Fishers of Men Project – Welcome new believers

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to your new life in Christ within the Seventh Day Adventist Community. By Baptism you have officially become a member of this community of faith, and by the same token have enlisted in the service of Christ.

The first word I would like to introduce you to is the word: “First”, which means number one, top of the list, then I would like you to couple this word with Jesus, and to put them together: “Jesus First”. In every sphere and area of your life as a newborn believer, Jesus is first. The writings of Ellen G White elaborate on what it means for Jesus to be first in your life  and we begin our journey with the first disciples who were called to be Fishers of men:

THE FIRST DISCIPLES

In the trust given to the first disciples, believers in every age have shared. Everyone who has received the gospel has been given sacred truth to impart to the world. God’s faithful people have always been aggressive missionaries, consecrating their resources to the honor of His name and wisely using their talents in His service.  {AA 109.3}

He who called the fishermen of Galilee is still calling men to His service. And He is just as willing to manifest His power through us as through the first disciples. However imperfect and sinful we may be, the Lord holds out to us the offer of partnership with Himself, of apprenticeship to Christ. He invites us to come under the divine instruction, that, uniting with Christ, we may work the works of God.  {CC 282.4}

FIRST LOVE

True holiness is wholeness in the service of God. This is the condition of true Christian living. Christ asks for an unreserved consecration, for undivided service. He demands the heart, the mind, the soul, the strength. Self is not to be cherished. He who lives to himself is not a Christian.  {COL 48.4}

     Love must be the principle of action. Love is the underlying principle of God’s government in heaven and earth, and it must be the foundation of the Christian’s character. This alone can make and keep him steadfast. This alone can enable him to withstand trial and temptation.  {COL 49.1}

FIRST IMPULSE

When the love of Christ is enshrined in the heart, like sweet fragrance it cannot be hidden. Its holy influence will be felt by all with whom we come in contact.(SC 77.3)

FIRST DESIRE

No sooner does one come to Christ than there is born in his heart a desire to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus; the saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart. If we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and are filled with the joy of His indwelling Spirit, we shall not be able to hold our peace. If we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good we shall have something to tell. Like Philip when he found the Saviour, we shall invite others into His presence.(SC 78.2)

FIRST VOW

“God’s people are to feel a noble, generous sympathy for every line of work carried on in the great harvest field. By their baptismal vowsthey are pledged to make earnest, self-denying efforts to promote, in the hardest parts of the field, the work of soulsaving. God has placed on every believer the responsibility of striving to rescue the helpless and the oppressed.–Australasian Union Conference Record, June 1, 1903.  {Ev 354.4}

FIRST OBLIGATION

The church of Christ is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. And the obligation rests upon all Christians. Everyone, to the extent of his talent and opportunity, is to fulfill the Saviour’s commission. The love of Christ, revealed to us, makes us debtors to all who know Him not. God has given us light, not for ourselves alone, but to shed upon them.  {SC 81.1}

FIRST WORK

If you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples shall, and win souls for Him, you will feel the need of a deeper experience and a greater knowledge in divine things, and will hunger and thirst after righteousness.(SC 80.1)

Confirmed in the Faith by Service.–When souls are converted, set them to work at once. And as they labor according to their ability, they will grow stronger. It is by meeting opposing influences that we become confirmed in the faith. As the light shines

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into their hearts, let them diffuse its rays. Teach the newly converted that they are to enter into fellowship with Christ, to be His witnesses, and to make Him known unto the world.  {Ev 355.3}

FIRST NEED

If you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples shall, and win souls for Him, you will feel the need of a deeper experience and a greater knowledge in divine things, and will hunger and thirst after righteousness.

FIRST TRAINING

Personal responsibility, personal activity in seeking the salvation of others, must be the education given to all newly come to the faith. . . . Personal faith is to be acted and practiced, personal holiness is to be cultivated, and the meekness and lowliness of Christ is to become a part of our practical life. The work is to be thorough and deep in the heart of every human agent.  {Ev 354.2}

Those who profess to receive and believe the truth are to be shown the deadly influence of selfishness and its tainting, corrupting power. The Holy Spirit must work upon the human agent, else another power will control mind and judgment. Spiritual knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent is the only hope of the soul. Each soul is to be taught of God, line upon line, precept upon precept; he must feel his individual accountability to God to engage in service for his Master, whose he is, and whom he is required to serve in the work of saving souls from death.–Manuscript 25, 1899.  {Ev 354.3}

For three years and a half the disciples were under the instruction of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. By personal contact and association, Christ trained them for His service. Day by day they walked and talked with Him, hearing His words of cheer to the weary and heavy-laden, and seeing the manifestation of His power in behalf of the sick and the afflicted.(DA 18)

FIRST BLESSING

The only way to grow in grace is to be disinterestedly doing the very work which Christ has enjoined upon us–to engage, to the extent of our ability, in helping and blessing those who need the help we can give them. Strength comes by exercise; activity is the very condition of life. Those who endeavor to maintain Christian life by passively accepting the blessings that come through the means of grace, and doing nothing for Christ, are simply trying to live by eating without working.(SC 80)

And the effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves. This was the purpose of God in giving us a part to act in the plan of redemption. He has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellow men. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to their Creator.  {SC 79.1}

Every act of self-sacrifice for the good of others strengthens the spirit of beneficence in the giver’s heart, allying him more closely to the Redeemer of the world, who “was rich, yet for your sakes . . . became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9.

The spirit of unselfish labour for others gives depth, stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character, and brings peace and happiness to its possessor.

Relation of Activity to Spirituality.–Those who are most actively employed in doing with interested fidelity their work to win souls to Jesus Christ, are the best developed in spirituality and devotion. Their very active working formed the means of their spirituality. There is danger of religion losing in depth that which it gains in breadth. This need not be, if, in the place of long sermons, there is wise education given to those newly come to the faith. Teach them by giving them something to do, in some line of spiritual work, that their first love will not die but increase in fervour. Let them feel that they are not to be carried and to lean for support on the church; but they are to have root in themselves. They can be in many lines, according to their several abilities, useful in helping the church to come nearer to God, and working in various ways to act upon the elements outside the church which will be a means of acting beneficially upon the church. The wisdom and prosperity of the church casts a telling influence upon her favour. The psalmist prayed for the prosperity of the church, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us. . . . That Thy way may be known upon the earth, Thy saving health among all nations.”–Letter 44, 1892.  {Ev 356.3}

FIRST RESULTS

Leave Results With God.–The good seed sown may lie some time in a cold, worldly, selfish heart, without evidencing that it has taken root; but frequently the Spirit of God operates upon that heart, and waters it with the dew of heaven, and the long-hidden seed springs up and finally bears fruit to the glory of God. We know not in our lifework which shall prosper, this or that. These are not questions for us poor mortals to settle. We are to do our work, leaving the result with God.–Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 248. (1872)  {Ev 64.3}

FIRST ENCOURAGEMENT

I appeal to you, my brethren in the ministry. Connect yourselves more closely with the work of God. Many souls that might be saved, will be lost, unless you strive more earnestly to make your work as perfect as possible. There is a great work to be done in—–. It may seem to move slowly and hard at first; but God will work mightily through you if you will only make an entire surrender to Him. Much of the time you will have to walk by faith, not by feeling. . . .  {Ev 63.3}

Wherever you are, however trying your circumstances, do not talk discouragement. The Bible is full of rich promises. Can you not believe them? When we go out to labor for souls, God does not want us to go a warfare at our own charges. What does this mean? It means that we need not go in our own strength, for God has pledged His word that He will go with us.–Historical Sketches, pp. 128, 129. (1886)  {Ev 64.1}

FIRST JOY

In order to enter His joy, the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice, we must participate in His labours for their redemption(DA 142)