you too?”

     Andrew pauses for a moment, then says, “You know, I almost wish I'd gotten up and followed Him right then and there.  I almost feel like we should have‑‑that maybe we missed the greatest opportunity of our lives by not following Him!”

     “You felt like following, too?”  John, the more impulsive of the two, asks.  “Then why didn't you?  Why do you always have to think about everything before you do it?”

     “You could have followed him yourself,” Andrew responds. “Why didn't you?”

           Right then and there, I can imagine, they resolved to never let such an opportunity pass them by again.

     And thank God, they had another opportunity.  Thank God that He’s a God of second chances.

     Friend, have you ever missed a chance to follow Jesus?  Have you ever gotten side-tracked or distracted, or just been too busy to follow where He led?  Don’t be discouraged.  Don’t give up.  Consider the rest of the story of Andrew and John.

     The next day--toward evening--they were standing near John again, when the desert prophet looked up and said those magic words again:  “Behold the Lamb of God!”  Jesus was walking by one more time.  This time Andrew and John followed his gaze, but they went a step farther--many steps farther in fact.  They set out, almost at a run, to catch up with Jesus.

     “Where are you staying?” they asked Him.

     “Come and see.” He responded.

     And their lives were changed forever.  Changed forever by an encounter with the Savior of the world.

     Friend, if you want to know the depth of the difference that that one day made in one man’s life, I invite you to get out your Bible and go back, near the end of the Bible.  Find a little book called 1 John and read it.  This isn’t the Gospel of John I’m referring to--that makes great reading as well.  But find the little book of FIRST John.  It’s just 5 brief chapters long.  You can read it in a few minutes.

     It’s a book of wonderment and excitement--written by one of the men who met Jesus down by the Jordan that day.  That encounter changed his life--for the better--in an instant.  It was something far better than having a winning lottery ticket.  It was a ticket to life--real life--eternal life.

     And it’s a ticket that’s available to each and every one of us today, because Jesus is close by wherever you are right now.  He’s passing by.  Look into His eyes.  Run to catch Him.  Ask Him where He’d like to lead you. Give your life to Him, and let Him lead.