31July 2021 - Croydon SDA Church Live Worship

back our brother milken sister ellen's husband all the way from sunny nigeria we are so happy to have you and i'm sure sister ellen is delighted to have a husband by her side so welcome this morning i want to welcome our host elder johnny saul and pastor royson smith we are so happy to have you back with us this morning you are greatly missed so i hope you have had a good rest and ready to dive into the word of god and welcome sister sayan who is dealing with the online chat this morning so thank you so much and we look forward to having a delightful and uninspirational study of the word of god let us pray father we are here again because you have brought us into your holy song theory to worship you how blessed we are dear lord that we have life we can come together as your people lord we praise your holy name we honor you because you're worthy to be praised thank you holy father may your divine presence your sweet communion and your peace rest upon us as we study the holy words for christ see garment thank you so much uh elder valsi and hello everyone yes it's been a few weeks i haven't seen you pastor royston sitting up here with me or i should say you haven't seen me sitting up here with you for a little while but i must say it's been wonderful being able to sit back and take in the blessings of the sabbath school let me just take my time to to express my thanks to all those presenters that have been presenting i've been blessed and especially elder billet that's been up here week after week leading the sabbath school so it's wonderful to be able to work as a team because at the end of the day that's what it's about it's about uh spreading god's word as a team so it's wonderful that we can do that so for anybody who's joining us for the first time this is croydon savage school panel and this is going out live so we want to hear from you in the usual way if you're watching on youtube or on uh livestream you can send in your comments or your questions in the chat in the usual way we've even got a whatsapp number available today which is zero seven eight five four two three nine double two if that's your preferred way of getting in touch good morning to our radio listeners those on adventist radio london and those on live radio we're pleased to have you back with us again this sabbath morning and you can get in touch in your usual way as well for adventist radio london you can send a text to 8 2 8 leave a space type in the word hope and then your comment or question remember charges apply likewise um and also i should say that there is an email address that's available on adventist radio london that studio at adventistradio.london and for live radio your email address is studio at life radio dot k and there's a whatsapp number first live radio which is zero seven three double one four zero nine four zero nine don't forget if you don't have a sabbath school quarterly or adult lesson guide whatever you call it you can go to stu sabbath dot school so that's www.sabbath.school and you can download a version there pasta are you up and running now i'm running and up um you know it is said when when there's a divorce you know um you can you can reconcile and so elder johnny and myself we have reconciled so we are back before the camera we have settled our differences i didn't even know we were married but anyway well well well welcome back elder john it's nice and as you said we want to thank elder billet and and the team that did a fantastic job absolutely um can i just read i mean i mean by now i'm sure members are aware of the sad passing of one of um one of the mothers in zion yes um and it's it's it's a very sad moment i we have been she has been my pastoral care partner along with elder simpson we we traveled many places she brought her special vas of soup yes and her special coconut bread the family would really like to thank um all of us and all those who have sent in their condolences and and and very kind words warm warm words um and we continue to pray for the burton family at this very sad moment maybe you can introduce our panelists sir thank you sir um right our panelist this morning is as usual my my co-presenter very good friend competent elder one who i've grown to respect and listen to him carefully elder johnny okay we also have um elder leslie pete brown that is joining our panel today been a panelist before and a presenter so good morning and welcome elder leslie good morning thank you and also it warms my heart that this morning we have somebody who was scheduled to be a panelist today and she still wants to be a panelist today good morning sister shanika benjamin uncle johnny good morning everyone lovely to have you and we have sayonara on synaro with us taking your comments and reflecting deeply her own feedback she has been extremely well um welcome sayonara good morning everyone happy sabbath great so before we move into a powerful lesson study we're going to be favored by a musical item it's called i call him lord and it is by three identical ladies known as the foster triplets [Music] savior of the world wonderful counselor bright's morning [Music] stars [Music] he'll be tomorrow [Music] beginning [Music] born [Music] in jesus [Music] oh [Music] of love that i see [Music] in the sky the fountain of living water that never shall run dry was the angels called him [Music] jesus [Music] but i call [Music] jesus [Music] but i call him lord but the angels called him jesus [Music] him alone father god we just want to thank you amidst the pain you have never faded you you're constant and you're there for us and and as we go into this lesson it's it's an appropriate lesson it's talking about burdens and how to find rest so help us to find rest and sorrow in pain help us to find rest by helping others to carry their burdens and may we find meaning in this morning's lesson personally professionally spiritually corporately as a church and as a family in jesus name amen amen amen thank you pastor for that prayer and thank you to the foster tribulates i call him lord so we're at lesson number five in our series rest in christ and today we're looking at come to me whether our burdens are heavy like those of king david that we studied last week after being told thou art the man or whether your burden is relatively light jesus invites us to come to him to find relief now pastor some people i know can rest anywhere i don't know if you've ever seen the iconic picture of um i think it was taken in 1932 it's 11 work men they're sitting on a metal beam rsj um eating lunch and top uh the iron works it was for um 30 rockefeller plaza when that was being built in manhattan back in 1932 but there's this picture of these workmen they're just sitting on this beam so many you know feet above the ground just eating lunch and chilling you know they rested where they were and i know some people they can even sleep standing up but the point that i'm getting at is that jesus says come to me jesus is inviting us to remove ourselves and actively go to him here's my question though in this self-employed working-from-home environment where people probably have to be in one place is it important you think that we need to move from our circumstances in order to find true rest i you know what i i i agree with you elder johnny and and sadly i'm one of those people who can't sleep anywhere not under any circumstances but i have the ability to sleep anywhere except um at great height because i i you know i have a phobia for height but it's quite strange that if i go into that little space i can rest so you cannot find rest in your current status you have to there has to be a movement from from where you are to somewhere else and it's quite interesting that that um if you really recognize that most of us in and of ourselves we can't find rest because every time you you you thought you have gotten rid of something something else pops up so we need to find rest outside of ourselves and i'm sure as we go into the lesson we will discover that is why jesus used the imperative come come come unto me and and and you will find rest for your soul interesting interesting so congregation we want to hear from you today we've got a microphone set up and just indicate and we're going to take your comments and viewers and listeners do you agree with pastor is it important to mentally if not physically move from your circumstance to find rest let's hear your comments on that one whether you agree with pastor we want to know what you have to say i will give you rest elder leslie please read our memory text it's one of my favorite matthew 11 28 then after giving us some context just just tell us what this verse means to you personally uh reading from the new international version it says come unto me all who are weary and burdened and i will give you rest now to contextualize this this statement first of all uh it we know that it is jesus who is actually speaking here he says we are to carry heavy burdens to him there are two possibilities here we should be we could be feeling burdened heavy laden stressed out or overwhelmed by work on the other hand we can have rest now is jesus speaking about physical rest here now whilst uh physical rest is important he is rarely speaking about spiritual rest that is resting in him resting in jesus is the key to the promise of the type of life that jesus promises to his followers in order therefore to understand the context of this statement i refer to matthew 11 20 to 23 here jesus is about to pass judgment on on these sitters uh sidon tyre and sudden he condemned the the attitude of his generation no matter what he said or did they took the opposite view they were cynical and skeptical because he challenged their comfortable secure and self-centered lives now tyre sidon and and sodom as you know were ancient cities with a long standing reputation for wickedness in genesis chapters 18 and 19 and ezekiel chapters 27 and 28 we have evidence there as well now each was destroyed uh by god for its evil now the people of bethsaida corazon and capernaum saw jesus firsthand and they stubbornly refused to repent of their sins and to believe in him jesus said that if some of the wickedest cities in the world had seen him they would have repented and because that sader corizon and capernaum saw jesus and didn't believe they would suffer even greater punishment than would of the wicked sisters that didn't see jesus now one commentary says that similarly nations and cities with churches on every corner and bibles in every home will have no excuse on judgment day if they do not repent and believe so jesus is saying that you know our sacrifices and our rituals they're meaningless we must repent and come to him it is within this context that he invites you and i to find rest in him thank you what a beautiful capturing of the you know we call that the the passage periscope you know you go back and you go forth what context did jesus um elder johnny um spoke that um thank you a little leslie very well said sister nico um what is this verse telling you personally this first husband eater come to jesus always absolutely always because we live in a world burdened with sin where born in shape iniquity and there's so much horror there's endless pain but especially come to him in the toughest of times this person means a lot to me now i was past mentioned earlier my grandma passed and i put so much suspension but i'm a burden to you through my mom and in a time of great sorrow without coming to jesus with rest i couldn't be on this panel i won't be able to do that so it's just coming to him always finding rest in him to be able to go forward and live a life where you can have strength and you can keep going and keep doing things even amongst all the difficulties the struggles of this world powerful testimony and going back to what um elder leslie said as well she used the word stubborn you know as we're going to get into to the lesson stubbornness is totally opposite to to to what one of these verses are speaking about but that was the point of people wanted to do their own thing they didn't want to listen um and you know going back to what sister shanika was just saying there you know this lesson this memory verse was there weeks before she didn't know as a number of us didn't know how important it's going to be for us at this time sister siam in terms of our world church um are there any comments coming in or answers to the question i posed um yes we do indeed have a few so um we've got a comment here from donna davis that says jesus is offering us spiritual physical and psychological rest um and i think that point is beautifully backed up by sister giuliette who says it depends on the rest you're seeking is it physical or spiritual or both when you're spiritually rested all other burdens become light and i think um in terms of the testimony that shanica just shared with us and that point again really just kind of summarizes that experience another common comment coming in from brother omwenga is true rest is only found in christ jesus because he has already overcome the world for us in this world you will have trouble but take heart i have overcome the world and that's the text to back it up which is taken from john chapter 16 verse 33. um we've got one more sorry which is coming in from foxtrot saying jesus made an extraordinary claim and now he makes an extraordinary offer to all of us it's an invitation to give us relief amen amen congregation we want to hear from you and it's good to see some faces that i haven't seen for over 16 months and i've even seen one of our neighbors who decided to attend her local church today as opposed to one that's far away so good morning to our neighbor as well so congregation we want to hear from you and our viewers and listeners too you know many of us feel that we need to be in control okay um some of this came out when you think about what elder leslie was saying about those those cities a lot of us feel we need to be in control of what is going on and this includes trying to fix our problems trying to fix the issues that we may have and also carrying our own burdens because we are trying to do it all so what advice can you share on how to give these burdens to jesus and experience the rest he offers okay so the question is what advice can you share on how to give these burdens to jesus and experience the resty office so let's hear your your thoughts on that i see your hand sir please come come to the mic and we will we just need to get a a a camera person um with you so just pause there we're gonna take your comment in a little while so please let's um have some thoughts coming in and and questions too we're going to take a comment in a moment from um a member of our congregation if you just share your your name with us sir before you speak and then share your comment that we look forward to hearing from you we'll have you up and running in a second so okay after you thank you my name is emmanuel and um concerning the question i think the best answer would be to go back to the um the verse you gave in the beginning because i can't help but think of laodicea at the church when it speaks about the burden because the bible says they have to anoint their eyes without eyes out and the anointing according to isaiah chapter 10 verse 27 breaks yokes and in order to take the burden of yoke of christ we have to let go of the yoke or burden that we are putting upon ourselves so in order to do that we need to receive the anointing that will anoint our eyes so we can see without works and see the faith of jesus and the reward he has for us excellent excellent thank you very much you're leading us nicely into our next section pastor what's a deep pointer thank you very very much um and can i just make a point because um the greek word for for rest is the word an apostle and a poser which means repulse it means refreshing and it means recovery recovery and and and notice a notice it's not recovery that you give to yourself it's recovery that you get from somebody else so i want us to think about that um so take my yoke upon you the yolk zygos zygos that's the greek word zygos resting on the bullock neck or balance it's like a pair of scale but but in this case and i'm going to be coming to shniko who's going to give me her thoughts and a little lesson in a minute but zygos it's resting on two bullocks but it's the stronger bullock that is spooling the weaker one so the greater burden is not on the weaker bullock but it's on the stronger one i want you to get that because this is important as we understand that there's us and there's christ we are the weaker vessel christ is the stronger vessel so when we give him our yoke he takes the burden and then he carries us along but we will come into that in a minute um please read matthew 11 29 and expand on what you believe it is saying to us okay i'm reading from the new king james version um take my yoke upon you and learn from me for i am gentle and lonely in heart and you will find rest for your soul so plus i just basically took like half of what i was about to say but um so we have these loads spread on the oath and jesus is the head is the stronger ball we are the the weaker ones and he's taking his heavier loads for us but he's taking them not with complaining like some of us would do or upsetness he's taking them with humility gentleness and peace in his heart which helps him to move forward in grace in care and enjoy and he wants us to move forward in our lives when we're struggling things difficult with burdens to move forward in peace and care and enjoy and which is why he instructs us to take this yolk the yolk that he has because this yolk though with him carrying it it won't weigh us down it's going to free us from the bird as well under which is a really wonderful thing imagine he's carrying all these burden but he gives us this yolk and instead of it's weighing us down it just makes us light and free amen it will free us free us can i throw this in elder lesson as you prepare yourself to give us your reflection on verse 28 can you um but also this idea of burden elder john is about coupling it's about mentorship it's about discipleship not not by any human but by the creator but but by jesus himself who's going to mentor us he's going to disciple us he's coupling with us yes so that we can find rest a little less in in your verse uh read verse 28 we're encouraged to get rid of our heavy burden by taking up a yoke and still sounds like it still sounds like carrying a heavy burden what's going on your elderly what share with us your thoughts yes of course we know that a yoke is a very heavy wooden harness that fits over this the shoulders of an ox or an oxen and it is attached to a piece of equipment that the oxen can pull so really a person may be carrying heavy burdens of sin and and all sorts of demands on their lives and depression persecution all sorts of things and and the word yoga is used as a metaphor so when we come to jesus what he does is that he invites us to take up his yoke which means to submit to his will so when the yolk is was is actually placed around the neck of the oxen that animal is now submitted to the direction of its master now according to the authors of the lesson the yoke that jesus places around our neck to invite us to him fits very well he becomes our partner in service and is yoked with us so what he means is the life i give you is not a burden to you when you are yoked up with jesus we have the absolute assurance that that he will strengthen us to bear any temptation trial or tribulation that confronts us and i think this is just such a beautiful picture of who jesus really is one who is going to give us this very light burden well his burdens are light and it won't feel like a yoke upon our shoulders amen what a metaphor a light burden i've never heard of a burden being light but it is light because of the power of christ thank you very much and and sister shanica beautiful thoughts reflection um sister sayonara wha what what what are viewers saying yes our chat is very active at the moment and um thank you once again for everyone sharing their points i'm gonna try and read as many as possible and so starting over on the live stream in response to this question in terms of giving our burdens over to jesus and experiencing his rest how can we practically do that and one of the messages that have come through says memorizing god's word is a great way to find rest and lift burdens one of my favorites is philippians 4 6 which talks about being anxious for nothing um another comment that we've got over on well a few more on youtube we have andreas here saying the bible says without faith it is impossible to please this is the same for burdens we are incapable of taking on the pressures of life only jesus has the power to heal and transform burdens to make them light and son son also adds if i go up just a bit or i'm going to come to donna here at the moment we cannot fix our problems on our own so we take them to the lord he will help us by even sending others to assist us and i think that really emulates that point of you know the two coupling together and she's also added i have proven this many times we therefore should not sit and worry david also says come into him and stay in could be about a change of the laws we live by to bring all to him and again if we kind of um just thinking about really taking this on and making it personal it will mean a lifestyle change i'm gonna try and read one more um but as i said there are a lot of messages coming in thick and fast which is great um gift of life i'll read gift of life and garnet so gift of life has added in the book of john 18 36 jesus says my kingdom is not of this world find finding rest is to understand that we are not of this world the sooner we accept that the better and again i think that's a really um powerful point because a lot of the times why we are struggling to to understand um some of these concepts is because we haven't quite got to that point of you know relinquishing self and and truly being able to accept um the gift that christ offers us and in closing garnett has said often times we try to help out god and burden and wear out ourselves let's just give it over to him and there's countless stories in the bible where we see that happening if we look at um the story of you know jacob and esau's mother she kind of knew that the younger would serve the older and yet um because she didn't see it happening in real time she kind of tried to help things along and again we often do that and add to the load that we're already bearing powerful powerful keep your comments coming in we want to hear from yourselves as well in in our congregation um you know i just want to thank again those who are abroad getting up so many hours early on this sabbath morning i heard a message there from pastor andres malcolm a good morning pastor andres you probably got a long sabbath ahead of you thank you for joining us and for joining and sharing your comments with us so please keep your comments coming in and again we want to hear from our congregation as well you use the phrase there sister sayonara relinquishing self and this is the thing you know self is something that is the closest to us and to relinquish self and and this is where we're kind of getting into now you know you know my brothers and sisters the verse says and ye shall find rest unto your souls and you shall find rest unto your souls it's not saying rest unto yourself it's saying rest unto your souls this word souls seems to imply something that is deeper and i'm not talking about how soul is used in a lot of films and and spiritualism and whatsoever i'm not talking about something that is outside of biblical teaching this is saying you know our soul is something our deepest innermost self that's what that soul re refers to so um i want you congregation viewers listeners i want to share in a couple of sentences by way of your testimony how coming to jesus has enabled you to find rest unto your soul some of you may have been through some kind of challenges in your life that um you are now here by the grace of god so you know we just want to hear from you but string your testimonies together in a couple of sentences so we can just hear how coming to christ as enabled you to find that true rest unto your soul [Music] what i was talking about earlier where i said about relinquishing self etc etc etc the the lesson goes on in our text goes on to speak about well it uses the phrase i should say for i am meek or gentle in the modern versions and lowly in heart now does that sound like somebody's who is stubborn are they meek and lowly in heart is that the picture that we get from them does that sound like somebody who has a problem relinquishing self but no let's see what this is actually talking about so our verse said for i am meek and lowly in heart we know christ said that the meek are blessed and will inherit the earth that comes from the beatitudes but we need to examine i think a few other texts just exploring and expanding on what meekness and gentleness is all about so elder leslie and coming to you what does the apostle peter have to say about the meek and gentle in first peter chapter 3 and verse 4 please first peter chapter 3 verse 4 reading from the niv says rather it should be that of your inner self the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in god's sight now there is a tendency isn't there to think that being that that that meekness is a sign of weakness however on the contrary it is a sign of great strength it is being submissive and even that word submissive is a bad word in our society but look what jesus did for us he submitted himself in fact he condescended when he came from heaven to save us from our sins he humbled himself the bible says even to the death of the cross now peter is speaking about the importance of developing an inner spirit of godliness uh if you look at the text and and in fact from verse one of chapter three uh peter is speaking specifically to women whose husbands were not christians and reassures them that they do not need to preach to their husbands but they should and as you know in at that period of time in that society men had complete control over women the husbands had complete control over the women but peter is saying here that um that they they do not need to preach to their husbands but they should show them the kind of self-giving love that gentle spirit that meekness that christ shows the church in other words what he's saying is that they should leave lead an exemplary life and that life is a life of humility gentleness and loneliness of heart interesting comment there developing an inner spirit of godliness it's interesting as you were reflecting back to biblical times where men were completely in control of of women you know sometimes in this modern age i don't know it's like women are trying to reverse that but we won't go there today anyway um so likewise sister shanika just coming to you again trying to expand on on on meekness and and definition um isaiah isaiah 57 verse 15 he also brought out this gentleness and meekness can you just read and expand on that for us please yeah before i do that i want to say a lovely quick gift of life and i'm not from this world i was talking about a soul without a soul we wouldn't have life our soul is based we have breath already but the soul is really what gives life into us into our bodies otherwise we would just be walking bodies and think about those with souls to ignore the holy spirit they're already walking dead because they won't have eternal life so souls such are an important thing and having that weakness marine is not what souls i'm gonna get to now so i'm reading again from the new king james version but thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy i dwell in the high and holy place with him who was a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones when i first read this i was thinking i was struggling a bit like why is it saying weights going into it as i read it more i was thinking this is really really really beautiful even though god reigns on high in heaven like where the perfection is and we've always have any angels he also dwells here on us with us on up here on earth with us us humans who are sinners and unworthy but for those of us who you know have this humble spirit is represented in the heart who are meek and willing to change and want to be gentle he will draw even nearer to us and that will help us draw nearer to him and in that what's that happen he's going to restore us he's going to revive us he's going to prepare us for this home on high which is refreshing and it's wonderful and it's needed in this world of of just madness that could so easily break us god is here with us refreshing us and helping us and pushing us forward which is just great because we can't do it on our own amen putting our trust total dependence on him thank you sister shanika so christ is obviously the epitome of meekness and humility but the lesson highlighted christ being portrayed in the new testament as the second moses you know when you picture moses picture some of the things think about maybe why he wasn't able to enter the promised land i'm thinking to myself christ as a second moses pastor let me give you this one you know why would you say that christ is a second moses or or moses of the new testament can i make a point before i base the fact about um about finding rest to find rest you have to be obedient come finding rest you have to be submissive right you have to give yourself to somebody else and you have to stay committed to that person otherwise you will not find rest onto your soul and i just want to add that point to the point that you have made um have you noticed that the fruit of one of the fruit of this well there's there's one fruit many pegs you know fruit of the spirit humility is actually one of them okay now now when one thinks about meekness one thinks about weakness now the bible says that moses was the was the meekest man on earth okay and and it was moses ability to actually control himself in difficult situation he had the power to do whatever he wanted to do but he was able to control himself so meekness is one's ability to control oneself when one actually has the power to do something about one situation now think about that you can destroy me but you control yourself because you want to change my situation think about christ all the challenges that he faced he could have done something about it but because of my salvation because he wants to give you rest elder johnny because he wants to give me rest because he wants to give our congregation rest because he wants to give our viewers online rest he restrained himself you know there's a song he says he could have called ten thousand ten thousand angels right to destroy the world and set him free but he died alone for you and me so christ restrained himself he controlled himself so that i can be saved so that i can find rest listen to me if that isn't power then i don't know what else it is true true i think the lesson also highlighted some comparisons for example moses you know on the mountain and and speaking to people and christ spoke from the people to the people from a mountain as well um christ fed people with miracle food when we're comparing manner and the feeding of the 5 000 on the feeding of the other thousands as well um but as as you said you know this thing of humility when we think that moses offered himself to save his people yeah you know as as well and so as the the phrase goes meekness is not it's not weakness moses moses says you know take me lord don't destroy the people i i ask myself the question if you know if the lord is going to say you know take credit in church will i step forward and says lord take me you know it takes great strength to do that absolutely but i think the point the lest he's making is moses cannot offer himself for the people of god that's right he doesn't he doesn't have he doesn't have what he takes and even if he had died he wouldn't have restored the people anyway that's right because we need a god man to do that um sister sayonara can you yes i can give you some comments um [Music] some great points being raised and and echoing what's being said in here as well um just again looking at moses one of the comments that came through where meek is not just rolling over and allowing everyone to do what they want moses was the meekest man yet he was very strong he was very humble as we've just discussed and i think um what i found really interesting just relating to that point and another one i'm about to read is if we look at the i believe it's the hebrew word anova which i've probably said before and i've said it in a few bible studies with the youth but anova is actually um the hebrew for meekness or humility and when you actually look at the definition of that word it speaks about um you know we often just look at being humble or meek as being lowly and not that there's you know that part is wrong but it also goes into explaining that it's about taking your god-given space in the world so not overestimating yourself but not underestimating yourself but taking up your god-given space and i think when we look at it that way we're able to see that you know and just as we see with moses just as we see with jesus they had a mission they had a work to fulfill and they were able to be strong in doing so um but at the same time not you know put themselves above by the others or above um god and actually be able to to fulfill that work within the space god has given them um just relating to that we had another comment that says moses again was referred to as the meekest of all in numbers 12 3 a weak person could not have led the complaining israelites in his humility there is strength god could use his meekness which again just relates to that point um some of the personal testimonies that were coming through we've got one that says there have been many times when the outcome of a situation looked bleak but by reminding myself that christ will always do what is best for me i have been able to find peace and rest on his promises and that just reminds me of the text that says you know that jesus will give us a peace that surpasses all understanding um and a lot of the time even just to comprehend that verse it's it's very difficult to to get your head around but it's understanding that what what god wants to give us is something greater than this world it's something that you know it's it's not man-made it is truly supernatural another point that's come through has said praise be to god that i have learnt to surrender my unnecessary worries to jesus i have been relieved lots of headaches now i simply let jesus comfort me when i cannot carry my burdens and i think again another great point that i was reading something this week and it was talking about how a lot of disease is related um to our psychological you know sometimes we're so stressed out about things or you know there's there's so much going on in our lives that it starts to take a toll on us physically we might have headaches we might have all kinds of things um that present themselves and so there's that also is gonna have an impact on our physiological on our physical self um and see us be able to you know have less stress and have less of the end so one more on that from the same person it says if we submit to the authority of our lord he will labor with us and make our burden lighter christ is our life and he is our strength i can do all things through christ who gives me strength and again if we look at where that verse is taken from in philippians 4 and we see you know paul's been going through it he's been in prison he's had all of these these poor and negative experiences but yet even in the worst of it all he's able to have that strength through christ amen a point just give us your name before you start i know i know you but share your name thank you is where moses was first cast out of his own and then he was chosen to lead the people out of bondage and he went through trials with them but he still persevered though they really pressed his buttons love um led us to the cross for our salvation and our freedom and um vice versa with christ coming and doing what he did for us amen what a powerful thought sister quite quite quite quite you capture an essence of moses journey but what we need to make this point needs to be clear that moses could not have been christ that's right he was on um sister nico my yoke is easy um what does christy about his yoke and how do you comprehend matthew chapter 11 and verse 30. will you read from the new king james version again for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and i also really love what it says in the message version keep company with me and you'll learn to live life freely and lightly so how amazing is that keep company with jesus and you will learn to live life freely and lightly and you know what's a moment itself that we need to take forward living life with christ taking his yoke with us gives us a life of freedom freedom from sin from pressures from burden so we can walk around with our shoulders lifted our heads straight head high about straight head high even in the toughest of times and that's not an easy thing not an easy thing at all but and that's why i can sit here and say take a jesus joke i stand strong and i stand tall through or struggles of university and dropping out and dealing with annoying corporate organizations and being an organization on their own and dealing with self-harm and all these difficult things that is why i'm able to do that and stand resilient and able is because i keep company with jesus simple as that thank you for your personal testimony as to how how how this yoke has become very very easy um in terms of your own reflection elder less following on from what shaniqua said compare and contrast what paul is saying about the york in galatians chapter five verse one as he he talks about the law so can you dig into that for us please before i do that i just i want to um concur with my sister white department of service and when we take this yoga we become co-workers with him and that is such a now i think uh let's just read what uh paul says in galatians five verse one i'm reading again from the niv and and he says it is for freedom that written again by a yoke of slavery i think paul is saying here that christ died to set us free from sin and from illusions on the people and in fact they themselves could not even keep these laws and regulations but they expected the people to to keep them so that just free not free to do whatever we please that would back into the slavery of sin and to and of to our own selfish desires now the note on page 60 of the teachers edition of the study guide states we can be sure that whatever exactly paul meant by the yoke of bondage he was not referring to um to obedience to god's law the ten commandments on the contrary it's through obedience by faith understanding that our salvation is secure not based on the law but on christ's righteousness covering us that we you and i can have true freedom isn't that beautiful amen uh the law giving freedom can i just read my my thoughts here and um and i want to our congregation i want you to get yourself ready two or three of you um to think about this i want to comment why is living a life of obedience to god's law one of more restfulness than one in which we disobey the law okay so i'm gonna give at least three of you to come to the mic and share your views here's the question why is living a life of obedience to god law one of more restfulness than one in which we disobey that law we'll also take some comments online elder johnny law is hurtful law is law is a guide law keeps us focused and law is made for our benefit don't just think about that walking with jesus brings joy in times of sorrows god's law enable you to be free and grow stronger each day it is not a burden but it is actually a blessing i wanted to think about that oh here we have one of our congregation remember ready to share her thoughts i'm not sharing my thoughts i'm asking a question a question yes um on the friday's lesson it says study jesus prayer in matthew 11 25-27 he says why does god hide the plan of salvation from the wise and prudent and reveal them to bibs i think that one is bold the pastor is going to throw it over to the elder [Laughter] um right so i'm just going to repeat is it not a metaphor really to the wise of the prudent because you think about the scribes on the pharisees and you think about the fact that they were very very knowledgeable and no matter what christ did elder johnny and our viewers it's a text that says they have eyes to see but they don't see they're used to hear but they're not listening so when you reflect on the text he's not saying that that that those of us who are not as knowledgeable as the wise and the prudent um or you think about it those who are scholars are very critical they like to analyze stuff right and if it doesn't sound logical it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense and that is why the bible says that salvation um is nonsense to those who think they're clever yes so i was going to say just to add as you said there it's about the man's it's a it's about the the wise and prudent you know is it that they feel they are self resourceful and so by having that kind of minds um alienating anybody because that is not in line with the character and with the whole gospel message it's about the receptiveness of the heart um you know definitely on that on that point and i think that's that's and i don't leave you so think about it in that context it's the heart absolutely pliable openness being ready to allow christ to be the center of your heart right i hope that answers the question um as best as we can oh the wealthy is nodding wonderful okay um so if you're listening on the radio again this is going out live on sabbath morning so we want to hear from you as well um just going back to moses if i may it's the clock as you know but summarize for us the particular burden that um moses had and how summarized that for us please yeah but the narrative was in exodus 18 13 to 22. now moses had been spending much time and energy work so jethro his father-in-law saw how burdened and stressed moses had become and suggested that he should delegate most of the work to others and therefore focus on jobs only he could do and delegation relieved moses stress and improved the quality of his leadership this shows that we cannot do everything by ourselves but that proper delegation jesus told us that his burden is light he wanted to remind us that we can rely on him the ultimate burden bearer lesson guide brings that out very well that burden bearing means restoring someone who has gone off the track in order to help that person to to see divide to receive divine grace it also means helping one another when we or they suffer hardship so here was um moses getting the help from jethro uh we we do have we do have um helen uh one of our um congregation member here she has a thought um wise tend to miss out on the actual truth because they don't want to listen to anything else but the sound of their own voices and peter burton says young people often know they don't know and are willing to learn and grow some learn some learned might think they cannot be taught so close so close their mind to spiritual growth powerful thought and and our condolences god to you peter thanks for that powerful thought um helen you want to share your views for us please okay um good morning everybody i'm going back on two points that were raised earlier um one is how we can have rest inquired a long way through it initially i remember saying lord why this is challenging this is difficult and i said help a problem wouldn't go away overnight it didn't go over overnight took quite a while but there was progress but when i look back on it i could see that is god just gave me the word um that would just give me peace and so certain songs would come to my mind that will give me peace and but you know it's because god really got you through when you just lay your bed on him just rest in him he literally somehow takes you don't actually see how it happens you just feel the uh repeated pass about keeping the law and having you say something about if you keep the law i know that i'm doing something that is right i have peace with myself when i do something that is wrong my conscience bothers me i don't feel comfortable others you within yourself feel comfortable that you're doing the right thing you're doing things to please god you're doing things that's going to benefit other people and within yourself you have peace you have peace of mind but anytime you do something wrong and you know it's wrong your conscience doesn't give you peace that's why the lord is a means of keeping you happy and contented amen amen um um galatians 6 verse 2 why does paul say to the galatians that bearing one another's burdens fulfills the full law of christ um when you think about supporting each other or fulfilling one law basically loving our neighbors as ourselves by doing unit and reach more people on the work in in the world and just do the work that as christ disciples to any even greater effect succinct that's fine uh sign too many s's sayonara um what's going on um on the comments world please um well in the comments again a lot of points that are echoing what's been said over on live stream we've got um sin has never given rest nor freedom and we see that throughout the ages disobedience always leads to a bondage of guilt and fear this is a terrible form of bondage but i could not relax i knew trouble was ahead even if i hid when i obeyed i could be at peace with no fear no anxiety and another comment coming through says when we disobey god's law we end up battling with guilt and that in and of itself causes restlessness your mind is not at peace and i think that's so true you know there are certain things and but again that guilt it's that you know that prodding even from the holy spirit we did a bible study looking at guilt versus shame and you know are they the same thing and the conclusion was that they're not but guilt is something internal that you know is really what we feel which should lead us um to repetitive consequences being upright gives peace and rest and the point i want to just close with however we have to keep on using our life experiences to share with those who are lost thank god for our test they save lives and and that point is really interesting i remember when i was younger there was a service at church and you know it was talking about how do you explain to someone how good god is you know how do you almost convert people to christ and as we know that's not really our job that's the holy spirit that comes in and does that but one of the points that they gave was that it's for people to taste and see and when you share testimonies when you kind of you know um just just show how god is working in your life that is sometimes one of the biggest ways in which people can start to you know really see god and then begin their own experiences with him as well and there's a verse that we love to quote and i believe if luke and jonathan jude are listening i know they'll know it but i believe it's revelations 12 verse 11. and it just basically says that we have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony yes it is and and that we basically love our lives not unto death you know it's it's getting to that point where we we love christ so much and we are just you know overcoming by sharing as that comment really um pointed out as well and the final one that i wanted says when we realize the law is constructive and corrective we will find the law is of love that guides us when we stray beautiful point because again growing up a lot of the time you read the bible and you could feel like you know there's all of these these laws there's all of these rules there's all of these things that we should be doing of understanding that all of the things that are there it's not too it's not to reshape everything that god has given us or every law that you know god has given us to keep is there for our own good is truly so that we can live our best lives truly so that we can you know experience something greater that surpasses you know this carnal world that we're in so um again just a really powerful point and i think great that is more or less it that's okay thank you thank you so much sister sainer although we're talking about rest it seems amazing that we're talking about rest and being relieved from burdens and restrictions and we're an environment where everybody's sort of masked up um and restricted um and there are certain burdens associated with that so the lesson really for me sort of helped me to understand and appreciate um that whilst we live in an environment of of uh of burdens and restrictions especially over the last 18 months um we still have to function think at the in in colossians in the the last chapter of colossians that where it says that we're crucified with christ okay so it's not me that's uh that that me and when we share um each other's burdens it's the christ in us that is actually sharing those burdens um case in point um when you look at the story in matthew chapter eight of the roman centurion for example um not a quote unquote an adventist um a pagan background um but yet the simplicity of the gospel is the constant debate and discussion and who are you where have you really come from and when jesus heard the the the request for the healing of the centurion son servant he basically said i'll come and this insurance says no um uh in other words the centurion was saying i have rest and peace in if you are who you say you are than us and that when christ says he will do something that he will do it and that requires humility um and and sincerity uh and an absolute trust um that that that sort of pushes out all of the the baggage of of seeking a reason and wondering why and asking questions et cetera et cetera so in christ and christ alone excellent point thank you very much elder elder david panelist just very quickly i need to ask you this question you know just like the character christian in the early part of pilgrim's progress that was written by john bunyan we need to stop carrying the burden on our own as we move on now both of you as entrepreneurs in your own right how often do you choose to try and fix your problems yourselves rather than outsource or to train others briefly let me let let me go with yourself elder leslie and then shanika you know do you try and fix your problems because of the circumstance what's your thoughts sometimes i do it's it's only human to do that and then after a while you realize that you're you're falling flat in your face and you need uh the um the help of others so yes there are times when i do do that honest that's true and chinica um too often i do it i've done it i'm getting better about not doing it i try to delegate as much as possible i try to get help unfortunately often the help isn't great which is part of the issues where i keep doing it myself but i do try to ask at chris delegate if i don't know something i put my hands up and i don't try to just figure out what i'm kind of half and half of that honest honest and that that's the whole thing because i think when we're battling but we must remember to have christ in in on all things so he can lead us through in all ways look we're battling against the time so sion let me take your final comments and panelists if you can prepare your 30 second takeaway points sion final comments from youtube and i'll just share these two i believe it's from brother and wenger it says when we are united with christ in faith our struggles and sorrows are made easy because we can do all things through his strength again philippians 4 13 in christ all things are possible because he is god god does not deal with us in force or intimidation his ways are always mingled with kindness mercy and love he does not treat us as we deserve in him our troubled souls will find rest with no condemnation thank you very much and shanika your takeaway point please um just what was it i said beforehand keep company with jesus and you'll learn to live freely and lightly and i want to just dedicate today being on the panel to my grandma she was always hugely proud of me youtube i tried wanting to do this so much today for her because she was cool she called on the first time when i was on there she called she called vlogs on here and she was always so happy so i was dedicated to her and i loved her i miss him so much i am man thank you um pasta oh no no elder leslie i beg your pardon elder leslie indian pastor it's my my final comment comes from the desire of ages page 329 because and cut is to submit to his will and in submitting to his will we have highest of freedom and the greatest sense of peace it is my prayer that will help me to submit to his will and find rest in him amen and pastor listen all of us have burdens so vulnerable so that those who really care about us in the physical realm can stand with us but also we need to make ourselves spiritually vulnerable so that christ can carry us through life difficult storms i'm looking forward to a time when there will be no more heartache when there will be no more burdens to bear but until that time there is someone who will help me bear my burdens and his name is jesus special thanks to our panelists ella leslie and shannon now both of them had tough weeks but they wanted to be here and they wanted to do the lord's work so thank you so much thanks to cyan thanks to our av team next week we're moving to finding rest in family ties thank you very much over to elder valsey and thank you elder johnny and pastor you have already found the rest of the panel so and we found the congregation for participating in the cyber school this morning now i don't know how many of you received the messenger one of the um readings entitled the peace that passes all understanding and i said oh my goodness this goes hand in hand with the lesson we are studying this week just want to share in closing some snippets from what i i got from this reading it says here the storm was not only a physical challenge it shook their strength their faith and their hope speaking about disciples they couldn't understand how jesus could be sleeping so peacefully they wandered silently then they shouted their fears did he not care for them it says here the darkness seems to hide jesus from their sight but as he woke up they saw a preview of what would come lightning revealed his face and they saw heaven's peace in his eyes they cried lord save us we perish never did a soul utter that cry unheeded never did a soul utter that curry unheeded what a powerful statement when we submit our fears and ourselves to him he promises to save us and give us his peace our so regardless of our current situation jesus promises his presence and his peace he is ready to enter our storm and say peace be still that's good enough for me and i hope that is good enough for all of us here this morning let us pray oh what a wonderful wonderful day day i shall never forget after had wandered in darkness away jesus my savior i met oh what a tender compassionate friend he met the need of my heart sorrows is spelling with joy i am telling he made all my darkness depart and father heaven came down in the form of your son jesus christ and heaven filled our soul when on the cross our savior made us all our sins he washed away our light was done today because heavenly father jesus came down and heaven filled our soul amen amen [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] it shines in time [Music] is [Music] no secrets what god can do [Music] [Music] oh no secrets [Music] [Music] is [Music] there is no power [Music] what he's done for [Music] oh [Music] there is no secret what god can do [Music] [Music] [Music] it is [Music] my god [Music] praise god from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures he'll be in love praise him above his praise father son and holy ghost [Music] praise god from him all blessings flow praise him all creatures praise father praise god from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures [Music] blessings flow praise him on [Music] creatures praise father praise father may i wish you all a very very happy sabbath and would you please listen to the following announcements uh everyone is invited to join the prime minister's team for prior breakfast next sunday 8th of the 8th 21 between 8 and 9 a.m prior breakfast by zoom no we won't be having literal food but we're going to be having spiritual food so please come along to to our breakfast next week and a very special invitation to all our newly baptized members we'd love to have you at our breakfast next on the 8th the zoom details for the breakfast are the same details that we use for prime eating so the id is 8298-8298-7729-729-147 and the passcode is zero zero five six four three but it's on the website the church website so do come along next week now our annual uh prior retreat will this year take place again on zoom in october and more details will follow at a later date and i'd love to invite all the ladies those who are here those are online to a women's forum the forum has been going for a few months now and we have some wonderful times just discussing women together and on the 16th we're having a very special uh forum uh it will be a series of dress to bless so we're having a fashion design an adventist fashion designer coming to us on the 16th so please check again on the website for the zoom details and don't forget that today is also an extra special day because we're having a baptism at 4 00 p.m it's going to be a wonderful celebration because we're not the only ones who are going to be celebrating all heaven is going to be celebrating it is with great sadness that i'm sure most people have heard but if you haven't it is great sad with great sadness that i announced the death of our dear beloved sister cynthia betten sadly another soldier has fallen but on behalf of the pastoral team and indeed on behalf of the church we offer our condolences to the entire burton family you know the prophet in isaiah puts it so beautifully when you have time to read isaiah 57 verse 1 to 2 he says the righteous perish and no one takes it to heart the devout are taken away to be spared from evil those who walk uprightly enter into peace they find peace they find rest as they lie in death may god grant the burton family comfort at this very sad time amen with church oh happy sabbath who prays with you that's ultimately what we want to do we want to praise god with you um there's a song that's been on our minds this week even though it's been a trying week a lot of sad news some good news but we want to give god glory always so to god be the glory hymn number 341 to god be the glory to god be the glory to god be the glory great things he has done [Music] sin the lord praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord let the people rejoice through jesus the son and give him the glory great things [Music] who truly believes praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord through jesus the sun [Music] [Applause] great through jesus [Music] when jesus we see praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord praise the lord let the earth hear his voice praise the lord praise the lord let the people rejoice oh come to the father through jesus the son and give him the glory great things he had done praise the lord praise the lord let the earth praise the lord praise the lord let the people rejoice i'll come to the father jesus the son and give him the glory great things amen praise god and church if you were struggling to find something to give glory to god for i will give you an example because there is power in the blood of the lamb so hymn number 294 power in the blood would you would you be free from the burden of sin there is power in the blood power in the blood would you or even a victory when [Music] there is [Music] [Music] would you be free from your passion and pride there is [Music] there [Music] there is [Music] [Applause] would you do service for jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] wonder [Music] [Applause] there is [Music] there is [Music] there was a song and maybe for many of you it was on your minds last week it comes from psalms 51 and it says create in me a clean heart so as we worship together let's let's sing create in me a clean heart creating me a clean heart and purify me purify me create in me a clean heart so i may worship thee let's sing together create me heart and purify me purify me create in me a glee [Music] cast me not away from thy presence please don't take your spirit from me and restore the joy of salvation [Music] me purify me create in me a clean heart one more time creating me a clean heart and purify me purify me it creates in me a clean heart [Music] cast me not away from thy presence please don't take your spirit from me and restore the joy of salvation so that i may worship thee great create in me a clean heart [Music] [Music] a clean [Music] please [Music] the last one we're going to sing is how great is our god the splendor of a king the splendor of a king clothed in majesty [Music] darkness sing with me how great how great [Music] chorus again how great is to h from age to age he stands and time is in his hands beginning and the end beginning and the end god had three and one god had three in one [Music] sing with is our us sing with me how great is [Music] is our god and all we'll see how great how great it is and my heart will sing and my heart will sing how you're the name above all names you are worthy of our praise and my heart will sing how great is [Music] and my heart will sing how great [Music] [Music] is sing with me how great [Music] [Music] is [Music] how great is [Music] room how great is our god we thank you father this morning that you are such a great god without you we wouldn't be here today we want to thank you and praise you this morning thank you and praise you for this holy sabbath a new day to worship you once again thank you for the privilege and opportunity for those of us who are able to gathered in your courts today to praise you we also want to thank you for the privilege of all those who are online in various parts of the world joining in praise to you this morning we praise you lord because you are our creator we praise you because you are our deliverer our redeemer our friend and so we recognize that because you have made us and because you have redeemed us through your son o lord and savior jesus christ we have the privilege this morning to come not only to praise you and to thank you but to ask you that you will forgive us for our sins cleanse us from all unrighteousness because we recognize that as we come to you this morning we have nothing to recommend us to you but the blood of jesus that was shed for us to cleanse us and to cover us from our sins and to make us available so that you can fulfill your plan for us so that we will be able to be with you when you come to claim us again so as we come today we want to thank you lord for what you've done for us this week you have blessed us in many ways you have helped us and you have kept us but father we also have experienced other things this week and we want to come to you asking you that you will be with us help us to be mindful every step of the way because as we see this moment we know not what will happen in the next moment and so we commit ourselves to you we want to acknowledge to you this morning that we have lost one of our faithful members and we are always very sad about this we want to commit the family to you we want to commit the church family to you and the world family the worldwide family we commit to you this morning and as we share in this loss we ask lord that you'll remind us of your promise that you'll come again so that we will have the hope that we will meet again this morning lord there are many things happening here there and everywhere some are suffering because of ailments and the corona is still around with us and we ask you lord that you will shield us you will protect us you'll guide us you'll help us you will strengthen us and you will heal as many as you choose to heal from this condition so that we may be able to raise up and give you praise thanks and for those who have gone to sleep we know lord that you have they have a hope the hope in the coming of our lord and savior jesus christ so this morning their father we commit all these matters to you and we ask the lord that you'll give us that faith that will not shrink though pressed by many a fool that will not tremble on the brink of poverty or a faith that shines more bright and clear enables us to continue to look to you and never give up we want to bring before you some of the conditions that are affecting our people remember lord there are many disasters in the world that are taking place and we especially want to remember the brothers and sisters in these areas and of recent in belgium germany and in the netherlands we've had severe floodings and there are many other concerns in these areas we ask that you will bless and encourage and provide for those who are suffering needs at this time and restore health and wealth and comfort to them and to provide according to your riches and glory we also have heard of recent that one of our retired doctors dr henry has been elected the prime minister of haiti and that is great news lord because that country needs you more than ever before and so we are asking your outpouring of your holy spirit upon him and that your word will pervade this country in particular and raise up many souls that are suffering there and that they may give their lives to jesus that your word may pervade that place as because you have promised in the last days you will pour out your spirit upon all flesh and we pray that you will accomplish this even in the country of haiti likewise in other parts of the world because we remember that many parts of the world are suffering persecution because of your word because of accepting your word we want to remember such places like iraq and and the christians there that are suffering and many other countries even in those areas that are suffering because of those who wish to accept your word so in the in the name of jesus today lord we know that you are the strong deliverer and you've never lost the case so cover your christians lord cover your believers in the last days you've promised in your word in matthew chapter 24 verse 14 that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world before the end come and then the end shall come and as even this church here and amongst many are presenting your word so that the world can participate in hearing your word we pray that you will bring forth fruit for your kingdom according to your promise today we will also experience the blessing of uh some souls taking their stand in baptism giving their lives confirming their decision to follow jesus and so we ask for your spirit the holy spirit to be here in this place in this pool there today where they will be immersed to follow jesus and we thank you father for all those who participated in encouraging and preparing them for this experience last sunday lord our young people went out and did a wonderful program circulating information encouraging others to follow you and remembering one of the lost youngsters of our church of recent months we pray lord that you will your holy spirit will really work upon the hearts of all those who received those packages and to bless our young people for doing that as to continue the mission that has been given to them we also want to remember our children that are being taken care of by those ministry leaders even at this time and we thank you for the effort and also the the the encouragement of our children and their parents in such a time as this when we're not able to gather here at church and we hope that by your grace and power as things go on that they will have the privilege of joining once again as before now this morning lord your word will be presented to us by your man servant you have promised according to your word in isaiah chapter 55 that your word you will send forth and it will not return unto you void so we want to present your man servant who is going to present your word to you to us today that your promise will be fulfilled according to your word that number one you said you'll give us pastors after your own heart and that you will bless them abundantly and as they present as he presents his word today may your holy spirit attend your word and accomplish as you have stated every word that you have blessed and every hearer would hear and respond to your word today so we thank you for your promises lord and we thank you for even all our visitors who have been here today and i must mention it was a blessing to see someone i have been remembering for quite some time and i pray that you will bless each and every one including this person who i have seen for the first time after many years so lord we just hand over to you now hear us from your throne above as we wait upon you may your word pervade our souls and may all things work together for good to them that love you lord to them that are the called according to your purpose we pray this in the name of jesus amen [Music] [Music] there is a sweet anointing in the sanctuary [Music] [Music] god is he there is a sweet anointing in the sanctuary there is [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is he is [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] is to break thee [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] amen and happy sabbath everyone it's good to see you in the house of the lord today and for those online it's good to have you and with us also as we lift up the name of the lord and as we seek him that we may be drawn closer to him i just want to also add with the message that came out this morning the condolences to the burton family for the loss and the passing of sister and mother burton she was a woman that was loved by many both near and far but now she is laid to rest and we look forward to the coming of our lord and savior jesus christ where those of us who remain can be caught up in the air with her and others that have laid to rest faithfully i mean jesus so just want to give our condolences to the burton family at this time and also the burton family would like to give their thanks and appreciation to those who have called and the many calls that they have received at this time so let us continue to pray for for them before the birth and family and for others who have recently lost their loved ones let us hold them up in prayer and be a support to them during these times of of grief and and of mourning i also want to bring to your attention and that in september we will be starting our nomination process so therefore the month of august has been given over to prayer so we are asking at the church to come together in your homes and when we come together in prayer meetings that we pray and seek god and that his will will be done during the nomination process as we elect leaders for the new year so we are asking that you will come together that you will join us as we pray and seek our god that the process will be done according to his will and that his will will be done come lay down the burdens you have carried for in the sanctuary god is here it is my prayer today that this earthly sanctuary will join the heavenly sanctuary by faith as we worship the almighty god the god of our creation of all creation the message for this morning is entitled christ our righteousness christ our righteousness and it concludes the series for the month of july looking at the atoning sacrifice of jesus as we go through the word today i'm asking that you prayerfully read through the scriptures with me and that together we will seek god for god has done a wonderful thing a great thing in giving his son jesus the christ to be our redemption that in him we have a high priest whereby our sins can be removed and we can be reconciled back to our heavenly father so as we open the word today join me in prayerfully seeking god that we may by faith receive the gift of god in jesus christ and be saved turn with me to the scripture reading to the book of hebrews reading from chapter 9 verses 11 to 14. hebrews chapter 9 verses 11 to 14 but before we read the word of god let us bow our heads in prayer our kind and eternal heavenly father glory and honor to your high and holy name we humble ourselves before you this morning oh god this afternoon and we ask for a word from you that as we read your word we are asking that your holy spirit will open up our understanding that we may know you and obey for we dare not use our own understanding our own interpretation but rather father let your spirit open our hearts and our minds that we may receive the truth and be saved and be drawn closer to you therefore father and forgive me of my sins and cleanse me of all my scrap my transgressions and trespasses and i pray oh god that you would touch my lips with a hot coal from often altar and purge me and i pray heavenly father that as you did with jeremiah you will do also and for me and put your words in my mouth that as i speak to your servants it will be you alone that will be heard and father save thy people and be glorified for we ask these mercies in jesus name amen hebrews chapter 11 sorry chapter 9 verses 11 to 14 and i'll read in your hearing from the king james version but christ being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption of for us for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood of christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to god purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living god we're talking about christ our high priest in order to understand this in its fullness we need to go back a few chapters in the book of hebrews and to look at hebrews chapter 7 and we'll touch on chapter 8 as well and then we will go forward in chapter 9 and we will look at 10 11 and 12 and then we will see how this applies to us how can we apply this understanding of christ our high priest today in the age that we now live so turn with me to hebrews chapter seven in this chapter we learn and discover that the ministry of jesus christ his priestly ministry is one that is superior to melchizedek melchizedek was the king of salem and his name means king of righteousness king of righteousness and he reigned in salem and that his kingship of salem was a king of peace for salem it means peace and melchizedek as though many of you may remember received a tithe from abraham who gave him a tenth of all his all his spoils of all that he had he gave a tenth to to melchizedek he paid him a tithe but the ministry of christ though melchizedek was shown as one of having no beginning of days or ending of days it was not known his origins nor was it known of where he ended up and so there were similarities here then for the ministry of christ for christ's ministry is an eternal ministry there is no beginning of him and there is no ending of him for he is god so his priestly ministry is greater even that than that of melchizedek so let's read from verses 11 and onward and i'll read in your hearing if therefore perfection were by the levitical priesthood for under it the people received the law what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of melchizedek and not be called after the order of aaron for the priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the law for he whom those things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe of which man gave attendance at the altar for it is evident that our lord sprang out of judah of the tribe of moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood and it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of melchizedek there riseth another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life for he testifieth thou art a priest forever after the order of melchizedek for there is verily a dis annulment nulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof for the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope it did by the which we draw nigh unto god and in as much as not without an oath he was made priest for those priests were made without a note but this withered an oath by him that said unto him the lord swear and will not repent thou art a priest forever after the order of melchizedek by so much was jesus made a surety of a better testament and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue and by reasons of death because under the levitical system the priests though they officiated in the sanctuary they died also they also had to officiate for their own sins as well as the sins of the people however this high priest jesus the christ who's after the order of melchizedek says this verse 24 but this man because he continueth forever hath an unchangeable priesthood wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto god by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them jesus christ our high priest his ministry supersedes that of melchizedek supersedes the levitical priesthood because those priests died but jesus christ died once and he rose again and is now sat down on the right hand of the father and he is ministering interceding for you and for me interceding after a new covenant after a new a testament you may remember in the gospel of matthew you can turn with me to matthew 26 matthew 26 reading from verses 26 to 30. this is the occasion of the lord's supper where jesus is with his disciples and notice what he says as we read through these verses and we're talking about jesus our high priest of our order that is greater than melchizedek of a new testament a new covenant verse 26 and as they were eating jesus took bread and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the new testament which is shared for many for the remission of sins but i say unto you i will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out into the mount of olives for this is my blood of the new testament which is shared for many for the remission of sins christ's death and his resurrection brought to humanity the forgiveness and remission of sins and the reconciliation back to the father this the the blood of bulls could not do they could only symbolize and foretell what the real sacrifice will be who he will be what he will do and what will be made available by that sacrifice hence the sacrifice of jesus christ the son of god was a greater sacrifice than that of the bulls and the sheep and the goats that were offered in times past for they pointed forward and what they were to do was to cast the minds of the believer of the people of israel to that great time when jesus will come when god will send forth his son to purchase our redemption the old covenant passed away when the new covenant in jesus christ came and was fulfilled and made these things known in chapter 8 of the book of hebrews let's go back to to hebrews chapter 8 from verse 1 it says now of the things which we have spoken this is the sun we have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the lord pitched and not man for every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer for if he were on earth he should not be a priest seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law that is the levitical law the the aaronic priesthood who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things as moses was admonished of god when he was about to make the tabernacle for see saith he that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount but now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises everything about jesus christ is better everything that he did was better for he was the son of god who lived according to the will of his father and gave himself for our redemption now you'll note that it talks of him in verse 2 a minister of a sac sank of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the lord pitched and not man i want to put it to you today that the true sanctuary is not only the sanctuary that is in heaven but is actually jesus christ himself the true sanctuary remember what he he said when he said this temple i will destroy this temple and in three days i will raise it up do you remember that and they were confused they thought he was referring to the temple in jerusalem and they said that look more than 50 years this took to build this place and yet he says he will build it destroy it and build it in three days but they did not understand that he was talking about his body that he was going to lay down his life for our sins jesus is the true temple cast your minds back to the old testament when david wanted to build a temple for god and so much of his love he had for god that he wanted to use his resources and he gathered resources and he wanted to build a temple before god but because his hands were bloody he was told to him that he could not build it but that his son would build the sanctuary will build the temple and so david stored up all what he could and left it for his son solomon to build the temple but there's something else that i want to show you here talking about jesus christ the true tabernacle turn with me to the book of 2nd samuel in chapter 7. second samuel chapter 7 and we will pick it up from verse 11. and it reads and as since the time that i commanded judges to be over my people israel and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies also the lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house now remember david wanted to build a house for the lord but the lord through his prophet said the lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house and when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers i will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels and i will establish his kingdom and he shall build a house for my name and i will establish the throne of his kingdom forever now on the one hand it can refer to solomon his son that will build a house but will solomon be on the throne forever no for solomon himself died so what is made known here is that this throne will be established an everlasting throne this kingdom is an everlasting kingdom this house god himself will build i will build thee a house and he was talking about the messiah to come that he will build if you like jesus the christ the true tabernacle the true high priest the true sacrifice all these things come to fulfillment in jesus christ that we may be saved from our sins turn now to me with me to luke chapter one luke in chapter one and we'll read verses 30 to 33 and the angel said unto her fear not mary for thou has found favor with god and behold thou shalt conceive in thy room and bring forth a son and shall call his name jesus and he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the lord god shall give unto him the throne of his father david and he shall reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end so here now we're being we're seeing the fulfillment of what was said to david by the prophet that god will build him a house god would build him a house and now he tells that the angel speaks to mary in saying that she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name jesus and he shall reign on the throne of his father david and it shall be an everlasting kingdom a kingdom that shall not come to an end the true sanctuary is jesus christ the whole covenant comes to fulfillment in him for he is the sacrifice he is the house and he is the high priest and he kingdom for jesus said of himself the kingdom of god is at hand john the baptist the forerunner to jesus said that the kingdom of god also is at hand and then he said behold the lamb of god that's come up to take away the sins of the world pointing to none other than jesus the christ for he is the atoning sacrifice for what can wash away our sins nothing but the blood of jesus so what was wrong with the old covenant was there something wrong with the old covenant the truth is it wasn't the problem was not with the old covenant the problem was with the people chapter 8 from verse 7 tells us this for if that first covenant had been faultless when then should no place have been sought for the second for finding fault that says with them he said behold the days come said the lord when i will make a new covenant with the house of israel with the house of judah not according to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day when i took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of egypt because they continued not in my covenant and i got god regarded them not saith the lord for this is the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days of the lord i will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts and i will be to them a god and they shall be to me a people and they shall not teach everyone his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest for i will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities i will remember no more in that he saith a new covenant he have made the first old now that which decayeth and wax of old is ready to vanish away so the old government failed because the people failed for they were unfaithful to the covenant they did not believe remember the story well when the spies went into canaan and they brought back a report it was only joshua and caleb that gave a good report that said that we can take this land for god is able to deliver it into this into our hands but the rest of the spies they feared the size of the men in the city they feared the giants and they said we cannot we cannot for they were unfaithful and all the people cried and moaned and and and complained and as a consequence all those from the age of 20 years and up perished in the wilderness and they had to go round the wilderness for 40 years a day before a year because the spies went into the land and for 40 days they searched it and looked upon it and came back and so god said i will give a year for a day and you shall travel for 40 years but because of your unbelief you will not enter in and only the children when they grew entered in they did not enter into the rest because of unbelief they did not believe that god could deliver them but lest we should think that we are any better for we are in a wilderness wandering from earthly canaan traveling towards the heavenly canaan when jesus shall come again and take his believing followers home so at the moment we are wandering in the wilderness will we enter in by faith or will we also say that god cannot deliver us from our enemies that god cannot deliver the kingdom into our hands let us humble ourselves and learn from the story that we may follow and accept jesus christ and by faith jesus who is our high priest jesus who is the kingdom jesus who is the true tabernacle that god built that we may be saved and that we may enter in the key to all of this is faith faith the acceptance of jesus christ by faith allows us to enter into the kingdom allows us to enter into the tabernacle into christ that christ may abide in us that we may be a living temple for the indwelling of god by the holy spirit faith is the key faith is the passport through the judgment into eternal life if we do not believe we will not enter in faith is the key so the sacrifice of christ was a better sacrifice this earthly sacrifice was shattered was a shadow of the things to come we see this in in the hebrew for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins wherefore when he cometh into the world he says sacrifice and offering thou would not but a body thou hast thou hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou has had no pleasure then said i lo i come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will o god above when he said sacrifice an offering and burn offerings and offering for sin thou was not neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law then said he lo i come to do thy will o god he taketh away the first that he may establish the second by the which will we are sanct by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of jesus christ once for all and every priest stand of daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifice which can never take away sins but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of god verse 16 tells us this is the covenant that i will make with them after those days said the lord i will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds and i will write to them and their sins and iniquities will i remember no more now where remission of these is is no more offering for sin so the death and the resurrection of jesus christ his blood atones for our sins his blood when spread on the door lentils of our hearts and of our minds the angel of death will pass over us and we need not die the second death for the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life so the blood of christ applied to our hearts and our minds means that the angel of the judgment for our sins we will not die and even if we die we will live again and be reconciled to god for death no longer has power over the believing soul who accepts jesus christ but by faith christ our high priest so you will see then that it is christ that does all the work it is not by our works our great effort for ancient israel for their great works they still failed and perished in the wilderness but those of spiritual israel those who accept jesus christ by faith will not die in the wilderness but will pass safely through the angel of death will not have power over them they will have everlasting life for in christ is life for he is the bread of life he is the water of life so when we receive christ when we eat the bread and we drink the water of life we receive him into our hearts and we have eternal life for you have jesus you have eternal life for where jesus is the father also is the spirit of the living god it also is and they will dwell and abide in you and in me and he may sanctify our hearts purge us of our sins we make us the god of creation will recreate us after the image and likeness of jesus the christ but we must believe that is we must entrust our lives into his hands the work has been done we just have to accept it by faith and even trust god to keep us faithful so now how do we access what is the application to us today in 2021 verse 19 of chapter 10 of the book of hebrews says this because of what christ our high priest has done verse 19 having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of jesus how do we enter in by the blood of jesus where do we enter in the holiest that's the most holy place where jesus is now officiating mediating between you and i and our heavenly father verse 20 by a new and living way remember matthew 26 26 to 30 and the cup that they will drink in this blood is the blood of a new covenant signifying christ the blood and is by his blood that we may enter in by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of god let us draw near with a true heart how with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from the an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the profession of our faith without ravering for he is faithful that promise will you believe will you accept christ by faith into your heart and approach god in faith with boldness with a true heart that is a heart that is given over to god that is a heart where self has died that is a heart that is subdued by the spirit of the living god a heart that is willing to do god's will and not one's own will as jesus did the will of the father so must we by the power of the holy spirit for jesus christ is the means of salvation there is no salvation apart from jesus the christ the holy spirit now is the means by which we receive power to live holy lives so jesus is the means of salvation the holy spirit is the means and the power by which we can live holy lies and do the will of the father and offer true worship to him and then you all know of chapter 11 of the book of hebrews it's known as the if you like the hall of faith you've heard of the hall of fame well this is the hall of faith here is listed all those or at least some of those who were faithful to god it speaks of noah abraham isaac jacob joseph moses and others those who believed god who received christ by faith into their hearts they looked forward to the messiah's coming they looked forward to jesus death and resurrection and they saw it in the types and the sacrifices that they did day in and day out and they accepted christ by faith into their hearts and this is what made them part of true israel for membership of israel is not by genetic origin but it's by spiritual origin by accepting christ by faith then one becomes one of abraham's seed for abraham was a man of faith now faith verse 1 is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen for it for by it the elders obtained a good report through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of god so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear and by faith abel offered unto god a more excellent sacrifice than cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous god testifying of his gifts and by it he being dead for abel offered the sacrifice in faith believing that in the messiah to come cain offered the sacrifice of works thinking that his works could save him he did not accept the messiah to come and the works of god and so abel's offering was offered and keynes was rejected what sacrifices are we offering today are we offering sacrifices of faith or a sacrifice of works thanks be to god for jesus christ our high priest so it just remains for me therefore to exhort you to encourage you to continue in faith to endure to run the race with patience hebrews chapter 12 wherefore seeing we also are composed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which dove so easily beset us and let us run how with patience the race that is set before us looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despised the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god all those who overcome by the blood of the lamb and in the name of jesus christ and receive him by faith will also sit down in god's throne with jesus on his right hand but we must overcome and we overcome by faith by putting our trust in jesus christ for he has done the work endure with patience for he that will come shall come and he will not tarry i appeal to you today and to myself that we accept the sacrifice of jesus christ that we receive him into our heart by faith and we even ask god to help us to receive him by faith that god will pour his love into our hearts that we will be faithful for love works our faith that we will grasp hold of christ that we will allow him to spread his blood if you like is a toning blood on the on our hearts and on our minds that we need not die the second death but we may travel through the judgment into the kingdom of glory where we can dwell in the presence of our father and jesus christ forever and ever and ever finally i'll leave you the words of the prayer of jesus christ himself john 17 verses one to three these words spake jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour is come glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh that he shall give eternal life to as many as thou has given him and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou have sent know him receive jesus and we receive the father and we receive the spirit of god the power to live an obedient life jesus is coming soon he's even at the door you know many of us have have suffered loss in recent times and some of our loved ones have been laid to rest and though it is sad there is some time there is mercy in this because some are being laid to rest now that there may be they may be laid to rest in their faithfulness because the times that are coming are going to be such that they may not make it through so god in his mercy has allowed some to go to their graves that they may rest so that they need not pass through the times that has yet to come so though we mourn our loved ones passing there is mercy here and let's take encouragement that we may be strengthened by god that we may stand faithful receive christ in the heart stand by faith my beloved brothers my beloved sisters god's beloved children faith not works unless it's the works that faith produces with jesus in the vessel you can smile at the store may god bless you as you ponder over these things spout our heads as we pray our kind and eternal heavenly father we thank you for your word for your living word who is jesus the christ whom you send you know what love the father has given unto us that we may be called the children of god through jesus christ who laid down his life to atone for our sins that our sins can be removed that you can save us and reconcile us back to yourself heavenly father abba save us in jesus name come and abide in our hearts and sanctify our minds and our bodies that we may be holy thine that we may walk in holiness bless your beloved children today your god draw them near to you that they may do your will as jesus did your will pour your spirit into their hearts and into mine oh god that we may be eternally yours that we may spread the good news that there is salvation in no other name but the name of jesus christ and oh god our father above all things may you and your name be lifted up and glorified and may your name be housed in these living temples forever for we ask these mercies in jesus name amen [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so you

Channel: Croydon SDA Church

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Keywords: Power-of-Prayer, Prayer, Sabbath, Worship-Live, Live-Worship, Sabbath-Worship

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Length: 174min 46sec (10486 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 31 2021