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CONNIE: Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring--Jesus is coming again! That's our theme song on our program. But will He return anytime soon? Stay tuned as we look at "The Return of the Compassionate Savior."

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery.

LONNIE: I’m Lonnie Melashenko.

Connie, you've raised a valid question that I'm sure is on many of our listeners' minds. You know, it's not been long ago that a lot of Christians were getting really excited about the Second Coming of Jesus, because certain preachers were saying that this great culmination of the hope of the ages had to happen before the end of the year 2000.

CONNIE: But that year went by, and we're still here, waiting for Jesus to return. And I'm sure many people are wondering, Is there really any point in getting all excited about the Second Coming? Is there any reason to expect that Jesus really will return soon?

LONNIE: Well, Connie, I believe there is. And I'll share some good biblical reasons for my expectations in my message a bit later, but before that, I'd like to share an interview I had recently with some people that are very much a part of my reasons for believing that Jesus will return soon.

Jamie and Jackie Spence have found a life work that has enabled them to spread the gospel of the compassionate Savior to a remote little corner of the world. They'll tell us just what they do and why, as we listen to this on-the-street interview. I caught up with them recently up in Sacramento at the christening of the newest ship to be put into service for Operation Canvassback.

LONNIE: Jamie and Jackie Spence, Captain and Captain Spence are from the Canvassback Ministries. Tell us a little about Canvassback.

JAMIE: Well Lonnie, for twenty years Canvassback Missions has been providing medical care in Micronesia and we’re reaching the outer islands using a sailing catamaran that was built by volunteers. We’re reaching the outer islands of Micronesia where people otherwise wouldn’t see a doctor or a dentist and meeting their health needs and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

LONNIE: A real live 21st century gospel ministry team with medical evangelism going out over the South Pacific Ocean.

JAMIE: That’s quite right.

LONNIE: And our traveling Voice of Prophecy microphone. I was on the streets of Sacramento, California as we’re recording this and Jackie, we’re have a very special event that’s going to take place and I’ll even have a part in it on Sunday morning. What’s going to take place with a great big ship out there?

JACKIE: Well, we’re going to be christening our newest vessel the White Holly. It’s a hundred and thirty three foot ship that United States Congress just donated to the mission.

LONNIE: Where’s it going to be headed shortly?

JACKIE: It will be heading to the Marshall Islands where it will be taking physicians and dentists and nurses and young people to help with health care and also to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

LONNIE: You literally started on a catamaran and you still have some of these kinds of boats afloat but what is taking place out there?

JAMIE: So frequently we have doctors and dentists come back from a Canvassback mission and say, “You know, I felt that I received more than I gave.” And yet, all they really receive was the gratitude of the people. I remember on one island, Queen Talita, told us at the little party they threw for us at the end of the clinic tour on that island, she said, “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us the things of life.” These are things they just would not have access to without Canvassback’s care.

LONNIE: Many of these remote atolls and islands don’t have medical service on a regular basis and so these doctors, these professionals, these nurses, they sign up for a certain term of duty and how long do they stay and where do they live?

JACKIE: Our volunteers stay for about two weeks on the vessel and they live on the vessel and we feed them good nutritious food and then they go out and work on an island, a very remote island that can only be reached by sea.

LONNIE: A doctor, a dentist, a nurse, what kind of assistance do they provide?

JACKIE: Oh, they provide dental care; they provide health education because in the Marshall Islands every child stands a coin's toss chance of having diabetes and we have been asked to take a diabetes reversal program to the Marshall Islands.

LONNIE: Captain Jamie, when the vessel moves in toward an island, has come word gone out? Has some radio gone out and how do the people know you’re coming and providing medical assistance?

JAMIE: Well, we work in cooperation with the government health services of the islands and they get the word out as best they can over the single side band radios. They have a regular schedule that they talk to the health assistant on the island. The health assistant is a man with six months of medical training. They let him know and he lets the people know and then they also announce it on the one public radio station that the people are able to hear on their transistor radios and they announce it, the whole list of islands and when we’ll be coming to those islands.

LONNIE: You know, this isn’t just providing medical service, which is important, Jesus was the greatest physician who ever walked the planet but he also brought with him the good news of the gospel.

JAMIE: Absolutely.

LONNIE: How does that compassionate savior get introduced to people? Maybe you can tell us a story of someone who found more than just.

JAMIE: Oh, so many stories of that. We say that we’re sharing the love of Jesus through healing hands and that’s the way we see it too. We’re doing what the savior did. I remember on an island in the western islands of Chu. I have an image in my mind; I could almost project it to you. An old man wearing a blue loincloth sits on a coconut log and he is reading a tract and it’s all wrinkled and dirty from being passed from hand to hand and read again and again and it’s a chapter from a book called Steps To Christ. It’s the chapter about the love of God and he sits on this log and reads. Tears are running down the old man’s face.

LONNIE: Jackie, what’s it like for you? A woman going out there? Is it exciting? Do you find it rather difficult to not have your own home?

JACKIE: Yes, there are things that I do without but it’s exciting to serve the Lord and that’s what makes it really neat, to be able to go out and help other people. The women are not being reached out there and for instance, in our diabetes program we had to teach about exercise because they don’t get any exercise so I had to get all the women in one room and we did Marshallese aerobics to Marshallese music.

LONNIE: How about that.

JACKIE: Using coconuts as our weights.

LONNIE: What would be one of the most profound moments that you remember, even an emergency or a medical crisis where a person’s life was saved or perhaps something unusual by way of a transformation that took place and the result had a ripple effect?

JACKIE: Well, there was a young man named Esau who was a leper and we were on his island and we had asked all the people who had leprosy to come in to the clinic and he didn’t come in. He was too ashamed of that. Finally we had him brought in and when we took off his shirt and saw his hands they were all clawed and he was very angry about his disease and we said, “Esau, if you take this medicine it will arrest your disease.” “No, I’m not going to take my medicine.” He was just adamant about that and when he came from the clinic and I looked at Jamie. I said, “Jamie, I bet no one has ever given Esau anything. Here, give him this bible story book.” And Jamie sat down with Uncle Arthur’s Bible Story Book, lots of pictures in it and

LONNIE: Sure, we grew up on those.

JACKIE: And he went through the storybook and finally Esau closed the book and he smiled and said, “Now Captain, I will take my medicine.”

LONNIE: Oh, that’s precious. Thank you for joining us on the Voice of Prophecy and telling the story of a compassionate ministry.

JAMIE: Thank you very much Lonnie. God bless you.

JACKIE: Thank you Lonnie.

MUSIC 1: “Reach Out and Touch”, Charles Haugabrooks

CONNIE: Thank you, Charles Haugabrooks for that beautiful song that sums up what Operation Canvassback is all about, and also what Jesus' ministry is all about--reaching out and touching and helping those in need.

LONNIE: We're going to hurry right along in our program today, because we have lots of music, and an important message in just a moment, but we do want you to know that we have a book available for you that looks very seriously at the question we're examining today: What is the basis of our hope that Jesus will return soon? The book is called Jesus for a New Millennium, and you can order your copy of this excellent book by calling 1-800-872-0055, and asking for it. The cost is just $10.00, and we do ask that you have a credit card ready when ordering Jesus for a New Millennium. I know you'll find this book a blessing, and we'll give our mailing address after my message if you'd prefer to write to us.

CONNIE: The phone number again is 1-800-872-0055, and the cost of the book is just $10.00. Right now though, let's listen as Lonnie shares today's message, "The Return of the Compassionate Savior."

The Return of the Compassionate Savior

LONNIE: Do you really believe that Jesus is going to return soon? It's an important question, and one that people sometimes ask me.

I've been director-speaker of Voice of Prophecy--one of the longest-running radio programs in the world--for the past 9 years, and before me Harold Richards--HMS Richards Jr.--was director-speaker for 23 years. But this radio ministry was begun way back in 1929 when HMS Richards, Sr. was just a young evangelist with a heart and a mission that was too big to find fulfillment in "normal" forms of ministry. He began to dream big. What if this new medium of radio could be used to spread the gospel? Wouldn't it be marvelous if a preacher could go "on the air," and spread the good news of Jesus' soon return to every corner of the world!

Friend, it was 72 years ago, on October 19, 1929, that Pastor Richards first began that radio ministry. And as far as I know, our theme song has always been "Lift Up the Trumpet and loud let it ring--Jesus is coming again!" Through the years Voice of Prophecy has grown to be a truly worldwide outreach, proclaiming the gospel--and the good news of Jesus' soon return--all over this planet.

But HMS Richards Sr. and HMS Jr. have both passed to their rest now, without seeing the fulfillment of their lifelong hope that Jesus would return in their lifetime.

So, to be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you came up to me and asked in all sincerity: Lonnie, do you really think Jesus will return soon? Will it happen in your lifetime?

Well, I'm certainly no prophet. And you'll never find me joining in with those who pick a year--as many did with the year 2000--and saying Christ definitely will return by that year.

But having said that, I want to assure you that I'm also not among those who put the Second Coming way off in the future, abandoning hope that it will be anytime soon. Because I believe there are good evidences in our Bible, and in the world around us, that point toward a soon return of our Savior--the Compassionate Savior.

"What are those evidences?" you ask. Is it the number of wars and famines and earthquakes in the world? Haven't people been pointing to those as signs of Jesus' soon return for aeons?

Yes, in fact they have, but the fact of the matter is that Jesus never said those would be signs that He was going to return right away. You can check that out for yourself in Matthew 24:3-8 where He describes those disturbances as merely the "beginning of the birth pangs" of His heavenly kingdom (Matt. 24:8 NRSV).

But there's something else that gives me confidence that Jesus is planning to return soon.

Let me share with you a text that you might never have thought of as a Second Coming text, and then share with you why I believe it points to the soon return of Jesus. Here it is, in Matthew 9:35-38

"Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest' " (NKJV).

As Jesus walked about, watching the people around Him, He saw the poor, the ill, the lonely, and His great heart was moved with love for the multitudes who needed a shepherd to give them wise, compassionate leadership.

He touched and healed as many as He could each day. But there was no end to the needs, and as a Man, He could only be in one place at a time. So He told His disciples to pray that the Lord would send out others to enter the same ministry, reaching out with the gospel, helping to harvest souls and bring them into the kingdom.

The ministry that He initiated there in Galilee has been going on ever since, and the gospel has been spread widely. And be assured that we here at Voice of Prophecy are doing whatever we can to help with proclaiming the message as far and wide as possible. We believe that the gospel must be proclaimed in all the world before Jesus returns, so we're trying to do our part. When you hear this broadcast, I will have just returned from a major evangelistic outreach in South America, and we'll be beginning to gear up for a mission to the Cayman Islands early in 2002, and then on to Indonesia later that year.

But there's something else in that text from Matthew that I quoted that helps to strengthen my hope of the soon return of Jesus even more.

Notice, it says He was "moved with compassion" for the multitudes, and then He urged His disciples to " ' pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.' "

Jesus' compassion upon the multitudes is closely tied to His urgent desire for the harvest. Now, notice this, from just a few chapters later in the same Gospel:

" 'The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels' " (Matthew 13:39 NKJV).

Do you know what I see here? I see that Jesus is very concerned about the multitudes of people on this earth. He is very compassionate toward our needs. In fact, He'd like to solve all of the problems of the world. But they won't all be solved until He comes back to reign--that is until the end of the age--His Second Coming.

Do you know, friend, that one of the most compelling arguments for the soon return of Jesus in my mind is the fact that He cares so much about His people that He longs urgently to return and take us to be with Him.

I've heard some say, "Oh, sure. People have been saying that Jesus will return soon ever since He left. But it's been nearly 2000 years now--maybe it'll be another thousand years--who's to say?"

In response, let me say, I understand where you're coming from. It has been a long time since Jesus left our earth. And people have been praying for His soon return for centuries piled on centuries.

But I honestly don't believe He plans to let the trials and suffering of this world go on for another millennium--or even another century. There are things happening right now that give me confidence that He'll be back long before earth's inhabitants enter the 22nd century.

Here's just one of the things that makes me sure: Our world is more crowded with multitudes today than ever before in history. Did you know that when Jesus walked on earth the total human population--worldwide--was about 300 million?

Do you know how much the population grew in the first millennium after Christ? Best estimates are that the world population in AD 1000 was about 310 million. That's a growth of 10 million in a thousand years! A growth of 3 percent in a millennium.

But in the 1000 years from AD 1000 to AD 2000, world population grew from 310 million to six billion! That's almost 2000 percent!

If ever the earth were ripe and ready for harvest--for maximum production of souls for the kingdom, it is NOW! There are more people living on earth than ever before.

Friend, I can't help but think that that fact alone multiplies Jesus' compassion for our world astronomically.

But now, consider one more thing. According to the National Geographic Society,1 if population keeps growing at its current rate for the next 50 years, do you know what the population of the world would be? It could be as high as 27 billion--3½ times what it is now!

Now, nobody knows for sure just how many people the earth can support, but the consensus is that we're just about maxed out already!

And do you know what concerns me deeply? Most of the population growth we're seeing right now is occurring in parts of the world that are least able to feed more human mouths.

Friend, do you think that fact concerns Jesus, too? He who was so concerned for the multitudes on earth in His lifetime? The compassionate Savior.

Friend, I'm convinced that earth's harvest is ripe and ready for harvest, and we here at Voice of Prophecy have launched new initiatives to carry the gospel to as much of earth's population as possible while time lasts.

The compassionate Savior wants to return soon. He wants to take you and me to live in His kingdom for ever and ever. I want to be ready for that day, don't you?. And I want to help others be ready as well. Won't you join me n preparing your life every day to be ready to greet the Savior--and in helping others to be ready?