AWC Camp Meeting 2020 Live Streaming - Day 1 - Evening

bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me praise His Holy Name we are excited to have you join us here in the Allegheny West Conference studio as we are going to be going live to just give the name of Jesus all of the praise and the glory that He desires can you just say with me praise the Lord praise the Lord praise the Lord praise the Lord we are so happy that you have joined us as we prepare to begin camp meeting I'm very honored to have pastors and workers here in our field to my for left is dr. Sergio Romero he is our multicultural director doing a fabulous and phenomenal job next to me is Samuel Thomas he is the pastor of the Central seventh-day Adventist Church here in Columbus next to me on my right is Pastor Steven Lewis he is the pastor of the Dayton church we are very thankful and excited to have you gentlemen with us guys amen it's time for camp me this oh my goodness I remember the days of camp meeting back in a soft West Region conference when we were pitching tents in the rain would come up and the storms would take place and for ten days there was no real sleep or rest because when the wind started blowing and the rain started coming down wherever you were you had to head to the campground however things are just a little bit different right now because as you know we are all quarantined we are facing this pandemic but we believe that there is nothing that can stop the Word of God you ought to know that the God we serve is greater than any situation or circumstance that we face and so we're going to spend some time just talking among ourselves to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how this idea of this virtual camp meeting came about now talk to me gentlemen in reference to what what has been your experience in terms of camp meeting what was what was camp meeting like elder Thomas when you were growing up well cam he was South Atlantic and that's where I grew up in South oolitic Conference was a conference that encompassed every state between newborn nor new bird I think it's New Bern North Carolina all the way down to Key West Florida and I used to travel with my dad he was a minister and we used to visit all the churches and everybody would talk about camp meeting and I was looking forward to camp meeting and even during camp meeting they were talking about the next camp because always the time and I remember waking up I don't know what it was like where you live sir but it was exciting because you would wake up hearing people singing you know they'd be under the tent you hear all this rapturous music and then of course if you were the early morning type you could get to breakfast in the morning and I mean just give up it was early morning preaching and it was just a wonderful time and we stayed in cabins because Florida it was engaged with Florida it was warm so I think they had some tents but we had a small cabin and you roll up the side of the canvas sides and you would hope for a breeze in Florida because it was in July June and July and it was hot but we never complained we always enjoyed camp meeting because camp meeting was time everybody came together and you heard the great singing the great preaching and you did of course you have a chance to meet your friends and see your friends everywhere absolutely absolutely what was cap meeting like me you Sergio well is very interesting because you know in South America we don't have the meetings oh so I came to know comedians here 25 years ago so I didn't wake up with like that but you know I fall in love with comedians coming here is a great experience to enjoy fellowship with other church members and federal workers sure it's an experience sure and of course when you go and open the world and pray together it's an experience like this now amen amen I think I had two experiences because growing up on the west coast they would have camp meeting but they would be so diverse it would be a lot like this one where all the different modern there was multicultural and so they had all the different nationalities that were involved actually they would get like almost 25 30 thousand people that would show up now when I got to Oakwood and went to college that's when I learned a whole nother level of camp-meeting because I was a student but they paid that well elder McCoy I love you but he his budget ran out but we would have to pitch all these tents and when it would rain we'd have to go out and make sure the tin Scott didn't get knocked down by the store and how we would hold him out I know but the preaching and the solid programs throughout the whole day and of course just the fellowship of the people and the Holy Spirit would bless the people beyond measure I was just so impressed with them I don't there was a call part of my name of elder Benjamin Cohen and they would sit and bring their RVs in and tell old stories war stories it was it was it was a tremendous thing for me I've always loved camping of course coming here to Allegheny West when I started here in 1990 under the WJ Lewis it was they would they interns have it made today but when we were interns we had to go through our rites of passage we had to clean the toilets and do all the but but Camp Meade was always a wonderful experience you just sparked a memory in my mind when I came out of school in 1979 and lwc Jones assigned me to my home church in New Orleans the ephesus seventh-day adventist church and pastor REE Brown was the pastor of the church and it was camp meeting time and I was just so excited about going to camp meeting and elder Brown said he would call me Evangelos Evangelos you will be staying here during camp meeting you know and I thought oh what a dirty trick for him to play on me and I not be able to go to camp meeting well the following year I was able to go to cap me tea and I rose up and called and blessing for the workers during camp meeting I mean there's great fellowship for for the Saints that are coming from all over but camp meeting for the worker was hard work it was that was digging trenches that was pitching tents that was picking up garbage that was cleaning the bathrooms that was so cute yes security that was parking oh man every single day there was a lot involved in camp meeting and I had some challenges on back then but you know what it grew on me sure and I am just very thankful about the fact that this is like our own coming for members from around the conference to come together and to praise the name of the Lord and even around the world because if you think about how many people you included actually connected to our website we had over 700,000 visits people stopped by took a look at our website so it actually becomes a global event and there aren't other places in the in the world within the church that actually have camp meeting well how about if we ask our members those that are watching us right now to put into the comments what comedian means for them oh that's a great so we can get their comments and their input and their feelings so we hated for camp in the end but as a student were the most exciting thing until it happened to me was the trucks right afterwards would be filled with tents yeah yeah everybody was gonna do an evangelistic crusade that's true I said it wasn't exciting to me because I remember telling elder Walter right he was our ministerial director and he was the guy who interviewed me to come down like any West and I remember telling him I'm not ready to do it this year elder it's my first year and I I want to wait and he said ok no problem and he looked at st louis back then it was WJ Lewis J JL Lewis St Louis RC Lewis and then I came as D Lewis and and and I remember st st louis looked at me goes yeah yeah give him a year three days later I hear this crank crank and then I'm here this clink and I'm wondering what is this and then I hear a truck and I get up and I go look out in the front yard my front yard is a 40 by 60 10200 chairs and I'm and they're driving on who my ways and naturally neither my thoughts your thoughts we had a plan in place to do camp meeting and we were going to do a weekend camp meeting on this year because we are in the process of upgrading our campground and a friend of mine Bishop Clarke had made his church available on to us like he did last year to house camp meeting and then Corona showed up and we we actually went through the process of saying well we're going to cancel camp meeting but then we said you know what God has opened up some other doors for us to share this message I don't know about you out there and and gentlemen maybe you can comment on this do you believe that Jesus is soon to come absolutely and we believe that there is a message a last day remnant message that God has called this church to preach and teach and so this camp meeting is about getting back to basics we're going to be doing a doctrinal series we're going to be doing a prophecy series now talk to us a little bit about that now pastor Luis you're going to be doing a doctrinal series what are some of the doctrines that you're going to be talking about during this camp meeting we're gonna start with the fall in heaven a lot of people don't know in intricate detail what really happened in heaven from the Bible and-and-and-and show that the devil does has literally no creative power he's doing the same thing that he did in heaven right now and come through the fall of man and show that a lot of people don't realize that when Adam failed the Word of God or the Son of God because we know that Jesus came because of sin that when salvation entered in a lot of people don't know that Christ saw you Sergio he saw you we look at we're narrow we see Christ as being broken because here's Adam and Eve know Christ saw you he saw you elder Thomas he saw that he that each one of us would have to be redeemed and for the first time he learned or had would would not say learn but he had to now say Wow for the first time there's a possibility that people would not choose me and so when he made that proleptic sacrifice or stepped in like a credit card and put salvation on credit and said I'm gonna come and pay the full bill it's important that people know you were on Christ heart at that time and a lot of people believe that this strange act of God and and and and everybody if you don't want to be saved you're not gonna be oh yeah if you be uncomfortable in heaven but it's going to break God's heart more than anything a lot of people don't realize that where we talk about hold fast that which we have that no man could take our crown you could take a crown but you can't take the name out of Christ's hand your name will always be there and and and so to get people to know it's not about sin sin is deeply offensive but God bought it he owns it he paid it it's about I want you to be comfortable in heaven I don't want to force you to enjoy the environment of heaven so and then we're gonna move straight over into the what Adam and Eve had to learn about and that is faith they had to learn about faith and show how a series of people were saved because of faith and then what how do you implement this faith and the nights given to implement in the faith and then a really crucial night is how to tell the true prophet a lot of people talk about having prophets and I have friends many friends that are first day ministers and many of I've been invited come we have we have a prophet coming to speak and I laugh because I know that we have a prophetess a true prophet but there are biblical signs of how to tell the true prophet and Ellen White meets every one of those signs this is not just something we decided to pull out the air and say okay we're gonna make this lady we like or because she authored all these books with a third-grade education she meets every standard of a true prophet and then we're gonna roll right in from that point to unfortunately the important herbal sin there's a line of demarcation that we can cross when we say to God there's no way you can save me unless you destroy me why because every time we walk back away from God God needs more power to bring us back and we get to a point where you go back and the power that is needed would kill you and God doesn't do that he gives you up to the deceptions you love and and then of course we're going to end with the mark of the beast and and anyone that hears that presentation it is literally you can have your 5 euro if they could read or write sit down with a piece of paper and they will understand clearly what the mark of the beast is what exactly is happening now and by the way we'll see it when I first started preaching this I was talking about it coming now I'm preaching this almost like I'm making it up because it's here you know everything is in place for the coming of the Lord now I'm excited about it I praise God for the opportunity sharing is that so much of what the Lord revealed to me about what needed to be done in the prophecy series we have a series that's going every day from 11:00 to 12:00 it's called a sure word and that's in complement to the passage in Peter that says we have a more sure word of prophecy well we're going to be dealing with just how all the key elements of Revelation play out and we're going to be talking about the three angels messages we'll be talking about revelation 13 there's a sea beast there's a land beast we're going to be talking about revelation 17 the woman that rides the beast we're gonna deal with relation 18 and the final call to come out of babbling what babbling is what constitutes babbling and a lot of what we're gonna be talking about really is encompassed in one general overt overview overarching theme which has to do with when Christianity took the wrong turn how did Christianity take a wrong turn because there's so many people there's a majority of people who are Christians who worship on one day but the Bible speaks of the seventh day as being the Sabbath how do we clarify those distinctions can we prove it historically can we prove it biblically so all of that is a part of prophecy and all of that is wrapped in to what we're going to be sharing with you from 11:00 to 12:00 over a period of seven days coming out of Babylon right well you make it clear to some people who don't understand that we are not as some of their venison can never be Babylon we will we will actually define Babel and we'll give you a working definition because it's important to have everything from Scripture and scripture provides the platform in fact one of the things that you'll hear me repeat over and again and during this camp meeting series is that we're dealing with foundation stones principles for living these foundation principles or foundation stones are what we need to understand our relationship with Christ you know when you come to Christ then you enter into a relationship that's permanent and it is established and then he has a structure by which we enter that relationship just like getting married you know you have a wonderful wife and yah you do yes and she provided cookies for everybody here at Dunn you know at the office there's also a vegan birthday cake on your desk oh my goodness elder Brown dropped it off he said to make sure I told you but but I say that to give you a context to give our viewers a context so when you married your wife there were a lot of things or unknown but as you went into marriage more structure took place more commitment took place more loyalty was built the same with Christ and those are the key elements that take place in our relationship with Christ and we're going to share with you what that looks like prophetically and you know this is beautiful I'm sorry for interrupting means oppression but you know we're talking about 20/20 vision of revelation and what you were talking I got hang on something you said about you know the devil is trying to close doors but you know talking about revelation in one of the letters on chapter 2 and 3 right Jesus said you know there is a door that is open and nobody can close and even the devil tried to close it down now we are reaching way more people with a larger and broader message of Revelation to many not just from our conference but beyond our limits dr. Romero the reason why when the door was shut he couldn't stop it is because Jesus has the keys you need to know that what you have just heard are the reasons why we are doing this particular series we will do a series on doctrine because doctrine is what protects us from the deceptions of the devil the Bible says Jesus declares that if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived but doctrines helps us to know the truth and the truth then sets us free you see the power of deception is how closely the counterfeit resembles the genuine you might not know this but in the federal reserve's when they are teaching the investigators to identify the difference between real money and counterfeit money they don't use counterfeit money they want the investigators to become so committed and so clear in reference to the genuine that when the counterfeit is presented they automatically know it and so in these last days it becomes extremely important for us to be able to teach and understand doctrine the reason why we have prophecy is prophecy is what I will hope is based upon it is the fact that God already knows the beginning from the end nothing that happens in your life is a surprise to God any fault that you've had in your life it's not a surprise to God God has looked beyond our folks to see our needs he not only sees you as you are right now but he sees you what you can be in him when you surrender all to him and that's why we are doing a study on the book of Revelation did you get it Doctrine prophecy revelation revelation gives us the the history of how God deals with this controversy of sin the controversy is not between you and the devil the controversy is between God and Satan individuals ask me how I'm doing and I always say now the battle rages but we're on the winning side we know how this controversy is going to end so we really want to encourage you each and every day to come and spend the time with us not only are we Lord to be dealing with doctrine and prophecy and the book of Revelation but we're going to start off our day with prayer yes every day from 5:00 until 6:00 every morning we're going to be praying there is a number that when you go to our website 2020 vision of Revelation calm there will be an opportunity for you to call in and beyond our prayer line dr. William Joseph is going to be facilitating that each day each morning at 5:00 until 6:00 now a second element of what we are doing within this camp meeting is it's our desire that Allegheny West conference will be a picture of what heaven will look like oh you missed that I said Allegheny West Conference will be a picture of what heaven will look like I want to ask our multicultural director dr. Sergio Romero he has done a phenomenal job in terms of growth within our conference we are a multicultural conference individuals sometimes say well regional conferences are just for African Americans no regional conference is for every nation every kindred every tongue and every people talk to us a little bit about the growth that has occurred within the multicultural works since you've been here you know we don't see a difference because we are not different jesus paid the fraud the price for all of us there so we are together on these we are working together because we want to see Jesus coming not just for their GT nians if Hispanics of the African Americans and Africans or Koreans we are together and if we together can finish the work Jesus will come sooner so that's why we are involved and we are involving our multicultural groups into this committing as well we are first time working all together for one purpose yes and I think what's exciting is that we have within your responsibilities not only those of Hispanic origin but also Koreans and Haitians and so we have different groups that are represented and I think that's a breakthrough I actually sent a text this morning to a one of our leaders to let them know that we were actually setting the pace in Allegheny and West by having an inclusive camp meeting we're not having separate camp meetings this virtual camp meeting is inclusive of different groups and it's exciting to see that the Koreans have a segment of the catch meetings give it to us no animations and the Haitians yeah one of those times for them from 6:00 to 7:00 is are the Haitians and from 7 to 8 are the Koreans and by the way I don't want to miss this point dr. Cox if I can because maybe I could do better as well teaching our history regional conferences were not this rebellious group that just told was just broke off there's a very dark sad history in America and because of many many things that took place during that that that that period black people being in the hospital about to be worked on and the hospital Adventist Hospital unfortunates a dark side this was makes us who we are we're Israel Israel made some mistakes put her out put put put the woman out and on a gurney and just left her there waiting for the black Hospital to come pick her up and she died and that kind of just drew the line and black said wait a minute we're faithful but we have to do better now Ellen White gave counsel that that you work better for your people but you shouldn't just work for your people you know and and different races there'll be different nationalities in heaven there's 12 gates into the city and and as a result now that times are changing I don't think we need to do away with anything we need to all work for everybody and and I'm very thankful to hear dr. coxy he always I've heard him say this more than once I am very intentional to make sure that nobody is treated in this conference the way we were treated I want everybody to have the opportunity and it's funny because as children we're taught it but maybe we need to reteach it as adults and Jesus loves the little children all the children of the world did you learn that as a child red and yellow black and white they are presses in his sight and we get older and stop singing that you know and act like even in America that maybe the number get made up over here while thousands are growing in other places but those aren't real baptisms but what they really are you know what but yeah the word you find out just how intentional God really is in the New Testament the majority of the New Testament was written by the Apostle Paul however the first four Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John there is a very special invite by God that is there three of the Gospel writers were Jews but one was a Gentile that was dr. Luke it's interesting that when Matthew traces the history of Jesus he only goes back to Abraham but Luke the Gentile when he traces the history of Jesus he goes all the way back to Adam who was a son of God and so there is inclusiveness in the Word of God and that is what drives us here in Allegheny West Conference because we value every one God came and died on Calvary for all of our sins somebody ought to say man today we ask our friends that are watching us right now to put in the comments where are they watching us wrong well there are copies of procedure how many countries races are represented right now on this virtual chameleon 20/20 vision of revelations exactly you know if you right now put in your comments hey we come in from Texas California South Africa Colombia wherever they are come they're watching us I would like to see that yes that would be very very exciting okay now we or we we will be doing a number of different presentations during this week we will have a health and healing session section every day okay so you want to be able to look at the schedule when you go to the website 20/20 vision of Revelation calm there is a schedule that will give you all of the programming that is taking place on a day to day basis can work well talk to us about okay he we want you to not just go to 20/20 vision of Revelation but we want you to share it last night at prayer meeting we we had so many people of course it was it was over the phone but one of the things I asked them to do is to please go through your contact list on your phone amen we if you believe Jesus is coming go through your contact list and I told them when I was a child and what was this in South America - I would say mom can I go out and swim or can I go can I go and um play and she said when you finish cleaning your room and and then I'd say okay yeah if it's not clean you know you're not going out at all well I would hurry and clean my room why because I want to go out well Jesus said if you really want him to come finish this washer workers Eldar it was just a tremendous experience with all the pastors and the way they excitedly got on board I mean God had to be in this because there were so many moving pieces pastors drove up from Lynchburg pastor drove up from Danville pastors drove up from a pastor Irving Astro Byul he was an act of Youngstown but but but pastor valets all these different pastors they were so excited and I mean really excited and and they've been praying and church members have been praying and mr. president this I really believe that this is the beginning if not it's totally a part of what is going to be the loud cry I really do as you as you said it well we are excited about it and it becomes extremely important that we give a full gospel that's what this camp meeting is all about so along with health tips that we will be sharing you know one of the blessings of this church and one of the identifying marks of God's last-day remedy Church is the gift of prophecy now there was a time when individuals who were seventh-day at missing out on a tremendous blessing we're going to not only talk truth but we're going to model it so that one of the special events that we're going to have we're going to be reading from a little work thoughts from the mount of blessings we we have some of our lady preachers and lady wives that are going to be sharing thoughts from the mount of blessings it's going to be a blessing you don't want to miss that and you want to make sure that you get your schedule to find out when these specific times are going to take place every day at noon at an twelve o'clock eastern time we're going to have Power Hour I remember when I was at Oakwood we used to have Power Hour any thoughts about power that was worth missing lunch for everybody would go to RAM Hall and you'd have a one-hour singing and preaching and it was just a power pack opportunity to just have a have an enjoyable time listening to the Word of God it was really that boost that you would receive for classes the rest of the day so okay but but even though we're all the same yeah not much later but well you know no I got there you guys are willing to work I was rebellious in their business growing up but did you guys sing the blood sure nobody's sung in like in Moran Hall I mean and also the preaching was different in Moran Hall then it took place at the church or even for Friday night Vespers it was just something that you know you felt the Holy Spirit there and it was all led by students and that's what what what made it so so wonderful so it's it's it just brings back very positive memories again you just touched the button for me when elder EE Cleveland was teaching and vandalism it was supposed to be a two hour class so you only that's on Tuesday and Thursday and he would say I have too much to share with you just for two hours and he would teach on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and while he was there I would miss power hour because I was in well I hadn't registered for it I just wanted to hear what he would come into our class sometimes put your books away your mama's didn't pay for it by the way by the way there is still a unique experience to be had at Oakwood University individuals can go to any institution that they desire but when you go to Oakwood University where Ellen White said these are holy grounds that the the grounds of Oakwood was actually walked on by Ellen White she saw it in vision and she talked about what God would do on these holy grounds I want you to know my freshman year here I am Telling on myself my freshman year I actually was not allowed to come back the following year but after having stayed one year away from Oakwood when I returned that following year I pastor Sam I actually fell to my knees in front of Edwards Hall and kissed the ground because I was so glad to be back now ladies and gentlemen there has to be a development a love for the word of God Ellen White's writings is not the word of God it is a lesser light pointing to a greater light but it is our prophetess who has given us information in these last days that will assist us in not being deceived I want to just take a moment in ask our panel what are their favorite books in terms of Ellen White you have a favorite book Tommy I do the two favorite books that I have are first of all is great controversy and then there is another book not as widely known it's a small book but it's called confrontation all right and yeah and that's the book that deals with the temptations of Christ and how he met all of the deceptions of Satan and Satan's objector to overthrow Christ very powerful book a small book but great controversy for some reason I think maybe because of the history as well as the elements of the connection to prophecy because it brings together some of the key books of Daniel and Ezekiel as well and in Revelation and so those have always proven of interest to me the more I've gotten into the Word of God and great controversy is the single volume that I think that the bridges those extremely effectively I need to think the same book and you know why I got to know God and Jesus because of that book Wow I got it and I really did a whole night the whole book in the night and the next day I call and say I need to be baptized I want to be part of this church remember and since then I decided I was going to visit all the places that are mentioned on that book Wow and I've been to all all those countries trying to get the spirit of the Reformers yes and how they put together something for us you know they put their lives on the line that's true yes and L&G wife got all of that and gave it to us so we can be inspired by their sacrifices and now we sometimes you know and this is funny one day one of my elders call me saying I'm not going to church today I said why is that he said well you know my bud warmer I don't know if I'm allowed to say that but it's damaged he's not working so it's wintertime I'm not going to get a call going to church and these guys were doing so many sacrifices for us to be here and somehow someway we need to pay them back by being faithful so that's my book that's a powerful testimony and you read your way into the church yes absolutely yes bless the Lord Lois you know I don't really have a favorite a judge made me go to college he didn't make me but I had an option and unfortunately I was a very stubborn hard-headed seventh-day adventists I never really understood who we were I wasn't taught as a child who we really are I mean and as a matter fact when nice to say sister white I thought she was a member in the church because people had said all the time sister white said and and I said look for this you know you know I know sister masa Bonin I know says who is sister white but but um when I got to want one of the books I think is I so and giving away thousands of steps to Christ it is the most powerful book on righteousness by faith and it does I mean it's something you read over and over because it really tells you all your promises are like ropes of saying you know when I pray my need in itself as an argument I mean and and and it really shows the real power of God saving you and I even doing our doctrinal seminar I'll hold it up at one night I'm gonna hold it up one-night hold it up okay because we're live now and I encourage people call get one of these books it's it's a non-denominational book you can't find seventh-day adventists in it you can only find Christ in it and Christian in it and that's why it's the number one selling book to this day other than the Bible as well as it's the number one book in different translations it's it's still so elder Sandi Robinson who was a call porter he tells a story and had the family stand up he knocks on doors trying to sell the great controversy and he kept knocking on the same door and a man said listen if I bought buy the book it's mine right he said imma buy because obviously you need help and he buys the great controversy from me and as soon as elder Robinson starts walking out he walks behind him and he throws it in the trash and puts the top on he said leave my property alone well about two years later a trash man along with his wife and seven children come to the Oakwood College Church and join and when they start telling the story I found this book I'm a trash man I went to the trash found this brand-new book and elder Robinson jumps up and says did you live on this street he said yes he said I sold the book to the guy who do it in the trash so and I mean it's a powerful book and I thought yeah and and and the fact that that that that Satan tried to kill Ellen White three times writing that book where she had she God had the Commission two angels to stand by her because the presence was so heavy to stand right by her and she said they would they would literally make their presence known one time the General Conference president walked in the room where she was writing you remember and she she looked at him and said did you just see the angel of the Lord as he walked out when you walked in he said what you know but but it's a powerful book and and I loved when you shared a workers meeting the full testimony I mean he drove for hours and it just shows the power of the writings of the prophetess to be baptized yes yes how far that's another story well you know well I'm asking because since you said since you stated that there it's not that in your country that they didn't have camp meeting or at least in South America I'm assuming they didn't have that I'm looking for what did they have that may be similar no those huge tents for three months three months yep and you know I didn't go today for the three-month okay and they were running this crusade in a very poor area in when Osiris and they didn't have water so they had to call the fire department to come and feel that they pool and they didn't have water to fill her up so I I was going to be baptized on a Sabbath and I couldn't because no water and I said to the pastor how about if I start crying and I feel the pool with my tears would you be but you know will you baptize me because I was so desperate to get into the pool yeah and but a week later you know they put water and I got Baptist baptized and that day I decided I was going to be a minister so from the day I read the book to the day I went to the seminar it took me less than a month God is a wonderful goal we still do we call them here well amen for them yes well you know I certainly love steps to Christ that is as you stated a wonderful testimony of righteousness by faith but the book that I have have read more times than any other book except except steps to Christ his desire ages and it's on the life of Christ I've given a number of my pastor friends that conflict of Ages series because it gives you a history of the love of God and I want you to know that any doctrine that is taught any message that is shared that does not have the love of God at its core is not of God because the the Bible the writings of of Ellen White focuses in on the fact that God has loved us with an everlasting love and he will not let us go I tell individuals that in order to be saved you can fight against God but you must lose in order to be lost you have to fight against God and when God wants to save you regardless of what your experience has been what your circumstances or regardless of what you have gone through in your life God looks at you with longing eyes he desires you to be a part of his his family watching us wherever you are was my camera Jurong here there which one okay how about a view right here down here on the comment you put what your favorite lndy book like that and we see how many we got on each book because you know there are so many and I think if we can do that we are going to have a better taste of what they do we may even be able to give the results of that quote-unquote official scientific survey the last sabbath of the week telling us you know what their favorite L&G why book that's awesome do we have any international comments any individuals that are speaking or connecting or giving us comments from outside of the United States okay a wheel well a way where they will we look forward today hey girls well family's here well we are excited about what is taking place and we have just a few more minutes there's a couple of other special items that we're going to be doing at camp meeting we're going to have what is referred to it as youth break our youth director pastor Jason Ridley is going to be sharing a youth break with you is going to be a combination of interviews it's going to be a combination of seeing the Pathfinders your children ought to be in pathfinders it is a wonderful arm at 7 o'clock each night we're going to be doing one of the most important elements in fact it's going to happen here in just a moment before our first presentation and that is we're going to model before you one of the most important blessings that can occur in a family and that is family worship there was a time when individuals became a part of the seventh-day Adventist Church they had family worship okay you know and and there are a number of things that really helped to get the the seniors if I can use that term I'm a senior now but get the seniors rooted and grounded in the Word of God Christian education was another one where we educated our children not just for worldly success but we educated them for eternity our ladies and gentlemen I want you to know that the God we serve is doing some marvelous and miraculous things in the lives of our people after the sermon each night after the 7 o'clock sermon we're going to have what we refer to as a WC tonight which is an interview with the pastors that have preached messages on Revelation you're not going to want to miss it we want to encourage you to put time in your schedule to come and join us here in camp meeting knowing that God is going to do some very special and unique things during this time as we are about to close out and go into our next service I want to just give each of you an opportunity to just say a word look directly into your camera let individuals know what a joy this camp meeting is going to be I'll start off with you dr. Romero family please brothers sisters friends don't miss this committing we have so many things but even though you are working if you are working or in your house or in the kitchen or driving a car please stay with us because you are going to be so blessed that you will feel so happy that you stay with us throughout the whole week this is the most awesome time we have in the midst of all of this all the challenges that we're facing with covin 19 which is a global pandemic this is your time to come a side and spend time with the Lord to grow your Christian relationship and to even invite others to do the same you don't have to concern yourself with whether or not you are abiding by or cooperating with these various quarantine responsibilities or restrictions you can invite them to go online from the mobile device if I make you know you can pick it up on your mobile device you're gonna get on your laptop you know you can be a part of it you can even be a part of this with an audio line so now is the time connect let's get into the Word of God and then let's share it so Jesus can come I want to some of you may have seen me picking up my phone because final pieces of the puzzle that should have gotten in at 8 o'clock 8:30 we're finished on time I want to just thank the Central Church and the Dayton's church my beautiful wife I mean my wife has worked just over and-and-and the church family all around I can't name all the cities but but so many of you members have had have come together to support the vision and the concept that the Holy Spirit gave our president I praise God for good leadership and it's just it's just a miracle that God is doing this and and and we want to thank you out it for for the vision and to just really really make this happen well thank you it is a blessing to us to have you join us we or family and we look forward to the soon coming of Jesus Christ I tell you heaven won't be the same without you there is no need for you not to be there join us stay with us during this week as God will share with us the doctrine prophecy and revelation 2020 vision of Revelation is going to be a blessing to you and your family god bless you is that time bless his name time for our theme song faith is the victory faith is the victory hymn number six zero eight team number six zero eight faith is a victory sing it out Allegheny West welcome to camp-meeting this is vision 20/20 of the book of Revelation we're excited to have you as a part of our audience and be on behalf of our officers or the Marvin brown who is our executive vice president elder Jermaine Jackson who is our CFO from all of our pastors and teachers and members of the Allegheny West Conference we know that this is going to be a very special spiritual time we thank God we praise God for that which he has allowed us to do over these next 10 days each day we will have power packed spirit filled of services that are designed to help encourage and to enable you to understand the reality that Jesus is soon to come each morning we will start off with prayer from 5:00 until 6:00 where we will share our petitions before God and give Him praise for all of the things that he is doing our Korean group is going to have from 7 to 8 each day an opportunity to share the word with family and friends it's going to be an evangelistic time during the day each day we will have a prophecy seminar you know at this point in time that prophecy is the basis of how God lets us know what is going to take place in the future he loves you so much that he's actually written down the plan of salvation in his holy word the devil knows what God's plans are but God is so powerful there's nothing he can do about it we will have opportunities each day at noon to have power our where our pastures are going to be sharing with you from the Word of God messages that are designed to help you remain encouraged we know that we are in this covert virus of circumstance but we believe that the God we serve loves us and he's going to see us through this time then in the afternoon we are going to have an opportunity for us to share with you our special doctrines when I say our special doctrines I'm not talking about doctrines that Origen originated with the seventh-day Adventist Church the seventh-day Adventist churches actually a compilation of the truths that were unearthed during the Protestant Reformation but we're going to be able to share with you those specific doctrines that are in place to help protect us from the deceptions of that the devil is using in these last days Jesus declared if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived but it's not possible if we will study God's Word and so we're going to spend a time going through doctrines that are specifically designed to keep us focused on what God is doing in these last and evil days finally at night we're going to have a message from our pastors that deal specifically with the book of Revelation we're not going to be able to deal with all of the chapters but there are specific chapters within the book of Revelation that we're going to be sharing with you during this 10 day long camp meeting ladies and gentlemen we know that preaching is important and we know that teaching is important each and every day we will have health spotlights that will help you to understand what you can do to help to to make sure that we are in optimum physical health each day we're going to have a segment that I really love that helps to model before you what family worship looks like would heaven really be the same if all of our family members were not there shouldn't we take the time on a daily basis to spend quality time with God by the way we are so thankful for the passengers that are here in the Allegheny West Conference and their commitment to allowing the holy spirit utilize them in their lives we have a very special segment at the end of each day where we will have a brief interview with pastors that have preached the messages so that you will know that the same thing God has done for them God will do for you so on behalf of our officers and certainly my wife Latonya and I we want to welcome you to this wonderful spiritual event 20/20 vision of Revelation put time in your schedule each and every day to come and worship with us and your life will never be the same god bless you this mom and dad look genuinely happy to see each other it's been a long day at work and home and now it's time to relax the children are there with them father has gathered the family together around God's altar for an important event family worship it's a sacred occasion brief but Pleasant and they are not the only families gathered for family worship here's another one now looks like we are just in time let's pray our dear Heavenly Father Lord we thank you again for another opportunity to come together around your throne and to learn more about you bless this reading I pray in Jesus name Amen in every city in America the truth is to be proclaimed in every country of the world the warning message is to be given during the loud cry the church aided by the providential inner positions of her exalted Lord will diffuse the knowledge of salvation so abundantly that light will be communicated to every city in town a crisis is right upon us we must now by the Holy Spirit's power proclaim the great truths that these last days it will not be long before everyone will have heard the warning and made his decision then shall the end come it does not seem possible to us now that any should have to stand alone but if God has ever spoken by me the time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for his name's sake and each one will have to give the reason of his faith then will come the severus criticism upon every position that has been taken for the truth we need then to study the Word of God that we may know what we believe the doctrines we advocate there is to be in the seventh-day Adventist Church a wonderful manifestation of the power of God but it will not move upon those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord and opened the door of the heart by confession and repentance in the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous something which will arouse their fears and they will brace themselves to resist it because the Lord does not work according to their ideas and expectations they will oppose the work they will say should we know should we not know the Spirit of God when have been in the work for so many years there are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world out of the churches even the Catholic Church whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank-and-file to proclaim the truth heretofore multitudes will receive the faith and join the armies of the Lord many who have strayed from the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd in heathen Africa in the Catholic lands of Europe and of South America in China in India in the islands of the scene and in all the dark corners of the earth God has in reserve a permanent of chosen ones that will yet shine forth amidst the darkness revealing clearly to an apostate apostate world the transforming power of obedience to his law even now they are appearing in every nation among every tongue in people and in the hour of deepest apostasy when Satan supreme effort is made to cause all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive antenna T of death the sign of allegiance to a false rest day these faithful ones blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke will shine as lights in the world thousands in the 11th hour will see and acknowledge the truth these conversions to truth will be made with the rapidity that will surprise the church in God's name alone will be glorified there will be thousands converted to the truth in a day who at the eleventh hour see and acknowledge the truth and the movements of the Spirit of God the time is coming when there will be as many converted in a day as there were unday of pentecost after the disciples had received the holy spirit a good many do not see it now to take their position but these things are influencing their lives and when the message goes with the loud voice they will be ready for it they will not hesitate they will come out and take their position soon the last test is to come to all inhabitants of the earth at that time prompt decisions will be made to those who had been convicted under the presentation of the word will range themselves under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel every truly honest soul will come to the light of truth the message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God the arguments have been presented the scene asmath seed has been sown and now it will spring up in bear fruit the publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience now the rays of light penetrate everywhere the truth is seen in its clearness and the honest children of God severed the bands which have held them family connections church relations are powerless to stay them now truth is more precious than all besides notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth a large number take their stand upon the Lord side more than 1,000 will soon be converted in one day most of whom will trace their first convictions to the reading of our publications the results of the circulation of this book the great controversy are not to be judged by what now appears by reading it some souls will be aroused and will have courage to unite themselves at once with those who keep the commandments of God but a much larger number who read it will not take their position until they see the very events taking place that are foretold in it the fulfillment of some of the predictions will inspire faith that others will also come to will come to pass and when the earth is lightened with the glory of the Lord in the closing work many souls will take their position on the commandments of God as the result of this agency in a large degree through our publishing houses is to be accomplished the work of that other angel who comes down from heaven with great power and who lightens the earth with his glory there can only be two classes each party is distinctly stamped either with the seal of the Living God or with the mark of the beast or his image in the great conflict between faith and unbelief the whole Christian world will be involved all will take sides some apparently may not engage in the conflict on either side they may not appear to take sides against the truth but they will not come boldly out for Christ through fear of losing property or suffering reproach all such are numbered with the enemies of Christ as we near the close of time the demarcation between the children of light and the children of darkness will be more and more decided they will be more and more at variance this difference is expressed in the words of Christ born again created anew in Christ dead to the world and alive unto God these are the walls of separation that divide the heavenly from the earthly and describe the difference between those who belong to the world and those who are chosen out of it who are elect precious in the sight of God those who have been members of the same family are separated a mark is placed upon the righteous they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels and I will smile everyone I am glad to see you I hope that you are having a wonderful day wherever you're tuning in from in the great Allegheny West Conference or even beyond our borders we're excited to have you for this installment of our virtual camp meeting I get to kick it off with you all and I'm asking that you would just light up the comments right now let us know how excited you are to be here in this space I'm excited to be here with you and I'm asking any prayer requests that you might have going to drop them we'll go through and keep you all in prayer and if you see a prayer request in the comments what I'm gonna ask you parking to do is pause right where you are and type a prayer on behalf of that person let's interact in here and let everyone know that we've gathered together under the ocean of our Holy Spirit to receive a word over the course of this camp meeting experience I get the opportunity to join with you today in the book of Revelation in the first chapter a very wise individual by the name of Winnie the Pooh often says start from the beginning and so since we're starting in Revelation from the beginning I want to start us off right we're gonna understand the book of Revelation what it means how to study it and see what God has in store for us not just here in this book excuse me in this chapter but throughout the entire narrative of the book of Revelation and so in order to understand Revelation really really well we have to understand chapter 1 and what God is saying to us there so if you'll allow me I want to read arguably the most important verse in the entire chapter of the book of Revelation but first I'm gonna ask you to pray with me that God would give us unction and inspiration as we study father we thank you for the opportunity to gather here in this virtual space and in this digital camp meeting God we're asking for an outpour of your Holy Spirit across all the messages all the songs all the conversations that we have that at the end of this experience we will be drawn even closer to you we thank you and love you in Jesus name we pray amen y'all type in men put your hands together let me read to you the most important verse in the entire book of Revelation ready for it here it goes Revelation chapter 1 says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show his bond service the things which must soon take place and he sent him and communicated it by his angel to his bond servant John verse 2 says who testified the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that he saw he says blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near now I said that verse 1 of chapter one was the most important book excuse me verse in the entire book of Revelation and some of you are asking right now I can hear you communicating with me prayerfully telepathically I can hear you where you are you're asking how could you say that this is the most important verse in the entire book I'm glad you asked me because this holds the power of our interpretation in its ham verse 1 of chapter 1 starts out with a very simple Clause that Clause is the revelation of Jesus Christ now what you get this often time we look at this and we interpret the text I give you some really big terms and Whittle them down we interpret this clause this this phrase this verse as a subjective genitive when really it needs to be interpreted as an objective genitive pastor what are you talking about I'm glad you asked me watch this thing when you understand these terms the text will open up to you in a way it never has before y'all stay with me this thing is so incredible a subjective genitive means that the the thing that is spoken about is the subject of the sentence versus an objective genitive which means that the thing that is spoken about or reference is the object of the sentence let me use this an example this is the Bible of BC now if we look at this as a subjective genitive that what we're saying is that the Bible it belongs to me but the focus of this sentence is in fact me in an objective genitive the focus is on the Bible and I want you to see this now when the text speaks if we look at it as a subjective genitive the revelation of Jesus Christ I'm not using big terms with spiggott stay with me it'll get clear subjective genitive the revelation of Jesus Christ what we are saying is that Jesus Christ is doing the revealing Jesus Christ is unpacking for us the mysteries of history Jesus Christ is showing us the things which must come and in an understanding that this text is written in a subjective genitive what we know is that the book of Revelation is simply Jesus showing us what is going to happen in the future Jesus mapping out information and facts and figures that we must internalize to be on the look out for things however when you understand the revelation of Jesus Christ to be an objective genitive then Jesus is no longer simply pointing out facts and figures in the prophetic narrative for us to internalize but rather Jesus is now the focus or the object of the revelation delegate this thing yet so when the text says it's the revelation of Jesus Christ what we need to understand is not that Jesus Christ is revealing but rather Jesus Christ is being revealed I love this interpretation because then we understand that the entire focus of the book of Revelation is in fact Jesus Christ it's not the dates it's not the times it's not the happenings you should not read the book of Revelation without coming away with a clear beautiful focus on Jesus Christ the songwriter says turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face that the things of this world might grow strangely dim and I believe that John wants you all to have that same understanding yes things are going to happen in the future yes things are happening right now but there's no need to fear there's no need to be afraid there's no need to worry because our focus our attention is Jesus Christ and because he is our focus all of the things that are happening can grow strangely dim we don't have to worry we don't have to be afraid because Jesus is our focus watch this thing but also it reveals to us the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ watch this things are revealed in the book of Revelation there are historical facts and figures that come out of the the narrative in the book of Revelation but what this means since Jesus Christ is the focus this is good yow it means that Jesus Christ is so intertwined with human history he's wrapped so tightly around us he has drawn so close to us and is so intimate in relationship with us that it is impossible y'all hear this it's impossible to reveal Jesus Christ and not see human history it's impossible to illuminate Jesus Christ and not see what happens to the people that are in relationship with him I wish you guys could get this thing I love the analogy of pretend that I'm a giant and I'm stretched out laid down across the entire state of Ohio and because I'm a giant part of me my head is in the northern part of Ohio it's up there in Akron and in Cleveland it's in it sits at the top portion of the state but my legs my toes if you will are all the way down in Cincinnati I'll get this picture if you were to take a helicopter and fly oh the state of and your purpose your desire your intention was to use the spotlight of the helicopter to illuminate me you wanted to see me because I am laying down in the state of Ohio if you use that that spotlight and shine it on my toes yes you'll see my toes but you'll also see the since the city of Cincinnati because I literally wrapped up in the state of Ohio you'd fly a little higher and you take a look at my shins or perhaps my knees and the City of Columbus would be illuminated to you you would see my my arms and and as you see my arms you would also see Toledo you would also see Dayton if you flew up and and looked at my head you would see Cleveland and Akron this would happen because I am literally laying down across the state and it is impossible it's impossible to illuminate to me without illuminating what is around me and I believe that because Jesus Christ is so intimately intertwined with humanity it is impossible to reveal Jesus Christ it is impossible to illuminate Jesus Christ it is impossible to highlight Jesus Christ I wish somebody would get this thing if you get it type it in the comments type impossible it is impossible to see Jesus Christ without human history also being revealed because Jesus is oh and we'll get to this he is he exists now he exists not before the beginning began and he will exist in the days to come he is exhaustive in our history and as you highlight him you also see what's happening to the people that are in relationship with him I love this thing because now I can approach the book of Revelation without fear I can approach the book of Revelation without trepidation or without dismay or without worry because as I study and as I dig into the passage and see what God is revealing in there I am drawn into a deeper and deeper relationship I wish you guys were with me with Jesus Christ who loves me and cares for me and gave himself up for me the text opens up with that notion this objective genitive this is the relate that the revelation of Jesus Christ I love that thing and as Jesus is being revealed he begins to show us what happens in history now preacher I've never heard this before I'm uncomfortable with what you're saying I don't know if if I can hang my hat on that I believe that when you approach revelation with that notion that the text itself begins to make more and more sense you see there are three parts three sections if you will in the chapter that we're in today in Chapter 1 of Revelation and the first section which we just read has set the tone for the entire book it lets you know what the focus should be what will your attention should lie on Jesus Christ the second section begins this message that John has to the churches and the third section begins the interpretation or the extrapolation of that message so section 1 which you just read it tells us the focus and the tone section 2 lets us know that John is writing to the churches in the book of Revelation and the third section tells us what he is writing that section begins the rest of the narrative of the book of Revelation so watch this thing let's see if now our interpretation and understanding can make this text this passage come to life I love this thing verse 2 and 3 told us that this revelation which we now see is of Jesus Christ and not Jesus Christ revealing it has an Origin watch this thing now if it were Jesus Christ doing the revealing stay with me then Jesus Christ would be the origin or the start point of said revelation but according to the passage that we've just read - says the first one says that this revelation came from God it came from the first person of the Godhead it came from the father it originated with him and was given yah with me it was given to Jesus to give to his bond servants and so the rest of this passage gives us the trajectory or the path that it took to get to us it originated with God the Father it was given to Jesus Christ who gave that message to his angel that angel then gave the message to John the Revelator John the one who is on the Isle of Patmos and John then gives that same message to the churches that he maps out throughout this book John also gives this message not just to the churches but also to us and so we see the line we see the path that this message has taken along its journey and what it highlights is that Jesus Christ must be revealing and not reveal or a community it must be revealed and not reveal earth God the Father wants us to understand who Jesus is what he's done for us what he's doing for us and what he will do for us God wants us to see Jesus in a way we've never seen him before and so it starts with the father and he says to us listen I want to communicate to you who Jesus is and so now that we understand that this is about Jesus this rain makes so much more sense because God wants us to hear all that has been accomplished in his son and so he's passing that information on to us through John John now says mmm blessed it is He blessed it is the one lesson is she blessed is the individual who reads the passage and blessed are those who hear the words John is speaking remember now to the churches and so he's talking in a church relationship the one who reads is the Angel of the church or the pastor or the oversea the individual who was hosting the revelation Bible study the one who is the small group leader blessed is the one who reads what is written here in this prophecy but also he says are blessed are the ones who hear the words of the prophecy so get this now revelation must be understood to be a revealing of Jesus Christ but it also must be understood as a revealing of Jesus Christ in the relationship of the body God is informing his church gathered together to receive what he has for them who Jesus is and in light of who Jesus is we see what Jesus does now verse 4 gives us the beginning of our second section in chapter 1 verse 4 tells us who is riding John it also tells us who he's writing to stay with me out to the seven churches that are in Asia which are these seven churches I'm glad you asked me those churches will be named later on in the passage so we don't have to guess but watch this before he tells us who those churches are he has a blessing to give to you this is good to me because so often we opened the book of Revelation and we begin reading in fear we begin reading in trepidation we begin reading with worry on our heart guilt on our heads heavy and laden but John starts out by saying to the seven churches that are in Asia and I'm telling you today to the churches that are here in this message even today even now right where you are John has a message for you he says grace to you and peace I love this thing let's pause really quickly I know I got a message to preach but I can't get past this thing he wants you to know that the inception of this message that there is afforded to you grace there is afforded to you great I'll say it again type in the comments there is afforded to you right where you are grace you don't have to worry you have grace God's grace if I can borrow from all is sufficient for you and in light of the fact that you have grace he says peace y'all be at peace don't be worried about what you see in here or what you think you see in here don't be worried nothing can touch you nothing can harm you I'm actually showing you in the core in the discourse in this narrative how close I am to you and therefore how protected you are in me so be at peace who is this peace from who is this grace from he answers it from him who is and who was and who is to come it's not just from him them it's also from the seven spirits who are before his throne and this grace and this piece is from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth John wants you to know that you can have grace you can have peace because you have all of heaven at your side all of heaven is in your corner all of heaven has your back no matter what the world might throw at you no matter what you might be afraid of as you read through the book of Revelation no matter what you think you might hear that should cause you to be upset he says all of heaven has got your back so be at peace grace yeah this is good has been afforded to y'all type Grace and these comments Grace has been afforded to you all of you watching from Grace Community SDA y'all better type Grace in these comments Grace has been afforded to you it's been afforded to you so watch this now since we have this grace and we have this peace John now gives a lauding or a praise to the one through whom this grace and peace has been afforded the a let me take my time in here he says grace and peace to you ah ha and so then he says therefore to him to him to him who loves us to him who released us from our sins by his blood to the one who has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and his father to him he says be glory and Dominion forever and men listen he is celebrating Jesus Christ even now in the very beginning of this book in Chapter one and he's all to get this the focus the attention in Revelation needs to be paid to Jesus if you're reading revelation and you are coming away from the book of Revelation with anything else aside from a solidified foundation in a relationship with Jesus Christ you are reading outside of the illumination of the Holy Spirit John has made it clear three times already in this chapter Jesus Christ is the focus of the book of Revelation he continues now and says behold he is coming hmm y'all look what John has started out with I'm speaking to those who have been who spent years afraid of engaging the book of Revelation look at what John wants you to see here John says he is coming the one that we spent six verses talking about he is coming that's what I want you to see here he's coming and he's coming with clouds and every eye will see him even the eyes of those who pierced him everyone is gonna behold the Lamb who is both lamb and lion he says all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him so it is to be Amen it's finished it's solidified I agree with this John says and now he has a message directly from the one who's speaking about he says in verse eight in a case you're unsure case you don't believe me usually in the Bible when you see letters written in a red it's the words of Jesus so Jesus himself in case you don't believe me shows up to speak to us in his passage he says I am the Alpha and the Omega yo these aren't cliche cute little flowery terms Jesus isn't showing up to be a preacher he's not speaking poetic he's not waxing eloquent he's using very intentional terms Alpha and Omega are literally letters in the Greek alphabet and what Jesus has basically said to us is I am the a and I am the Z I am the Alpha and I am the Omega I am the beginning yes sir with me and I am also the M he says I am the one who is the one who was and the one who is to come I am the Almighty that's that's that's powerful in case you this is good in case you believe that Jesus was some pathetic puny individual wrapped in a loin cloth he is asserting himself for you in this passage he wants you to know that you can have Grace and you can have peace and you can have a syringe based on who he is and as you're in relationship with him don't be a don't be afraid and don't be mistaken I'm I'm bigger than you've made me out to be on the Alpha yeah I'm the Omega I'm I'm I'm the one who was and the one who is and and the one who is to come I am the almighty I am Jesus Christ I love AHA Ellen White says this thing how how our divinity flashed through humanity as he spoke I am it outside the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus is speaking in the same authority now I am the all-mighty what are we afraid of as we read revelation when we read it in the lap of the Almighty y'all John picks us up now in verse 9 our third and final section in the book of Revelation in chapter 1 our third and final section John begins to now tell us the message that he told us he would tell us about in the second section now stir with me if you're still with me here if you're watching from your phone put some wave emojis in the comments let me know you're still here with me John says in verse 9 I John your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and Kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus let me stop let me stop me stop John says I'm writing to you and telling you what I'm gonna tell you but I need you to know what condition John is writing in John says I am your brother and fellow partaker John is saying I'm with you I'm going through this with you in what John what are you partaking in with us John saying I'm your fellow partaker in the tribulation and in the kingdom and the perseverance which are in Jesus listen y'all don't miss this thing the pertinent the the tribulation you're going through we go through together with one another we're not by ourselves John is writing all don't miss this thing John is writing a message to the churches he's not writing a message to the individual John is establishing us in relationship with Jesus Christ but also a relationship with each other John wants us to know that that even removed from us physically he's bearing the same burdens that we're bearing and it's tribulation that we accomplish that we go through that we fight through together not just with each other with also with Jesus it's not just tribulations that we partake together in this is good when we also partake together in kingdom we also partake together in being celebrated as God's kingdom one with another but then we also partake together in the perseverance in in standing shoulder to shoulder I was like a bar from Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in The Fiery Furnaces that we face in standing shoulder to joseph's shoulders I can borrow from from Daniel in the various Lions dens that we might find ourselves in in standing shoulder to shoulder if I kab are from Esther in the throne room of the king that we are not sure will accept us John says that we are partakers together in the perseverance in the kingdom and in the tribulation so now he begins to map out his own specific tribulation that were partaking together with him and he says I John your brother fell apart acre in tribulation in Kingdom in perseverance which are in Jesus mmm which are in Jesus I ain't got time he says um I was on the island called Patmos some of y'all familiar with this I don't they go to in depth in it but John was was sent to Pat miss because they couldn't kill him they wanted to I really say to boil him in oil but in my mind that just says fry they wanted to fry John and and John could not be killed so they exiled him on the Isle of Patmos John is writing to us from the Isle of Patmos and he says he's there because the word of the Lord which he was preaching and the testimony of Jesus not lessness unpack this thing he says I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice like this town of a trumpet let's unpack this thing because I want us again to be able to better understand what the text is saying cuz going for we have chapter 2 3 4 5 6 7 etc and if you don't have the foundation in one all of this will be will be Greek to you and so I want you get this often time when people interpret this passage they interpreted to mean that John is saying that he was in the spirit on the Sabbath it's not what John is saying I love the Sabbath it's not applicable here and if you think it's saying that here you won't understand what John is actually saying the the the the ancients those who who were the early church they would often the Jews would often refer to the coming of the Lord the the last days the the end of days when when the dead in Christ shall rise first according to Paul when we who remain shall be caught up in the twinkling when this world comes to an end and he establishes his kingdom the Jews would refer to that the early Christians would refer to that as the Lord's Day or the day of the Lord and so when John says that he is in the spirit on the Lord's Day what John is saying is in the spirit he has been taken in the spirit he has been allowed to view in the spirit he has been transported to the day of the Lord and Jonna Singh in the spirit I was on that day and so now I am writing to you what I saw he says I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day hearing a loud voice y'all hearing a voice like the sound of a trumpet this almost explicitly echoes first Thessalonians chapter 4 when the when when a voice shout the voice of God the ark age of the Trump of God it's almost echoing what we have there John is saying I was transported in the spirit I was allowed to view the day of the Lord and so now I'm writing to you in this book what I have seen in fact I've been commanded a voice told me write in the book what you see write what is happening on the day of the Lord and write it and send it to the seven churches to Ephesus Ephesus listen up to smart enough to Pergamum Thyatira to Sardis to Philadelphia and to Laodicea so he turns y'all I was a head time he turns to see who is talking to him and he sees an individual standing in seven golden in the middle of seven golden lampstands don't miss this thing he's clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across the chest with a golden sash don't miss this thing for those of you who aren't sanctuary scholars the text is using sanctuary language Jesus is standing amidst the seven golden lampstands but he can look for much later what these lampstands are but he's dressed he's dressed y'all as a high priest so he's standing in these seven golden lampstands that the work of the priest was to make sure that this lamp continued to burn it represented God's of work in our lives he's dressed as our priest standing in the midst of these lamp stands and he's disease he's described always I had time he's described as an individual head and hair aha white wool like snow though misters often time we'll have conversation about Jesus's race how he looks that's not what John is saying in fact if you read the inscription it doesn't describe any race this is not a human being that John has seen it says hair and head hair and head white like wool it's not describing texture it's describing color he is so bright his head and hair are so white-hot his is his eyes are literally on the fire his feet were like the flame of excuse me uh like burnished bronze that had been made to glow in hot fire he is on fire as a describing a white man that a black man not a Hispanic man not an Asian man describing a human being it's describing an entity that is indescribable that is literally on fire with the flame of God I'm moving quickly out the text says that this individual speaks with the voice of many waters and his right hand he holds seven stars in and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword you don't have to worry or wonder about what this is the text will explain it to us I'm almost done y'all of the text says that when John saw him he falls to his feet drops on his face like a dead man but this white hot entity I'm done y'all puts his hand on him says don't be afraid that's good in the book of Revelation this powerful this inexplicable entity shows up puts his hand on John puts his hand on you right where you are just don't be afraid I'm the first I'm the last I'm the living one I was dead but look I'm alive forevermore here I'm holding the keys to death and hell so since I'm here all-powerful telling you not to worry I need you to get up and write the things you have seen let's close with this he says um some folk we're gonna ask what did it mean so as to the mysteries of the Seven Stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven lampstands watch this the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the Seven lampstands are the seven churches I'm done watch this thing I'm done I'm done I closed it so you know I'm done the Seven lampstands are the seven churches and when John sees him he sees him standing in the middle of the seven churches listen despite the tribulation you're going through whatever is happening in the revelation of your life Jesus wants you to know that he's standing in the midst of you he's tending your flame to make sure that your fire Ephesus your fire Smyrna your fire by attire of Philadelphia Pergamum your your fire does not and never will go out I am here to keep you burning and the seven stars that are in my right hand in the hand of power according to the Jews are the seven angels of the churches the the the ministers I have sent to you to do work in you through you by you for you with you there in my right hand listen Jesus starts out by saying I am the focus of this book and while I'm the focus of this book I want you to know that I exist in relationship with you so what does that mean what does that mean it means that as you continue your journey through the book of Revelation as you continue your journey through the book of life I need you to know that despite what may happen around you despite where you may find yourself despite the desire to be afraid there is an entity called Jesus can't be explained white-hot with the power of God he exists in relationship with you where can you find him you can find him right now in your midst I know I know in a few chapters when I hear some scary things but they're only scary because we haven't seen them from the vantage point of individuals in relationship with the first in the last the beginning and the end the Alpha and the Omega the Almighty and so horses chariots scorpion demons wormwood dragons beasts will come but I want you to know before we saw any of those things this is good don't miss it before we saw any of those things we saw Jesus and we saw Jesus in relationship with us we saw Jesus in the midst of us standing with us keeping us on fire keeping us Barney keeping us thriving serving us as our high priest making sure that though the mountains may rise in our lives I'm borrowing from you Beverly Burton the seas may roll and cover me though the ground may move from under our feet we're standing with him and our fire will not go out so the clouds may block the Sun from our way and disappointments may spoil your perfect day he's standing with us to make sure our fire will never burn out those who he has sent to minister to you your pastors your priests your elders he says I'm holding them in my right hand hand of power I love this I'm reminded that Solomon says to us in Proverbs at the hand of a king is like channels of water in his hand he turns it whichever way he desires God is in control he's the first thing we see and I want you to see this he's also the last thing we see in the book of Revelation in the theology we have a term called inclusio now what that term means is that oftentimes something will start us off and end us up somebody will talk to you a little bit in in this book and you'll find out that Jesus Christ is not only the first the starting focal point of the book he's not only the last focal point in the book but he's also the central focal point in the book of Revelation listen he wants you to know that he's with you it's impossible to see Jesus truly revealed without seeing the entirety of human history revealed because he's so close to us but that ain't the point that's not what's being revealed what's being revealed is that he has you Israel Houghton says that he holds your world in his hand and he wants you to know that that is the truth of the book of Revelation so in the revelation one of your life in Chapter 1 right where you are I want you to open your heart open your mind and accept Jesus Christ as the first and as the last and I believe that as we read this book that he will open it up to us like a blossoming flower that we might see his mysteries clearly and that we might know where we are in relationship with him and that we might join ourselves to him in the way he desires that we do Allegheny was right where you are when you pray with us pray with me those of you who are joining us from outside of our fellowship you also pray with me lift your hands right where you are father we thank you for showing us the mystery of you god you're unraveling your wonder before us in the book of Revelation allowing us to see who you are and who you desire for us to be in relationship with you God in just a little bit you're gonna unpack to us the messages to the churches and what we're gonna find in those messages is you where you are and where we are in relationship with you God you're either going to be confirming what we've been doing and telling us to hold fast or you're going to be pointing out where we have strayed from you and calling us back to you but God you are the focus in just a little bit god you're gonna break some seals and you're gonna reveal to us what those things mean but you want us to see that you are the only one who is able to break those seals did you purchased for God men with your blood from every tribe and every nation and made us to be a kingdom and priests to our God and we shall reign so worthy worthy is the Lamb to receive glory and honor Dominion power God I'm asking today we are asking today with our hands outstretched in this moment that you would fight through the minutiae that you fight through the noise and that you would be our focus not just in this moment now as we're reading the book of Revelation but in the revelation of our lives as we leave the house today tomorrow the next day so we interact with our friends and family our spouses our children your parents that you would reveal what a relationship with you in this moment looks like and how it should cause us to position ourselves that we might reveal you to those around us we thank you that your father had a word to give to us and he passed it to you you saw fit to give it to your angel who gave it to John who wrote that thing down for the churches and that through the churches we can also see the message that you have for us yes to bless us and keep us and continue according to relational one to pour out grace to us to afford peace to us and we'll be careful to glorify your name in Jesus name we pray amen thank you all for spending this time with me for celebrating what God is about to do in the book of Revelation I can't wait to see what God reveals and I pray that you're as excited as I am you're as ready as I am and that we look forward to the blessing that God's gonna reveal thanks for spending time with us here and we look forward to seeing you in our next message until then grace and peace you you you welcome once again to getting to know how the pastor we are excited this evening to share with you in Debussy Lodi the pastor of the ephesus seventh-day Adventist Church you may have difficulty pronouncing his name so we just call him pastor BC pastor welcome thank you for having me doc we are very excited to be able to be a part of of this vision 2020 vision of Revelation and you were the leadoff person such a to give some information in reference to the book of Revelation and and you did something very interesting that I've not really been exposed to you gave a biblical explanation of the prasanna the the person of of Jesus what led you to to start off that way study I remember one of my professors speaking about the fact that Jesus Christ said to the Pharisees that they study the Scriptures thinking that in them is life and don't realize or miss the fact that these scriptures testify of who he is and he said every time you open the Bible you should be intentional about looking for Jesus revealed in the text and as I was studying the book of Revelation I realized that there was an opportunity to look at the opening statement the volley if you will of Revelation from the standpoint of Jesus Christ being revealed as opposed to Jesus Christ doing the revealing and when I looked at it that way it seemed as if even the narrative in Chapter 1 made so much more sense to me okay the fact that Jesus Christ wasn't the according to John the origin of that message but it began with the father passed to Jesus for Jesus to the angel from angel to John from John the churches from the churches to us this explanation of who Jesus is the person the work of Jesus Christ what he's doing in our lives throughout this revelation okay I was it was a wonderful way of introducing the the book of Revelation and of course when we become comfortable with what the book of Revelation is really about and and it's about Jesus then those things that could potentially bring about fear in our lives or alleviated because of who is in the midst absolutely and even this repeating phrase from Jesus in Chapter one I am the Alpha and the Omega I am the beginning the end I'm the first in the last I am who was who is and who is to come it's almost as if he's being very intentional about saying regardless of where you are in the timeline of human history I'm there the same God who was with Shadrach Meshach and Abednego in the fire with Daniel in the lion's den is with you in the middle of coronavirus I love it yes indeed we can tell through your enthusiasm that you are a student of the word and that it just gets you excited tell me your water what's the process that you go through when you are preparing a sermon so I have a system that I work through I can simplify it essentially what you want to do is you want to first of course you want to begin with the biblical passage very often people will run and study to a correspondence or concordance and I believe that what we are doing is unpacking digging into the biblical narrative of the written word of God and so I believe that our studies should begin in the biblical passage once I've done that or as I'm doing that there are really simply five questions and I kind of want to ask as I go through it those questions are who what where when why and then I'm led a how the reason why I asked those questions is because I want to know who is writing and who they're writing to who are the characters that are involved in this story where does it take place where does letter originally where is it end up where's the mindset of the readers and it allows me to extract from the text what it is saying and not put onto it what I believe it's - I wanted to say once I've done that I then go and I translate from the Greek or the Hebrew but if you don't you can utilize a concordance to see what the words actually mean what they're saying and then I do a historical analysis what was happening in the time that this was written and in the lives of the people who it was written to where do they live what was society like in those days once I've amassed all that information I'm something really funny I throw it away and then I go back to the biblical passage and I allow the biblical text to inform the information that I've acquired about the historicity and the people they're in and that's kind of my process to approaching a study in the biblical text that's that's very scientific it's it's a method that you you utilize what do you think about individuals who get ideas and thoughts and then try and go to scripture to validate those ideas or thoughts so first and foremost I want to say because oftentimes it's perceived that one must have some advanced degree in order to be able to expose it the biblical passage Jesus did I have a single new degree now it is Jesus he one it was him about him but I want to shy away from the notion that the Holy Spirit cannot inform someone to be able to interpret and understand the text the Bible said that there are no scriptures of any secret interpretation but there is a notion of diligent and intense study and so to the individual who has an idea and then says let me go to the biblical passage to find something to ratify this idea or to to found it and that I can take this and now preach this idea I think what I would say is be intentional about allowing the text to be supreme in your presentation so if you have an idea and you take it to the Bible and the Bible speaks contrary to that idea abandon the idea sometimes you can have a great idea about something you can go to the Bible and the Holy Spirit can lead you to something that speaks specifically to that idea but other times we may have these ideas that are unbiblical in its founding and we need to be comfortable with saying Sola scriptura the Bible the written word of God the Bible says that all Scripture is God God breathed if that's the case that what God is breathing needs to be supreme to what I'm thinking and so I'm quick to abandon an idea the Bible says not for him that's not it okay all right what role does the spirit of prophecy play in terms of of helping to inform us and to to make sure that what we are sharing or teaching is in harmony with biblical theological thought excellent question dr. Cox I have a professor loving the death Professor Martin Hannah currently teaches at the Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs and he says if you are run into a space where Alawite and the Bible are conflicting then either you're misunderstanding her or the text or we need to make the decision and say what does the Bible say and how do we do that now I love loi I call her Auntie Yellin sometimes when people get mad at that I'm sorry dub but I'm a millennial II W so I love reading and seeing what she says and I find that sometimes she can add credence to a text for those who may not have the ability to on pack the text but I also understand where she says if you're reading you don't need me and so what I find is I will read and I'll say does this line up with what she's saying and my own track am I missing something so I allow the biblical narrative to instead of and this is important for me at least instead of allowing her to inform my reading of the Bible I actually allowed the Bible to inform my reading of her I found that the biblical text oftentimes gives more clarity to something that she said that I may have misunderstood so I loved working in tandem with her but in my in my overall process of expositing the text I'll go to her once I've done the work that comes out of the biblical passage okay all right so so tell me you are you going to the original language so you go to original Greek you go to Hebrew yes Aramaic slightly my command of Hebrew is very strong I love Hebrew my favorite mythical language and Greek I've been blessed to be able to sit under some really good instructors who have guided me in learning the biblical languages it's not difficult though even if you don't have those people to do it on your own I'm picking up Aramaic on my own as well because some of the passages of Scripture are written in Aramaic specifically Daniel portions of Daniel are in an Aramaic I'm also trying to get a command of some other languages that were used in early translations but I do go to the original language and I translate it myself so I can understand what the text is saying but some people who cannot do that or don't have a strong command of those languages I would strongly recommend Strong's exhaustive concordance and you can go through you may not have a command of verb tenses and and so forth but you could at least see what the words are it'll bring you closer to that meaning I prefer in terms of translations one of two translations either the Holman Christian standard and I like the Holman because while it doesn't give you word-for-word translations it's written for those who do not have heavy theological backgrounds so they do theological work and give you the ideas as a result of their work but my personal favorite is the new American Standard Bible because it tends to give you a word-for-word translation and it allows you to go and do the theological work necessary to make those words come to life okay well you you all actually preempted my next question which was to say what other resources do you generally use within your study process so I love I call myself a sponge I love absorbing the things so in addition to of course the biblical texts are just getting familiar with the Bible the stories are in the Bible and you'll find us some stories will influence other stories where things will make more sense of course reading widely-read Ellen White is a scholar by the name of Alfred edersheim he is a Jewish theologian theologian so Jewish by by blood Christian theologian and he helps he has a wonderful book called Jesus the Messiah a few works on the sanctuary system and life and times in Jewish culture and he gives such overwhelming information as to the basic life of the Jews in the time that Jesus was existing I find that his work is great stuff to read the works of Josephus are good as well and aside from that I love just history I think that oftentimes because Jesus am school lesson implied as a few weeks ago Jesus viewed the biblical narrative as a historical document these are facts that have taken place in our history and so I find that the more you read the history of the world not just a biblical history or the times of the biblical writers but even time is after that the more familiar are with the French Revolution the World War one and World War - in our even our current events it unpacks the narrative of the Bible because the Bible is a work that was produced by the altar of the Holy Spirit through people living in our history and so the more familiar we are with our history the better we can understand the difficult acts as well okay any of the resources you would like to share with us there is a work by a professor by the name of Ranko Stefanovic if you're reading revelation he has a very exhaustive text on interpreting the book of Revelation for those who may not have had the opportunity to talk with him he has a series actually he did in conjunction with I believe 3abn you could find it on YouTube where he unpacks the the biblical narrative from revelation and it's based somewhat on his on his work on his book as well as what the Bible says his brother his twin brother actually has a work on the book of Daniel which is really interesting as well and I love to refer to those in terms of kind of looking at what our church is saying about the prophetic works of Daniel and revelation as well as the rest of the Bible okay you know as you were concluding you a message you talked about the assurance and the confidence that we can have a regardless to the situation or circumstances that we are facing that we can have that Christ is there you made the analogy of Jesus being in the midst of the golden candlesticks and everything that occurs later on helps us to understand that Jesus is in the midst talk to us a little bit about how that helps us in our day to day circumstances whether it's dealing with the current corona virus whether it's dealing with financial difficulties whether it's dealing with current unemployment that is at extremely high rate whether it's dealing with personal crises within families you know what is happening in the outside world has an impact upon our our families what our children our children are going through what the church is going through tell us how the book of Revelation and in particular to the chapter one can help to bolster our faith that is going to be all right chapter one is instrumental instrumental in fully and completely understanding the book of Revelation it sets the tone for the reading of the rest of the book and chapter one is broken into three in my opinion three units or three portions and the first portion is introducing to us this work where it comes from where it originates so the messes were receiving originates from the first person the God originates from the father on high the second portion of the work allows us to understand that the grace and peace has been afforded to us because he's with us so he starts with him he's with us the third portion of the book I'm getting excited now of this chapter it talks to us about who in fact is our help so the first thing it does is it describes Jesus and we spoke earlier and oftentimes just a misunderstanding or misinterpretation as to the description of Jesus we look at it and say the book is telling us that Jesus Christ was a black man and I'm black and proud but revelation II doing that in fact in his description it's describing if you read it his description head and hair white like wolves tomorrow heat white hot eyes like fire he's shining as if he's bronze in a fire he's glowing revelation is not describing a human being it's describing this divine entity that is all-powerful and and he is all powerful and yet dressed as a high priest which which which now an attribute means that he's ministering to us he is offering sacrifices on our behalf he's interceding between us and the father and his position this is good is in the seven lampstands he's standing in the midst of them later on he tells us the seven lampstands represent the seven churches that he's writing to and so the churches that he's writing to he's saying to them I am present in your midst you are represented as as lampstands and I'm dressed as a high priest which means it's my responsibility to keep you lit to keep you burning to make sure that you do not go out despite the persecution you're facing the disease that we'll be talking about in Revelation the wormwood the the the fire and the brimstone the hail and the horses despite all of the scary things that you might perceive as scary I am telling you that my presence first and foremost before we talk about anything else in this book my presence is among you to keep you burning coronavirus I'm gonna keep you burning flue I'm going to keep you burning sickness I'm going to keep you burning unsure of what's happening in your church I'm gonna keep you burning and so I love the description that is given to us in the book of Revelation chapter 1 he says I'm holding in my hand a seven star what did I represent the the seven angels of the seven churches so so even those who are ministering to the churches that I am in their midst I'm holding those ministers in my hand and so it gives us such an intimate look of Jesus Christ so now when you look at his letters in Chapter 2 chapter 3 he look at what's happening in Chapter four and five and six all the way to 21 it's founded on the principle that God is in our midst God is with us and if God be with us who can be against us wow that's that's that is absolutely awesome you know when I talk to individuals and they are discouraged many times in reference to what is taking place within the church and they wonder whether or not God is is is still in the church and you can go back to the book of Revelation and you see the the problems that the church has okay well you lost your first love you're experiencing persecution you are beginning to move away there is compromise and now apostasy I mean you see this this this transition that is taking place within the Church of the Living God and yet Jesus remains right there tells you that the church doesn't have to be perfect mmm you know but that God is there to help us in every situation absolutely absolute is that is so encouraging let me ask you about your your walk with God and how are you how did God call you into ministry and and and what does revelation have for you that helps you to keep on moving forward so lord I received my call at the age of fourteen and I did not want it there are several individuals Dilla's Brooks Paul Graham that were instrumental in my coming to ministry and answering the call in the way that God desired for me to do so but I spent quite a bit of time I think from the time of 14 until about 21 I told God each and every time I every chance I get no I'm not doing this don't want to do it but God spoke to me huh in in the middle of Okinawa Japan I think I was at my furthest from God then and at my lowest I was broken and walking the street in the middle of the night early morning and then at some point during the day God said stop I felt it and I stopped I turned I looked and I saw a church I knew as a church because it was a open book flame I said also administers the church that I had grown up in so I went in and my command of Japanese wasn't great at the time so I couldn't tell you everything that was said but I can tell you this to this day it was the best service of her experience and from that moment forward God had spent has spent intentional time calling and calling me calling me pulling me almost like a tractor beam to him I have a passion because he found me when I was at I mean we read all the time while we were yet sinners God died for us but it became real for me in that moment I don't know why he would care about me but he did and even in my time through Oakwood he's been calling me closer and my passion has been to people who feel like they're not worthy who feel like they don't deserve him why would God waste time on them because he wasted time on me and if he could do it for me I know he can do it for you and so now funny enough I love several books in the Bible Galatians is great to me Luke is amazing love Ezekiel Genesis is phenomenal my absolute favorite book in the Bible is Revelation and the reason why is my favorite book is because Jesus Christ is so clearly described in that book and not only is he so clearly to grab because it described because he's been revealed but my relationship his closeness to me the fact that I without encroaching on anyone elses servant even in chapter 10 in this 1216 the time that we have that he sent witnesses to those who do not have relationship with him to save them that's that's me and and it culminates in this notion that his dwelling place will forever be with me and mine with him so revelation has been instrumental besting what I understood it I know at one point it was the book that you didn't open without several thousand years of theological training but once you understand it once you get in see Jesus Christ revealed in there I love it to death it is so easily misunderstood one of my professors at Oakwood l2c Mosley a walking prophet my freshman year at Oakwood had an afro mm-hmm I don't have that now but I had an afro about eighteen inches along music and I was taking a class from him and he walked by my desk and pause and started talking about how long hair was an abomination for man I was kind of uncouth and so I said elder Mosley is it true that Jesus had hair like lamb's wool wouldn't that make him the first one to wear afro class fell out laughs you know and elder Mosley became so irate with me he almost put me out of his class but years later I was taking homiletics from him and we had a long weekend I went home and I can't tell you to this day why but I went to my my barber and I had him to cut my hair off left about an inch and when went back to the class that next week he saw me and started crying and I was on my way out of class at the end and at the end of our class time and he beckoned to me to come to a man and I went to him and he says Cox I've been praying for you for a long and it's just you know a a misunderstanding of the book of Revelation and Revelation has such beautiful promises in it you know it's a book of prophecy and it is a book of predictive prophecy which simply means that this is what God is going to do it's not based upon what we do this is what God is going to do this is the plan of salvation and like you it is one of my favorite books of the Bible okay so so how long have you been in in ministry now officially or unofficially so I have been in about six years I came out of the seminary in 2015 and so I've been been working in the Allegheny West Conference since then but prior to that I had the privilege of serving here as a Bible Worker in 2009 I worked with as an intern as an extern in several churches our pce Madison mission new life I served as one of the pastor's there at Andrews University so I've had the privilege to sit under some good people and and and you know I've considered that my ministry to have existed since God called me and I answered for those who who are wrestling with that I like to say that you know the moment you answered God has been using you but on the books about six years ago have you come to grips with why God called you into ministry yes I used to there's an old saying and it's partially true it is true but God called me to save me and that is very true but I think it's it's diminishing in that God did call you to save you but God also called you to accomplish something I called you to save others will allow him to say well this to reveal him to other people I believe for me that God has called me to transition worship from a custom to a culture to allow people to better understand worship for what it truly is because in worship Jesus Christ is revealed and in his revelation we are brought closer to him okay you know you are already developing a following because God has really blessed you in in sharing and communicating the word I'm sure there are young preachers that are tuning in right now simply because of what you have meant to them and the the kind of confidence that they they have in you what has been your greatest challenge in ministry and and what would you say to a young person that is considering the call I would say my greatest the thing that's been the biggest struggle for me is seeing myself as enough seeing myself in the way that God sees me very often you come into ministry and you know you walk through what I like to call the the proverbial hallway of the greats you have the Billy Cox's and the Myron Edmonds the Cleveland's - Lola more Johnson's the Andrea trusty Kings those who come before I remember the first time I saw James Doggett in person and-and-and-and didn't want to be seen the same hallway with him I didn't feel that me from where God brought me was what God needed so I've been learning to appreciate the person that God made me if God wanted me to be Myron Edmonds he would have made Myron Edmonds he would put Myron where I am there's a space for me and if I attempt to fight in Saul's armor there are giants that need to be slain that will never be slain because he's a need Saul he's David and so to those who are watching who are listening I think I would say in the field where you are with the sheep that's you've been entrusted with get accustomed to fighting in your armor get accustomed to using your sling in your stick because there's a space that God is taking us that those who you have lauded won't be equipped to fight in and in those moments like God spoke to Jeremiah you need to remember that before you were formed in the womb he knew you he called you and he ordained you as a prophet to the nation's so that's been my biggest struggle insecurities poor self-image and just trying to figure out who God made me to be and get comfortable walking in the shoes that he gifted to me although mostly I'll quote him again in terms of answering the call of the calling he he says one of the ways that you can know that God has called you is that others see the calling on your life and I want to affirm you we certainly see the calling on on your life and we are just overjoyed and happy to have you as a part of the Allegheny West Conference family ladies and gentlemen we are certainly thankful that you have tuned in and to get some insight into the life of pastor B C we want to thank you for for sharing your testimony and and sharing the word by the grace of God may continue to bless you in this role we are looking forward to a wonderful week of hearing prophecy and doctrine going through a study of the book of Revelation we want to encourage you to be with us each and every night after the last message that Pastor will be sharing with me in and this time to get to know the pastor you

Channel: Allegheny West Conference

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Length: 172min 2sec (10322 seconds)

Published: Thu May 14 2020