David Hathaway

God's light shines in the darkness. Thank you for your fantastic response to our appeal for Ukraine. Our staff and their families are safe, and our office is undamaged! Even Sergiy, our TV Director, whose family live in Mariupol, have survived the siege and are now on their difficult way to safety. Vadim, our Official Representative in Ukraine, is very active in organising and supplying humanitarian aid. He is working with the church leaders in Kyiv, using the team he set up to organise our National Days of Prayer for Ukraine. They are saddened and horrified as they minister to the survivors of the terrible atrocities in the small towns and villages which were occupied by the Russians north of Kyiv. To make a donation visit: eurovision.org.uk/donation

I want to deal with a portion of Scripture that many people find difficult, and it’s in Mark 9. The reading starts with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration with His three closest disciples, Peter, James and John. Moses and Elijah appear – it was an incredibly powerful experience, but as they come down the mountain, Jesus tells the disciples, “Do not tell what you have seen, until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” And they questioned one another, what does Jesus mean when He says He will ‘rise from the dead’? At this point in the ministry of Jesus, the disciples had not grasped that Jesus was literally going die and be resurrected three days later. For us in our Christian faith, Resurrection is a challenge. When we repent of our sins and come to Christ, we die to the old life, we’re born, ‘resurrected’ into a new life – and this new life WILL RISE FROM THE DEAD. Whilst the Pharisees accepted Resurrection at the end of the age, the Sadducees didn’t! So it was a great controversy surrounding the ministry

On Good Friday we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus; but to me, the most important thing is, Jesus rose again! Because He lives, we can live also. For me, this Easter is a special celebration, and is particularly poignant, because Easter Sunday is my birthday - and 49 years ago, God released me from a communist prison in answer to prayer. So this Easter is not just a celebration of new life in Christ, but also I remember the Power of God to answer prayer. He is faithful to His Promises!

We all need to feel loved, yet many live in rejection and loneliness. David has three daughters. When they were young, they would come running up to him with their arms outstretched, and he would lift them up and embrace them. Our relationship with God is the same. As you draw near to him, He will draw near to you. We all need to be touched,  to be loved, to know that someone cares just for us. So many of you reading this, have secret problems which you cannot share: they are too deep, too painful, you cannot open up. But you need to tell everything to Jesus, it’s the only way to be healed, delivered, and set free. Talk to Jesus. He’s listening. Ask Him to forgive your sin, to heal you. He loves you. He’ll answer! 

When Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection, it was regarded as strange… In disputing with the Jews and Greeks, the contentious issue was the resurrection. As Christians, are we confident in our own belief in the reality and certainty of the resurrection? The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 'It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.' (1 Corinthians 15:42-44.)

We’re living in a very difficult time, and I feel led to go back again to the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 16:25, we find God has released Paul and Silas from prison by a miracle. They then, in Acts 17, continue their missionary journey and come to Thessalonica, where Paul begins discussing and debating with the Jews in the synagogue. He’s preaching Christ, who suffered, died – and rose from the dead. The teaching of the New Testament is centred on the resurrection! This teaching on the resurrection was so powerful, that many complained the Apostles had turned ‘the world upside down’! Acts 17:6. I would to God that our preaching was so powerful today that we could be accused of turning the world upside down! 

God is in control! Psalm 23 says, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures... Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me...' The 'valley of the shadow' is more literally translated as, where the light of the sun is cut off. I want to tell you: wherever you are, whatever your trial, no matter the problem - even if you feel the light of the sun is cut off - God will not fail you. He says, His rod and His staff will comfort you, and you will come safely through. 

The Coming of the Lord is near. I believe there is limited time left in which we can evangelise. When the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, how can we evangelise? In the words of Jesus, it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and the coming judgement. The Holy Spirit is the ONLY Power and the ONLY influence that can convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgement. If He is removed, there will be no conviction of sin.

There is no question that the power of the devil is increasing and multiplying, this demonic iniquity of the 'man of sin' is at work – “only, He who now hinders, will hinder until He be taken out of the way.” It seems to me that it is the Holy Spirit who is holding up that floodtide of evil, and that one day, He, the Holy Spirit, will be removed – and then the man of sin will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:7). This is the sequence of events that Paul is revealing will take place in the closing days before the return of Christ. Yes, I’m still believing for revival and I’m still preaching and seeing revival – but the time is limited. Jesus Himself says in Matthew 24:14, this Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.” So not just in the words of Paul, but in the words of Jesus, the time for evangelism, the time for revival is limited. 

We all experience the waters of affliction. In your life and mine, there are many times when we need the power of God to deliver. God’s timing is perfect, coming at the darkest hour, when the storm is at its fiercest, and our need is the greatest. Jesus said, "I will be with you always." Every day, every hour, in the middle of every storm, in the middle of every sickness. There’s never a moment when He is not there. You may need Jesus, like you’ve never needed Him before. He is walking towards you, to help you right now. Step out into the security of His arms! Consider the words of this wonderful hymn: 'What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer.'

The Coming of the Lord will be as a thief in the night. The Apostle Paul wrote, 'Of the times and the seasons you have no need that I write to you, for you know that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they say ‘Peace and safety’, sudden destruction shall come on them, as travail on a woman with child, and they shall not escape.'' So the final moment of the return of Christ is sudden and unexpected. As Jesus said, there’ll be two in a bed, two in a field – two in a factory – one taken, the other left. That’s how sudden it will be, even for the believer. Paul exhorts us to be ready, to live according to God’s standards: Warn, comfort be patient toward all, do good to all, rejoice, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you; quench not the Spirit…

Jesus spoke more about the Coming Kingdom than He did about salvation. Salvation is the way in, but the main thing He was talking about was the Kingdom! The Bible describes it as our Inheritance! We inherit the Kingdom with Christ. In many of the parables which Jesus told, He was trying to describe something that is mysterious, unknown – but yet it is a Kingdom that we are to be part of. He said, His Kingdom is ‘not of this world’ – it’s true. But we are looking for this Coming Kingdom.

Revival and Persecution often come hand-in-hand. The greater the persecution, the greater responsibility we have, to go everywhere and preach the Word. We must do, as Jesus said, "Go out, into the highways, and byways, and compel them to come in!" We have to fill the Kingdom! Look at Ukraine. They are now, under intense persecution. Threatened and dying. Yet, the Gospel is preached. Many are prayed with. Communion is shared. And wounded souls receive Christ. 

If you want your faith to grow, you’ve got to nurture it, practice it, act on it - and then it will grow! That’s what has happened in my life. How did I have the boldness in the prison to pray, "Lord, 2000 years ago when Paul and Silas were in prison, You worked a miracle, broke down the prison walls and set them free. If You could do it for them, You can do it for me, get me out!"?!! I prayed like this, not just because I knew the Scripture, but because, in the back of my mind, it was only 8 years after my throat cancer had been miraculously healed! Because of this I could say, "Lord, You delivered Paul and Silas, You healed my throat cancer - and You can get me out of prison!" You see, my faith grew - experimentally! 

How do we grow our faith? - This is such an important question. How do you grow anything? By feeding it and practising it. I’m hopeless at cooking; but how do you become a good cook, a chef? It’s by putting into practice what you have learnt. No, not everybody will make a good cook, but we can all learn the basics! I know how to turn an oven on, and use the microwave; but if you want to be a good cook, you’ve got to work at it! If you want to grow faith, you must put it into practice: by using it, by working with it. Yes, 'faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God' - but once you have heard it, the key to growth is, how you use this knowledge. 

In Ukraine, prayer continues, often in Church basements, and the people are desperate for Bibles. Our staff, have formed a team called, 'Angels of Kyiv’, to organise, and undertake, high-risk evacuations, and the purchase of urgently, needed supplies. In just one day, our team evacuated, hundreds of people, from the horrific fighting in Irpin. We are feeding these evacuees, providing shelter, and medical supplies. Pray for Ukraine’s deliverance! Believe for a miracle! We need your financial support, more than ever, at this critical time: eurovision.org.uk/donation

Do you want the Fire of God? It will only come as you present your body as a living sacrifice. In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, "Brethren, I beseech you that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." There is a call to us to become a part of a sacrifice, to make a sacrifice of our lives, in order that the Fire will come. So many people are talking about revival, looking for the Fire to come back in the Church. Yes, we need revival. We need the Fire. But it will only come back when there is a sense of sacrifice. 

Seeing the problems in the world today, I want to look at what happened in those famous verses, so often linked with revival, when Solomon had finished building the Temple. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 tells us, when the musicians were as one, praising and thanking the Lord, and saying, “He is good and His mercy endures forever,” – the House was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister, for the Glory of the Lord had filled the House! 

Our hope is in Christ! Only He can bring peace to Ukraine. Despite the war, the churches are still active. Ministering to hurting people. Distributing Bibles. Administering humanitarian aid. The war has caused so much damage to infrastructure, but an even greater damage to people's souls. Families are separated. Women and children are fleeing to neighbouring nations. Many are trapped in cities, bombarded by bombs, and hiding in underground shelters. Will you help them?  For over 70 years, David has poured all his efforts into all the countries of the former Soviet Union. Many were born into a world of darkness, but are now reborn into the Kingdom of Light through the preaching of the Gospel. In the early years, following the collapse of communism, David personally held, over three hundred evangelistic missions, in the former Soviet countries, with hundreds of thousands of people saved.  To support our work in Ukraine https://eurovision.org.uk

Until Christ comes back, we have the Holy Spirit: He is our Comforter, our Helper, our Intercessor. And He also empowers us! When I’m asking for the Holy Spirit – and I’m always asking for more of Him in my life – I say, “Jesus, You said when You went to Heaven, You would ask the Father and He would send the Holy Spirit. I’m calling upon You Jesus now, to send a double portion of the Holy Spirit on me, to change nations in Your Name! Jesus! You are so wonderful, so glorious, You are the One we worship, no one else, nothing else. Only You, Jesus!” I'm urging you to call upon Jesus to fill you with the Holy Spirit: the 'Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf].'