Church Svc. Sept. 4, 2021

[Music] [Music] good morning and happy sabbath praise the lord we're here another sabbath to give him praise because of his goodness towards us before we start a song service let's bow for word of prayer who can and most merciful father we give you thanks for your love your mercies your blessings lord you have kept us through this week and you've brought us into your house another time to worship you we pray dear father that whatever we do today will be acceptable in your sight we ask forgiveness of our sins and we pray the father that you will bless us today in jesus name i pray amen let's sing 4 22 margin to zion [Music] me [Music] with is [Music] who never knew [Music] here [Music] of god [Music] before we reach [Music] [Music] is [Music] unknown [Music] is [Music] amen my maker and my king number 15 just the first first [Music] my [Applause] [Music] is [Music] verse the last verse [Music] [Music] thank you ellen for that brief but beautiful song service this morning happy sabbath good morning thank you for being here for sabbath school this morning on behalf of the sabbath school officers i want to welcome each one of you who is seated right here in the sanctuary today as well as those who have tuned in to our live broadcast may god bless each one of you as you join us today for our sabbath school session and for our worship services just uh want to read something as part of my welcome this is from charles spurgeon god hath not forgotten us because he smites his blows are no evidence of want of love if this is true of his church collectively it is of necessity true also of each individual member you may fear that the lord has passed you by but it is not so he who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting his own children he knows your case and mine as thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made or the only saint he ever loved approach him and be at peace isaiah 40 31 says but they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint i would like you to keep these few words ringing in your ears throughout the day throughout the next week throughout your life you are not alone to begin our song to begin our worship service sabbath school this morning let's turn to hymn number 474 take the name of jesus with you and i will call ellen up here to the front again [Music] take the name of jesus [Music] precious [Music] precious [Music] if [Music] oh is [Music] of jesus [Music] me [Music] is [Music] jesus christ [Music] is [Music] is [Music] for this morning is chosen from leviticus 23 verse 3 leviticus 23 verse 3 six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest and holy convocation ye shall do no work therein it is the sabbath of the lord in all your dwellings may the lord bless this scripture that's right let us pray almighty god who called your church to bear witness that you were in christ reconciling the world to yourself help us to proclaim the good news of your love that all who hear it may be drawn to you through him who was lifted up on the cross and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen please be seated good morning and happy sabbath um i i like that him and it kind of goes along with the future talk that i have for this morning [Music] for this morning's future talk i want to look at the origins of the word christian does anyone know where the term comes from anyone know in the bible i feel like mrs cp matthew antioch right acts chapter 11 26 i'm just going to read that real quick for time's sake and when he had found him he brought him onto antioch and it came to pass that a whole year they they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called christians first in antioch as uh uncle saraj and uncle david pointed out so how did the believers in antioch get the name christian antioch was a place of elegance it was a place of luxury it has been described as all the world in one city you know although this was a place of many different cultures these cultures didn't mix together they didn't they didn't they didn't live together although you know certain aspects maybe in the marketplace they didn't uh truly live together uh they had they each had different parts of the city that they lived in so imagine you know like new york it has little italy chinatown and all these different parts where different cultures are that's how antioch was the people were together in the same city but they were divided and then the christians then the believers you know came after persecution happened in jerusalem and they didn't just stick with the jews they reached out to other races in the city right they reached out to other groups that were culturally different than them and this was something that was unheard of you know previously groups uh like antioch they had seen jewish people they said oh those are galileans oh those are nazarenes now there's this strange mix of people that had never happened before and they had they didn't have a word for it um it's interesting right even with all these other jewish sects there were so many different sects that you that had come along they didn't even take time to learn the names it but here something was different they had to distinguish these people because something different was happening um you know isn't it crazy and just a little aside that the term christian came as a result of radical inclusivity radical inclusivity including people that usually weren't together when today there are many that won't go to church because they think church is an exclusive place for just certain cliques and groups and people so churchill's asked ourselves do we have the same spirit that characterized the early church i think you know it's perfectly summed up in galatians 3 28 there is neither jew nor greek there is neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in christ jesus in other words if we were to put that in today's layman's terms it doesn't matter what you look like it doesn't matter your socioeconomic status you know what your job is doesn't matter what your income is doesn't matter even what your political affiliation is we are all one in christ amen um so how do they how do the people choose this name now how do they choose the name christian to identify this group there's a quote from the books acts of the apostles uh mrs white that i like it says it was an antioch that the disciples were first called christians the name was given them because christ was the main theme of their preaching their teaching and their conversion continually they were recounting the incidents that had occurred during the days of his earthly ministry when his disciples were blessed with his personal presence well might the heathen call them christians since they preached christ and addressed their prayers to god through him so the name that they had defi was defined by their actions right the words that they spoke the things that they did um it was about their lives being centered on christ and uh some so basically this term christian came to be given to them and does anyone know what the name christian means what it roughly translates to right followers of christ i think this is something that that um that that we all kind of know in the back of our minds or group some sort of group that belongs to christ or is uh is associated with christ right because christ was what they spoke christ was what they lived all those different things that now that defined who this group was and how people defined this group does that make sense so let's ask ourselves does jesus define our lives today as if we call ourselves christians does jesus define our lives does the words that we speak the things that we do do they reflect jesus christ to the world around us um do the people in our spheres of influence even know that we are christians sometimes it's difficult in work situations whatever it is to bring up the name of christ and if they do you know if they do know we're christians do they even get a clear picture of who christ is from the way that we act in the way that we talk you know these are things that we have to think about um interestingly enough uh you know going back to kind of this whole story of how the christians got their name scholars believe that this wasn't a term of respect the people in antioch they were known for kind of their sarcastic nicknames that they used to give other groups and uh the name christian probably probably wasn't one of respect at the time so isn't it kind of amazing that you know that time of insult that term of insult at the time now millions of people around the world are calling themselves christians and proudly calling themselves christians um i'm reminded of you know when when joseph was talking to his brothers and he said ye thought evil against me but god meant it good right so god can take something that was meant as an insult god can take something that was negative and turn it into something that was positive and something more than that there's something more to this name if we look back in acts of the apostles it says it was god who gave them the name christian this is a royal name given to all who join themselves to christ and so uh this morning i just wanted to delve into a little bit more you know the special meaning of the name christian it is a god-given name and it is for those who choose to join themselves to christ so you know god help us to understand what it means to really be to to be a christian and may he place upon our hearts the importance of of living up to that name of christian and joining ourselves with christ amen good morning and happy sabbath today's mission story does not reveal the names of the family members or their location for safety and privacy reasons while he lived in iraq someone shared the gospel with dad and he fell in love with jesus and joined the seventh-day adventist church mom remained in her traditional religion and after some time life became difficult in iraq and dad feared for the safety of his family so he decided to move him and his wife and their two young daughters to live as refugees in the united states they lived for a year in michigan but the bitterly cold temperatures were too much for dad to handle the the cold worsened his injuries that he sustained during war while he was in iraq so the family moved to california and here in california the girls attended public school but dad wanted his daughters to attend adventist school now dad didn't have money to provide for an adventist education and he also didn't know any adventists to tell him where an adventist school was located so he prayed and he asked god to help his daughters get an adventist education and to allow him to meet a seven-day adventist now some time had passed by and one day dad went to a food bank to pick up some food supplies and while he was there he met a volunteer and he started a conversation with this person and he learned over the course of the conversation that this person was an adventist pastor and not only that the food bank was organized and run by an adventist church who also ran a church school so dad went home and he shared the good news with mom and they were talking and during this time a little bit before then dad and mom had been saving up some money so that they could go back to school to get better jobs to help provide for their family but after talking they decided to use that money for the girls education so after some time they went to meet with the principal at the school and they sat in the principal's offer office eagerly waiting for instructions on next steps so they sat in the office and across from them set the principal and the church pastor and the principal started talking and she said you know we're we really want the girls to enroll in our school but unfortunately the money is not enough for tuition and she stopped and she looked at the church pastor and she saw compassion in his eyes and she said you know what let's go ahead and enroll the girls in school and let's have faith and trust god to provide the money for tuition so the six of them knelt down and prayed in that office and they asked god for help to provide money for their education now shortly after they left the principal got a phone call from the coordinator of the adventist refugee and immigrant ministries in the north american division and the person on the phone said that they had money to help refugee children who wanted to study at their church school and she said the money was collected from a 13th sabbath offering in 2011 and the principal could hardly believe her ears so she quickly called dad and told him the good news and dad was so happy that god had answered his prayers this quarter part of the 13th sabbath offering will go towards helping refugees in our own division and at this time the mission offering will be collected please give liberally and please remember refugees like this family in your prayers who knows maybe god will use your offerings today to help answer more prayers like dads thank you happy sabbath church this morning i'm going to sing a tamil song and the meaning of the song in short is whenever i came to you all my fears vanished whenever you came into me all my sins left me i will live with you i will live for you and i will follow you and only you will be blessed [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] me [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] um [Music] so [Music] is [Music] me [Music] foreign [Music] um [Music] me [Music] me [Music] let's pray heavenly father thank you for the sabbath day that you've given to us thank you for the sabbath school program thank you for this opportunity to study your word i ask that your presence would abide with us please be with jacob as he leads out in the lesson and may it be a blessing to each one of us in jesus name i pray amen good morning happy sabbath this sabbath we're looking at the sabbath rest are you getting sabbath rest did you get rest last night is that part of the sabbath rest or is that just some unnecessary little detail suppose we could spend the sabbath start from friday sunset until saturday sunset and just read the bible for 24 hours wouldn't god be pleased with that no god wouldn't be pleased with that at all he's given us time for rest a daily time and is also giving us a weekly time and we need all that time there are emergencies that come up but normally speaking when the sun goes down that's a sign from god that you need to what go down also physically rest and when the sun comes up what's that's a sign it's a sign to get up i know we have all these gadgets today and we have this electricity and we don't really need to follow uh all that and we can stay up till midnight one o'clock in the morning and we can wake up at 10 or 11 or whatever time people are waking but it's not according to god's plan and it doesn't work well for the body there is a circadian rhythm that god has built into us you know when my oldest daughter was uh sick and in the hospital in india you know in the icu unit you have the bright lights day and night but when she came out of that into a private room she was awake at night and sleeping during the day and i talked to the doctor about it the doctor says well maybe we're going to have to give melatonin and i said no don't worry i'll take care of it so as soon as it got dark i turned the lights off nurses come in lights on they go do their thing and they leave i said no lights stay out and within three days she was back in a normal schedule the body wants to be in harmony with nature and so god has given us the sabbath rest we have the daily time what is a day according to the bible yes but i mean the biblical language it says the evening and the morning the day and the night the night and the day when does the day begin what we would today say when the day ends um at nighttime the first thing god says is you need to rest then you can work you get a phone you get any kind of wireless product the first thing you do is you charge it and they tell you that in the instructions charge it for this much time you have to have your batteries charged and then you can go out and serve god the sabbath and we'll be looking at this i'm sure is not to be spent in in sleep you know you go to church you go home you eat nice big heavy meal lots of fat and and then you just fall asleep no that's not what the sabbath is for but let's look at that let's look at our verse here leviticus 23 and verse 3. and what is god telling us here it says six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest in holy convocation ye shall do no work therein it is the sabbath of the lord in all your dwellings is that the first time the sabbath was mentioned in the bible no where did we first see the ten commandments as a whole but i mean as a whole one after another exodus 20 and then uh the next question she already answered is that the first time the sabbath is mentioned is that the first time the ten commandments are mentioned no all ten commandments are in the book of genesis it's not you know the first second not listed like that but they're all there so let's look at exodus 20 and what does verse 8 say what's the first word remember now suppose i say to you right now i said remember what we're doing at 8 o'clock tonight what's the first thing you would answer me anyone if i speak to you individually i said remember remember at eight o'clock what would you say to me what is eight why would you say what what is happening eight because i you don't remember i didn't tell you anything about 8 o'clock and all of a sudden i'm telling you to remember something that i never does that make any sense no but what if i say to you um hey don't forget tomorrow's the church picnic or something or remember something that you've learned about earlier well then it makes sense to remember it so the first word here is remember and that implies what what's that imply okay but it requires a prior knowledge of something okay the next point i was going to make about what else remember means but first of all this is not something new you know god sends moses up there and all of a sudden oh we were supposed to keep the sabbath you can look at in exodus 16 when god says how long do you refuse to keep my commandments he hadn't given the commandments oh yes he had he just hadn't spoken them he hadn't written them on stone but they knew the commandments and look at what happened with moses why moses had to flee from egypt because he did what he killed someone but there's nothing wrong with killing someone until exodus 20 no of course we had the commandments before don't let anyone tell you this was something that was for the jewish people so remember and also as mohan john mentioned don't forget this is something you have to keep in your mind don't forget remember the sabbath day to what's the next word keep now suppose i give you a nice blue shirt i said listen make sure you keep it white does that make any sense how can i keep it white it's already been dyed blue why can't i keep something white but i gave you something that makes you keep it clean well you look at it and the first thing you want to see is is it clean i went to the car one time and they made me look around and make sure there was no marks before i signed off and i had to return in that condition it was a van i never looked on the top and looked at the roof and when i got back they told me there was a dent on the roof they were playing some games and but i couldn't keep it without dents when it had a dent prior to to me getting it so he says remember this day to keep it what holy so the sabbath has been holy from before we got it we got it when we were born into this world but the sabbath was there before and we are to keep it in the condition that it already is it is holy it is so holy that when the children of israel were constantly disobeying god and god took them away into babylon he said you'll stay there for how many years 70 remember why 70 years of rest 70 times all those weeks will make up for all those sabbaths that you profaned now this world has been here for how many years from creation to now how long's it been six thousand years when jesus comes we're going to go to heaven for how long a thousand there's a reason for that why a thousand why not 900 or 1100 because the earth has to rest from breaking the sabbath for six thousand years every sabbath for six thousand years that makes up one thousand years of breaking the sabbath it's going to rest the sabbath is that important it's that important so he says remember to keep it holy okay is this now where is the first time though that we see about the sabbath where is that genesis somewhere is this talking way in the time of jacob we're in genesis right there in the beginning right in the creation week we see this genesis 2 thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them so he did all these six days behold it was good he said each day and now everything is finished and he says verse two on the seventh day god ended his work which he had made and he did what he rested well he must have been tired was he no the lord never sleeps or slumbers he doesn't get tired he rests him he's ended he ceased his work it was complete there was no need to do anything else suppose you got this beautiful painting from um leonardo da vinci an original and you look at that and here you know that picture that famous picture of him with the man and you look at that i don't know how many millions maybe billion you know to buy the original and you say you know i think i can improve upon that a little bit and you get your your marker out there and you start to draw on it no any anyone would say you know the art all the art lovers would say blasphemy and you've destroyed this work of art and what is the work of art it was just a drawing of the human body but you said you know i'm going to put add a little red there and i'm going to put some pink and i'm going to add you know i'm going to put a hole in the ear and i'm going to dangle you've changed god's image god did his work in six days and then he what he rest is done there's nothing to add to it if you do anything you're going to take from it so god rested because that in it he had rested from all his work which god created and made now let's go to verse 26 and i'm going to read you a very wonderful statement on this but when god made man and what which day was man made on the sixth day why wasn't he made on the fifth day of the fourth day or the third day the world wasn't ready god made the world for man the only thing he made after man was was what yeah but when i say man i mean mankind the only thing he made after that was the sabbath so that means that the sabbath is more important what did jesus say sabbath was made for man he put man on the earth and then the first thing he gave them is wasab he gave it here this is for you you need this day he gave him the sabbath but let's look when he made man verse 26 and god said let us make man in our image that word hour in the hebrew it's a word that means at least three it cannot mean one it cannot mean even two so what are those three that he was referring to himself of course our who else was there yes the the son and the holy spirit let's make man in our image let's make him like us he'll be like you in this way he'll be like you in this way and he'll be like me in this way and wow what a when you think of it you mean god had part of himself part of jesus part of the holy spirit he used aspects of that to make us like i don't mean he took essences of it but i mean he made us like like himself let us make man in our what image now you you know you see a child oh he looks just like his father well we were made in the image of our father let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea the fowl of the air the cattle the earth every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth so god created man in his own image in the image of god created he him male and female created he them so he we were made in his image and we were given dominion over what all the earth everything he said i'm making you the king you're a king over everything i've made all these things for you the air you breathe the water to drink even the animals that they have their own ecosystem it's for you to be whole and enjoy and to love god has given it all to us it's ours well what should we do if it's ours if somebody gives you something if i gave you a brand new car would you go there and you get the foot on the gas and you want to see how fast it go can i hit 120 130 140 and the tires blow out and that car goes all over the place would you do that no this is yours it's been given to you you want to take care of it you're going to keep it clean you're going to wax it you're going to put the right kind of fuel in it you're going to change the oil when it needs to because this is something that's been given to it is yours and god has given us this earth and everything in it not to abuse it but it is ours and that's why god tells us if we don't take care of these things we will not have a place in heaven we're told that even with the animals we're told that with with these things now man today has taken two extremes they totally don't care about the earth they just destroy it or the other extreme where they almost worship they almost worship this this earth you hear about mother nature and so on and you hear about environmental wackos they'll blow up an suv dealership because it's used too much fuel you know you have these two extremes but no god has given us this earth to to appreciate to look out to him to remember him and he's made us in his what his own image and his likeness i'm going to read it a statement tremendous statement this is from review and herald um february 11 1902 all heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man human beings were a new and distinct order were we like the angels no were there angels existing when man was created yeah we know that but we were a new and distinct order something special the bible says that they ain't that we are made lower than the angels but if you look at the the original wording of that anyone can do you look in a strong concordance it's talking about it for temporary duration we were made lower than the angels for a period of time not for all eternity you go you look at um royalty you look at in england you have the queen you have the the princes okay um you hear a lot in the news about prince harry and prince it's the brother sorry what was it william okay um you hear more hairy not in a very positive way but that's why the name is more familiar to me but as i was growing up they were growing up now this prince william okay he is next in line i mean i know his father's there but probably he's next in line to become what the king and when he's king who is above him in the earth i mean in their kingdom no way he's he i mean in books he's even controlling canada and all these provinces around the world and all and all the swans and all these things that you know according to their their rules but when he was a small child he went to school and who was above him then the teacher could he say to the teacher ah i'm not doing that homework i'm the prince would that work no that wouldn't work at all he was under that the story about queen elizabeth when she was a little girl she went to a store and the storekeeper said how can i help you miss and she said i'm not a miss i'm the princess of england and the one that accompanied her said what she said is true she's not a miss but we're trying to help her to become one see she was subject to authority until she became the queen we are suddenly we are lower than the angels right now but the time is going to come when we are above the angels and this is one thing that troubled lucifer when he looked at the blueprints for man and he said what is this they have a capacity to go beyond me and he became jealous he became angry and he decided he was going to thwart that and he was going to do everything he could to destroy man so nobody would be in a higher position than him this is why he hated jesus because jesus was higher than him he wanted to be number one he wanted to stay that way but man was made to be even more so it says man was made human beings were a new and distinct order they were made in the image of god and it was the creator's design that they should populate the earth this is what god has made us to be one last statement on this this is manuscript 78 1901 infinite love how great it is god made the world to enlarge heaven he desires a larger family of created intelligences he says he wanted a bigger family of what cows no created intelligences you look at the animals they don't have intelligence you know you see many stories to me that are amazing of what a dog would do for it's for its master and so on you hear these wonderful touching stories have you ever seen uh maybe you happen in the woods and you've seen a whole bunch of deer and they were just there on their knees and they were having some kind of worship service they don't have that capacity it's only man that can worship god only man we've been given that we were made intelligent so genesis 2 we looked at that he put he's put us in charge of this whole world everything and if you realize you're in charge of something you're going to take care of that so this is not some i know it's new to the world taking care of the earth and watching the environment so that's not new to seventh-day adventists our carbon footprint has been the smallest of any group in the world just the way we live not to the way we when we live in harmony with the way god has told us um there's a lot of talk about uh food and how you could solve the world's crisis if the whole world would become vegetarian oh god knew all that god gave us a diet there are so many things that god has told us that the whole world is starting to kind of catch on little by little and realize some of these things but remember god gave us these things long before now we see the ten commandments repeated again where in its entirety deuteronomy deuteronomy 5 and there's a little bit different wording here with the sabbath commandment it's more kind of uh an extra explanation does god need to explain things to us does he does a parent have to tell the child why they have to clean up or does the child just have to do what they're told child needs to follow authority sometimes it can be a matter of life and death to instantly obey and so it's very important you teach your child to obey instantly after they've obeyed then they can ask the question well why i remember the story of this this girl she was sitting down and the boyfriend said give me your hand and she immediately gave the hand she didn't question and he pulled her up like that and she was like why did you do that and she looked and there was a scorpion right next to her a child needs to learn to obey right away after they've obeyed then they can ask why and you can explain and it could be a matter of life and death could be a simple matter of cleanliness or something like that which you know cleanliness is a matter of life and death but it just takes a little bit longer to die from uncleanliness so god doesn't have to tell us why but he condescends to give us a reason and we say wow the creator of the universe is is telling us why we should do what we do and so when you come across something that you don't understand what should our practice be wait until we understand and then obey so lord i don't understand why you're telling me to do this but if you say so i've learned enough about you to trust you and to know that you have my best interest so if i have to wait to heaven to find out that's okay with me and usually we don't have to wait that long but there are some things so deuteronomy five and these ten commandments we're just going to look at the fourth commandment and it starts out by saying keep remember in the beginning it says remember now god is just saying keep yes still remember of course don't forget but here's the order it starts that says keep keep it i've given it to you it is yours now keep it keep it the way i gave you and keep it holy and tells us six days your labor do all your work the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter nor thy manservant nor they made servant nor thy knox thine ass but they're just animals they have to keep the sabbath too yes if god is telling the ox and the cattle and all the animals are supposed to keep the sabbath how much more human beings what about someone that you have it says you're a man servant of your maidservant what's a man servant or a maidservant we don't use those terms today what would we call those people made or um a laborer someone who works for you and even they are supposed to you're not supposed to give them work and it says that that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou you know remember we read that the sabbath was made for whom amen not for what what's that we always say when in eventual comedians sabbath was not for thee who wasn't for the jews it was for whom the seventh-day adventist right mankind does that include a sunday keeping sabbath a sunday keeping catholic does it include an atheist does it is the sabbath for the atheist yes don't don't question it think in your mind yes it's made for all mankind so never say the thing like well he's not adventist so it's okay no it's not okay i mean don't beat him over the head but don't give him work either give him rest if he goes on on his own and does his own thing that's that's him but don't give him work to do it says that their your man certainly made them may rest as well as thou they need it as much as you don't give them any an excuse to say well i had to because my worker made me no so and remember then here's the added verse remember that thou was the servant in the land of egypt and that the lord thy god brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm therefore the lord thy god commanded thee to keep the sabbath day i was doing an evangelistic evangelistic series in new york city one time and in one of the nights a woman came to me and says we don't have to keep the sabbath because the sabbath was for the jews that were bondage in egypt now what would be the answer for that that's what it says right you were a slave you were a servant in the land of egypt what would be the answer to that we don't have to keep it because we were not there in egypt okay but just using that verse no were any of us in bondage in egypt no well first of all what about all the israelites that in the time after that through the judges and the kings were they bonded were they servants in egypt were they no do they have to keep the sabbath yes but my answer to this is were we not in bondage to sin and isn't the sabbath an extra reminder keep the sabbath holy because remember you were a servant to sin you were in bondage that and who freed you god freed you she said lord thank you so much you have freed me from this bondage and now you've given me a day to of course we're to think of him throughout every day but here's a special day now yesterday at it's 10 30. yesterday at 10 30 were you all sitting here listening to the bible and studying it no why not you're not spiritual why weren't you here you work yes sixth day shalt thy labor and do all their work six days god has given us that time but now he says here's a special time you can't do this during the week but you can do it now so he's given us this gift and we've all been that look at second peter 2 19. and here's the principle that i'm referring to here second peter 2 19. while they promised them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same as he bought brought in bondage if you're overcome by something you're in bondage to that very thing any of you used to smoke here anybody nobody well usually there's a a number of people but uh anyone that i've talked and i've helped people in smoking cessation programs and so on they're in bondage we had a program people would come and they would stay with us for a week or two weeks and they would get and they would literally be shaking and you know the first thing we asked from them was yeah the cigarettes and what do we do with them well we secretly smoked them no you couldn't get a cigarette you if you tied me down and forced the cigarette in my hand i would hold my breath i i just it's something so repulsive to me now there are other sins that i have partaken in that are repulsive that you know we all have things that we've fallen into but just using this example of the cigarette the person is enslaved to it they can't stop they have to put strong amount of willpower in fact we're told it's more addictive than alcohol this this nicotine it's a very strong drug but place anything that you have fallen in in sin it says anything that you're overcome with you're in bondage to that thing you can't stop so how do you how do you overcome it you know in the brain we have these electricity going on the brain which was told by sister white long before science discovered it i think it was around 1930 in mayo clinic discovered that yes there was electricity in the brain sister white talked about it in the 1800s and your higher powers your will your intellect your reason they have about 10 millivolts of electricity i'm sorry 30 30 millivolts of electricity your lower powers your appetite your desires your passions they also have 30 millivolts so all your life you've been doing this wrong thing whatever that sin is and all of a sudden you're oh this is a sin i need to stop this so now your higher powers go into play and now you have 30 against 30 who's gonna win you even play tug-of-war and you're perfectly evenly matched up who's gonna win no one's gonna win but naturally we're gonna fall back in that same path because that struggle it's just too much struggle but there's one other power that they've discovered and this power doesn't have 30 millivolts it only has 10 it's the willpower the power of the will the decision the choice to say yes i want every five of my being wants to do this thing that's wrong but now god is telling this thing i cannot do this so your reasoning your conscience is in activity and so on and you make a choice which way are you going to which side are you going to put the 10 millivolts there's a tug of war and here comes the seventh man you got three on each side here comes the seventh man which side you're going to put them on it's your decision but whichever side you put them on that's the side that's going to win and there is god to help you so we have all been in bondage and god has taken us out of that and he's given us the sabbath day okay we can go romans 6 with a very famous famous verse talking about baptism when we're baptized we're baptized unto or this this symbol our symbolism in in romans 6 is a symbolism referring relating baptism to what you go down in the water as a person as a the dead person goes down okay and you're buried you're under the water okay that's why we go under the water for baptism and then what happens do you stay there no that's only part of the baptism that's not enough you have to come up out of the water into new life see the old man we're putting him down you know the one thing bad about this old man he's always with us and if you're in bondage to him it's a horrible task master to have to have him with you 24 7. but thanks god who's delivered us and we've come out of that water and we have new life through jesus christ and we can live the victorious life we can put our will on the will of of right every each and every time we have that ability okay so let's look exodus 19 and keep in mind what we read in genesis when god gave man dominion over all the world and he said i want you to even name these animals they're yours give them whatever name you want to and so adam gave names to the to the different animals okay we say adam but i'm it was mankind and i'm sure eve was involved in that but their thinking was like the thinking of the creator and so they gave these names so exodus 19 and verse 6 and what is god saying here ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation god said you're to be what priests and a holy nation go to peter again and we want to see first peter 2 9. what is god saying this was not just for the jewish people for it's peter 2 9 but year i chose in generation a royal priesthood and holy nation a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light we're going to do a collection of our offering right now so god has made us special he says this is all created for you and you're going to be a holy nation of special people um and this is what god has given us to show forth his praises a peculiar people all right now isaiah 58 and we're all familiar with with this i haven't tested it myself but i'm told that sister white refers to this more than any other chapter in the bible and it says they that shall be of thee shall build up the old waste places thou shalt rise up the foundations of many generations and shalt be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of paths to dwelling if thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath stop trampling upon god's holy day from doing thy pleasure on my holy day stop doing your own pleasure so sabbah should be what a boring day i said people that's what people's reaction oh so it's supposed to be just a boring day no you didn't read the rest of the verse and call the sabbath a delight you cannot call the sabbath a delight if you're seeking your own pleasure you just won't have it in fact you don't have pleasure if you seek your own pleasure it lasts such a short time and you feel empty but if you seek the lord oh then the sabbath is is a delight and i'm going to close with this you're all familiar with this ezekiel 20 and verse 12 says moreover also i gave them my sabbath to be a sign between me and them sabbath is a what it's a sign children of israel they had that border of red it was a sign that they kept the law oh sorry border of blue blue is a symbol of of the um symbolizes law you see even the the flag of the united states with that blue line it's a symbol symbol of authority that's why they use the color blue still it's used today that way god says i've given you a sabbath to be a sign between me and you that they might know that i am the lord that does what sanctifies them you're not uh you don't make yourself holy by keeping the sabbath it's not a self-righteous thing it's a sign that god is the one that makes us holy it's a sign that i've done everything i can in these six days and now i just have to rest in god and trust him like you plant the seed but you can't make it grow you rest and wait and that's what god has given us in the sabbath it's a sign that god is the one that makes us holy so i want to encourage you all of you you're keeping the sabbath but let's keep it more holy because it is holy let us understand more deep what this habit means and then throughout the day throughout the week i know our time is up but i just want to it's just a one sentence here all through the week this is from testimonies volume six all through the week we are to have the sabbath in mind and make be making preparation to keep it according to the commandment we are not merely to observe this habit as a legal matter so throughout the week the sabbath is coming the sabbath is coming and let's keep god's holy rest let us pray dear father in heaven lord we want to thank you so much because you've given us this day this day we can rest from our work we don't have to be stressed or worry how we're going to pay our pay our bills how we're going to make it how anything is going to go on but father we can trust in you from week to week to know that you will support us that you will help us and father we thank you for this day of spiritual refreshment this day is a reminder that you are the one that makes us holy we thank you so much father for these things we pray in jesus name amen good morning and a happy sabbath to you and welcome to the remnant 7 day adventist church we are so happy that you could join with us on this beautiful sabbath morning this morning i would like to read a verse found in james 5 13 which reads is anyone among you suffering let him pray is anyone cheerful let him sing praise as we go throughout this week let us remember to pray through our suffering to find our strength in god and to praise god in our times of happiness as well as in times of trouble i would like to remind you that we at the remnant seventh-day adventist church are so blessed by all of you who join with us to worship our god we need your prayers and support and we thank god for those of you who are already doing so i also would like to ask that you support the various ministries of this church both through prayer and contribution i specifically ask that you would support the media ministry the media ministry thanks you for your support your prayers comments letters are what really keeps us going your generous support and god's blessings are what keeps this ministry alive the work we do requires financial support and we depend one hundred percent on your generous giving our burden is to reach the young people wherever they are around the world and to engage them and then as a family together we spread the great message we are exploring new ways for you to participate in our services literally by using new technologies integrated into our service and that takes money equipment needs to be upgraded and up kept we ask god to help you help us just a small monthly contribution to your media ministries here at this church really goes a long way using the wisdom god has given us endless possibilities are available on how to use technology for god's glory tell your friends and families about your media ministries here at this church you can subscribe to us on youtube follow us on facebook instagram and twitter and so we thank you for being there for us and we value your support don't forget to join us this evening for our praise and prayer service at 5 00 pm that's 5 00 p.m this evening where we can sing praises to our god and offer prayers to him on the behalf of others you can join us via youtube zoom facebook and now even here in person to send in your requests today's message is titled seeking god our greatest need and will be brought to us by our very own pastor sergeant john once again i thank each one of you for joining with us on this sabbath morning and now let me take you back to our divine service [Music] is [Music] strength [Music] is thy faithfulness [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] amen indeed god is faithful amen this sabbath youth we have prepared some songs for our praise and worship our time here before the divine service so please join us and sing if some of these are unfamiliar to you we'd encourage you we're going to go through the lyrics multiple times we're going to go through the chorus multiple times so join us as we saying oh come to the altar here we are at the altar before jesus let's put everything before him [Music] overwhelmed by the weight of your sin jesus is calling [Music] have you come to the end of yourself do you thirst for a drink from the well jesus is calling [Music] oh come to the altar the father's arms are open white forgiveness was brought with the precious blood of jesus christ [Music] leave behind your regrets and mistakes come today there's no reason to wait jesus is calling [Music] bring your sorrows and trade them [Music] jesus [Music] the father's arms [Music] christ [Music] oh what a savior he wonderful [Music] saying hallelujah christ is risen [Music] for he is lord of all sing hallelujah [Music] [Music] isn't he one [Music] sing hallelujah christ is risen bow down before [Music] sing hallelujah [Music] oh come to the altar the father's arms [Music] the precious blood of jesus christ [Music] forgiveness was brought with the precious blood of jesus christ forgiveness [Music] was forgiveness [Music] forgiveness was the precious love of jesus christ incredible words from the author join us now for another one what a beautiful name i'm sure you've all heard it before please sing with us what a beautiful name [Music] you were the word at the beginning one with god most [Music] what a beautiful name it is what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus christ my king what a beautiful name it is nothing compares to this what a beautiful name it is the name of jesus [Music] you didn't want heaven without us so jesus [Music] my sin was great your love was what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus christ what a wonderful name it is nothing compares to this what a wonderful name it is the name of jesus [Music] and the heavens are roaring the praise of your glory for you are raised [Music] yours is the kingdom yours is [Music] [Applause] [Music] what a powerful name it is what a powerful name it is the name of jesus christ what a powerful name it is [Music] the name of jesus what a powerful name it is the name of jesus what a powerful name [Music] time and time again in the bible we see that just at the hearing of jesus name demons flee pestilences go away ailments are gone just by the name of our lord what a powerful name it is indeed join us now as we sing another one that you might know i stand amazed i stand amazed in the presence of jesus and nazarene [Music] [Music] of jesus [Music] love me [Music] marvelous [Music] [Music] he suffered and died [Music] is [Music] the last verse [Music] oh my god [Music] wonderful is [Music] shall never be [Music] is love for me so [Music] good morning church happy savage to you all and it's time for bible question uh the question today is who said this to whom again you are a priest forever according to the order of malki sadiq you are a priest forever according to the order of malki sadiq who said to whom ready well i don't have too much time to stand here and wait for the answer so the answer is david to god it is found in psalms 1 10 4 and also in hebrews 5 6. today's question is sponsored by um mrs lilly joseph that's my sister who visited us last week here and she heard me asking questions and then when i went back there she gave me a hundred dollar check so she sponsored by her for 100 and you know it is hard for me to go around and ask people because it's a copy time and i kind of go around and talk to people so whoever is able to give please tell me that you can give this much and it happened different times for me it was it was so i'm so thankful to you all uh for supporting this ministry um this time and please help me still thank you hello again um i want to talk to you again about the covid and i i know i speak a lot about that but a new study just came out and this was studying almost 600 000 people so this is this is one of the biggest studies of any any kind of study having to do with health six hundred thousand people and this was done from it says top researchers at harvard medical school and king's college in london they collected data from all these people and they have found yet again that the lord knew what he was telling us when he gave us a lifestyle they were studying this in relation to to the um the disease and they made a they called it a a diet score a high quality score low quality score they asked people what they were eating their lifestyle what they ate before what they during what they ate after you know of getting this virus and some of the people all different ages some were old some of them were even smoking some of them were all kind of conditions but overall all of them did much better if they had a high quality diet and what they have put down here as high quality diet it wasn't a vegan diet people think vegan diet oh no no i'm not a vegan people say oh you're no i'm not a vegan vegan is not something that god has told us to be as i mentioned before vegan diet you can eat all kinds of things that god has told us not to eat but you can have all your white rice and your white flour and all your spice and all your chocolates and all your alcohol and you can smoke and still be a vegan no no no this is not what god has told us he's given us a program how to live and this is what they have come these are not seven-day adventists what they have found out that those who ate plant-based whole foods this is lots of vegetables fruits whole grains and less refined carbohydrates and fewer processed foods simple food the way god has given it to us now you hear a lot of talk about carbohydrates are bad i was in the store one time and i'm buying i had my whole wheat bread and i had some vegetables and fruit and the cashier says oh that's very healthy food except for the bread this idea that that carbohydrates are bad for you well in this study they found out that those that were eating let's see if i can look at this here those that had less carbohydrates and more protein had also higher incidence and more severity of the disease so the problem that you hear against carbohydrates is not carbohydrates but it's refined carbohydrates because if you look at america and how much carbohydrates we eat we're looking by and large at refined carbohydrates you go to the store and you see everything is white flour or white bread i mean and the vast majority of the whole wheat bread that you see in the store it's white bread with sprinkle a little bit of whole wheat flour in it that's all it is just look at the ingredients the first thing is flour and then somewhere down there they may have some whole wheat flour i'm talking about real whole wheat grains that is what we need to be eating the food as god has given us fruits vegetables uh nuts legumes okay and things in the whole thing and they said this decreased the amount of people that got the kobe and it also decreased the severity and greatly decreased the amount of people that actually had to go to the hospital you may get the disease but your symptoms will be much less and by doing what simple thing and it again it lists here the among people who even were old people who didn't wear masks as people who were even smoking on other things but just by that one change of course we have a message more than just diet but if we follow all these things i tell you and i tell you again this disease would just be a hiccup worldwide i'm talking about if we follow god's program thank you very much praise the lord all you nations praise him all ye people for his merciful kindness is great toward us and the truth of the lord endures forever praise the lord good morning everybody happy sabbath god has blessed us he has given us another sabbath to worship him in spirit and in his in truth i would like to welcome each one seated here members visitors well-wishers and families watching this live broadcast all around the globe may god richly bless us as we keep the sabbath holy because jesus is coming very very soon i have few announcements to make and there are three place and prayer service will take place every saturday at 5 pm right here in the church pastor sergeant john will be away from september five that's tomorrow till ninth for emergencies please contact youth pastor reggie samuel at two four zero nine the third one please go to the giving tab on our church website to give your tights and offerings the church needs your financial support to continue our ministries and to meet our financial commitments may god richly bless us as we worship him in spirit and in truth [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] our hymn of praise for this morning will be hymn number 246 worthy worthy is the lamb hymn number 246. have your peace [Music] worthy is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] like [Music] i am [Music] oh [Music] [Music] himself [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] please be seated a couple moments ago as i was looking over the list of family and friends and members of this church to pray for i thought to myself oh man there's a couple more names on the list that's unfortunate but then i thought to myself why is that unfortunate what an honor and a privilege and a blessing it is that we can take these names directly to the god of the universe that's not unfortunate that is an honor and a privilege and so with glad hearts with compassion and with deep care for one another let's continue to pray for these people paulette warren for maxwell paul and family babu benjamin dr and mrs cp matthew sudha pillai rajini pura sotham lizzy aruldas pradop and isaac mr and mrs aruldas emil john janet smith esther singh and family mervyn singh lakshmana beckham amy lightner john gorde esther gorde nirmala chavan kokila patel bridget abraham nadine roberts and justin and particularly for nadine's open heart surgery sampath kumari mr rasnayagam amman jayanti eswa rao edwin joseph paulson tarapatla pastor sergeant and family pastor reggie and maria samuel ellen cromwell jesse and family tanya and linda rathi shantharajan family dr sam christopher cole zebada and family mary edwards richard jeffries blencha florence saul for the country of argentina braxton sulachana benjamin and matthew brian and family haroot wilma daniels and family johnson christian rita nita aruna and isaac chavan dorothy patrickson arush maya foster gracie joel nagesh beckham and family sanjay and sweetie sati yomi karen and gerald particularly for cancer for pam for andrew paula for the crisis in afghanistan nathan angie abraham for john and mali nu talapati terry mccoy for the families of the 17 soldiers that were killed in afghanistan teddy tatum gracie joel and finally another request coming in online this morning for jason marvin and for dao additionally i have here nine sealed requests i don't know what they are but the lord knows the lord hears and the lord knows best now please join us in prayer bye heads and kneel where possible thank you [Music] [Music] is [Music] before the prayer i'd like to read psalm 145 verses 17 to 20. the lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works the lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth he will fulfill the desire of them that fear him he also will hear their cry and will save them the lord preserveth all them that love him but all the wicked will he destroy and then psalm 103 verses 1 to 6 bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless the lord o my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all these diseases who redeemed thy life from destruction who crowned thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles the lord executed righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed shall we all kneel as we seek the lord and pray please we shall all kneel at this time as we seek the lord in prayer lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth or ever the horse formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting oh lord at this time we your children have come into your presence to thank you and to place you for all the good things you have done to each one of us thanks for the air that we breathe we thank you for the water we drink for we thank you for the health you have given us we thank you for all the blessings of love lord we cannot number them is more than the number we can think of at this time oh lord there are people who are suffering in this world individually family-wise country-wise the whole world is in turmoil lord that are deadly volcanoes deadly earthquakes deadly fire deadly tornadoes and hurricanes and even the the devil is going about to destroy and cause trouble to each one of your children whether they believe in you or not believe in you he is going to turn every stone that is unstored everything that is going to discover and cause trouble to each one of us but you have promised lord you have promised if we are with you you will be with us all the time you have told us you will never forsake us lord we thank you and please your name because jesus is our god he's our savior he's our redeemer and he is coming very soon warning has been given since long time lord all our life help us to heal to the warning repent from our sins turn to you every step of every moment lord without you we cannot do anything for in him we live and move and have our being lord have mercy on us and help us bless the people who have requested for prayer the names that were that were read and the nine sealed lucas lord we don't know them the lippers but thou knowest everything that's going in their hearts the the the the trials that they're going through the challenge they are going through maybe its health maybe financial family or any other problems lord we don't know what be very near to them be kind to them and bless them lord and let your will be done in our life in their lives all the time lord because without you we cannot do anything with god all things are possible you can you hear our humble prayer lord our struggle difficulties bless them abundantly lord at this time we pray for each member bow down the young and old all around the world help us to realize that coming your coming is very very near even at the door cleanse us purify us mould us fashion us according to your will let your will be done in our life at this time we ask you to bless the speaker of the earth the pastor sergeant john as he brings and breaks the bread of life let your holy spirit speak to him through him and to us that it may change us mold us according to you you will because thy coming is very near lord before it's too late we want to repent father before the close of probation is done lord help us to realize to be serious to be focused on the lord jesus christ who is the author and finisher of our faith keep us all loyal and faithful to you till the end at last sell us all in your eternal kingdom these mercies we pray in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] good morning and happy sabbath church yesterday morning i was cleaning out my office and i found this very damaged picture of or recreation of jesus i used to carry this around with me when i was younger in my backpack and on the back of this is an excerpt of a sermon by pastor and theologian james francis i don't know if anyone is familiar it's called one solitary life and i thought i would read a little bit of it um an excerpt of it right now here is a man who was born in an obscure village as the child of a peasant woman he grew up in another obscure village he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30 and then for three years he was an itinerant preacher he never wrote a book he never held an office he never owned a home he never had a family he never went to college he never put his foot foot inside a big city he never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born he never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness he had no credentials but himself his friends ran away one of them denied him another betrayed him he was turned over to his enemies his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was dying and that was his coat i'm far within the mark when i say that all the armies that ever marched and all the navies that were ever built and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of us upon the earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life so as we give today our tides and our offerings church family as we remember what christ has done for us let us remember how much this one solitary life has affected all of us and our families and our communities the deacons will come forward for to collect the tides and offerings and nevin and nahum will present music special music just [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Music] to [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] yes let us bow our heads our gracious heavenly father lord we thank you for all your blessings we submit to you now a portion of that which you have given us so we may forward your work use this for your purpose and your for your will that we may all one day all praise your name in jesus name we pray amen so sheila john will give the children story and the children can come up [Music] do do so so so do [Music] okay good morning boys and girls how are you all today you all look so so nice and i didn't expect this many children this morning i said oh i might tell the story to the older people here but i'm so happy to see all of you welcome and happy sabbath and also to the ones who are listening online from your homes welcome too okay um today's story is taken from jonah chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. you may have heard the story of jonah before but let's see what we can get out of it and learn from it today okay and i have these three verses here and who would like to read that for me chloe okay the lord spoke his word to jonah son of a mata get up go to the great city of neneve and preach against it i see the evil things they do but jonah got up to run away from the lord he went to the city of joppa there he found a ship that was going to the city of tarshish jonah paid for the trip and went aboard he wanted to go to tarshish to run away from the lord jonah chapter 1 verse 1-3 thank you chloe okay so we heard the scripture that was read and i think i'll read it just one more time it says here the lord spoke his word to jonah son of amitai get up go to the great city of nineveh and preach against it i see the evil things they do but jonah got up to run away from the lord he went to the city of joppa there he found a ship that was going to the city of tarshish jonah paid for the trip and went aboard he wanted to go to tashish to run away from the lord so what's going on here in this verses that we read anyone what's going on the bible says that jonah wanted to run away let's see what let's see what we can find out from this story okay and let's uh pretend let's pretend that nineveh is that way so that's where god wanted jonah to go but do you know where he went he went that way okay jonah didn't want to do what god asked him to do so he ran away what do you think of that was that good no so ronnie it's not good to run away boys and girls but sometimes we feel like doing it have you ever thought about running away and when anyone no you all are good children i'm sure yeah so um it's not good okay so what do you think happened to jonah when he rattled ran away who can tell me what happened to jonah when he ran away yes chloe he might have gotten in trouble yes he got into trouble and uh what happened jonah was swallowed by a big fish wasn't he yes what should he have done instead did he had to listen right and do what god told him he could have talked to god and asked him you know talk to him about the way he felt he could have told god i don't think this is a good idea why do i have to do this why is this so important then god would have explained to him why it was important for jonah to go to nineveh boys and girls it's always important for us to listen to our parents and teachers too and have you ever been asked to do something and you didn't do it what happened anyone did your mommy and daddy ask you to do anything no yeah vacuum vacuum and did you do it yeah you're a good boy anybody else what did jonathan do you listen to your mommy and daddy yeah yeah very good yes yes chloe yes yeah you all did everything what they said right so y'all are good boys and girls so boys and girls let's not do what jonah did let's listen to and do what we are told and when we're not sure what we are supposed to do let's ask okay and who would like to pray for me yes who would like to pray would you like to pray no pritika anybody dear jesus uh thank you for the sabbath and please help us to have a good sabbath and uh and please help us to do the good things in life and not run away like how jonah did and please help us to listen in a boy to everything that our parents say or anyone says and jesus sent me for amen thank you chloe thank you boys and girls you may go back now [Music] [Music] hello my name is nahum and i'm going to be singing a mouth bull by aaron bruce [Music] thank you for the invitation i'm sorry that i kept the sun reflects your warming kisses the stream shouts your forgiveness flowing to me a little on me i just want to tell you that i'm grateful [Music] that you trust my friends [Music] though i see my viewers as so beautiful god you inspire me to write a mouthful just like sitting by a creek is never quiet your voice in me is never silent don't leave don't ever leave fishing spiders squeaking octo rocking the streams crawfish into crevices and living the dream it was all created for me i just want to tell you that i'm grateful that you trust my frail soul makes me hopeful though i see my viewers as so [Music] beautiful god you inspire me to write a mouthful [Music] and when i sing my song to you i'm humbled just knowing your perfection makes me want to mumble quietly though i see my viewers as so pitiful god you inspire me to write a mouthful i want to linger within your love that seems all that i've been dreaming of i'll do my best to show the world what i so know come they'll come into your presence so i just want to tell you that i'm grateful that you trust my frail soul makes me hopeful though i see my viewers as so beautiful god you inspire me to write a mouthful and when i sing my song to you i'm humbled whoa perfection makes me want to mumble quietly though i see my viewers as so beautiful god you inspire me to write you inspire me to ride you inspire me to write a mouthful [Music] amen and amen thank you so much nehum and nevin for blessing with the songs with the miser song and the english song i just want to tell you how i'm grateful to you for praying for me certainly god is interested in welfare thank you so much for blessing us and may the lord richly bless you as you continue to use your talents for god's glory i'd like to join hands with our pastoral team and also the elders of the remnant church to welcome all of you for our divine hour we're so happy that you have chosen to be part of our worship experience not in the ones within the four wars of this sanctuary but the ones who have joined us from different parts of the world we want to thank you for being the extended fan with the remnant church may the lord richly bless you and it's my prayer that as we sit at his feet as we worship him that god becomes very real to us we do have a few names that i have here who have come to join with us here we are happy to have again nukes and denise ted and frank and we are happy to have dawn and ryan and dylan and andrew mr mr samson fascist we are happy to have you here and also happy to have ted and frank and raj and happy and happy we are so happy you are all a grown big and uh praise god for that we are truly happy that you have come to worship with us today may the lord shall richly bless you and of course sergeant and preethia know me close by and we want to thank you for traveling that far to be part of our worship experience mr lord richly bless you along with your children and your ministry i also have quite a few names here that has been given to me maheret from ethiopia dow taylor from canada sonny jack from saint vincent went to the swan from the island of turks ivan hernandez from philadelphia phillip holder from barbados jonas kumar from mumbai india georgia and a charles from martin karen roberts from florida nanette joyce from florida maurice madhu from puna india smithi madhu from india again maiden reynolds from greenfield massachusetts grace lafferty from loma linda california pradeep suranjan from bangalore rita from puna then we have daisy fancy from the philippines rajeshwari singh from houston texas charlotte mcneil from cape town south africa pannama ray warpu from alberta canada raphael suleiman from philadelphia prabhu verges from manchester united kingdom ponzi from nairobi victoria miller dv patrickson vara prasad giddy wilma patterson jenny pooh and ashley mcdonald josephine extene and marion reynolds certainly we are privileged to have you methodologically bless you and i trust that the ministry that is rendered from this place has proved to be a blessing to you in the past prove to your blessing right now and it's my prayer that it will prove to be a blessing the days to come till the lord returns we do have a wonderful flower arrangement here the first set of flowers is given to us by sam and sheila and rachel beckham to thank god for enabling rebecca to celebrate another birthday in her life rebecca we want to thank god for your ministry and for the talent that you're using and the way you're growing up it has been a blessing to us to watch you grow up and mergely bless you as you specially enter into the college days now may goodness and mercy flow into your life and continue to serve god in the days to come likewise we have the other set of flowers given to us by gift and sharing and smyrna uh to thank god for manna to celebrate the second birthday am i right jacob all right three years i'm making a one year anger she's three years old thank god for manna and the blessing that she is to you and to the parents and to the grandparents and to us as a church family we are truly blessed and may she grow in god's grace and may god give you both the needed wisdom to bring it up in the fear of god the third set of flowers is given to us by to thank god for the blessing sunshine we're celebrating the second birth that's where i got a little confused he is celebrating the second birthday he is the son of praveen and sonica and it's given by joshua and rachel and the grandparents edson and mary may the lord richly bless you join as you grow may you grow in your may you grow in god's grace and may god's mercy rest upon you every day of your life for a few weeks you did notice a few weeks ago about the church being on the 5th of september but then for the last few weeks you have not seen this in the bulletin for the simple reason that we had to cancel it because of the covet 19. so please don't go there to look for the remnant church family you will not find anybody there so we will try to have it some other time but unfortunately this has really jeopardized every planning that we had done so kindly keep that in mind there will be no church picnic tomorrow i just have one request because i got a little input from the text message that i received as the service was going on here and also from people who met me please may plead with you avoid meeting in the lobby and having a good wholesome conversation because it is a disturbance to the people who are sitting inside the sanctuary to listen to what is being said whether it is a song or a prayer or a meditation so i'm going to request avoid as much as you really urgently have to say something that could that cannot be delayed i would request you to just step out into the next section of the lobby where you can talk so it will not be disturbing so please keep in mind we're coming here to worship god and so minimize gathering in the lobby and now don't blame me as the pastor i have to be around there but i try to i will also work on that i will also try to minimize the talking and if anyone is trying to engage in a conversation i say can we talk about a little later so i will also work with you on that all of us rule applies to me also equally it begins with me i want you to know that so it's not only for you it's for me so that we will come here and richly blessed as a result of worshiping god and we appreciate your cooperation in this it is always true god loves you happy sabbath church the scripture reading this morning is taken from the book of exodus chapter 15 verse 11 and 13. i'm reading from kings james version the word of god reads who is like unto thee who god among the gods who is like the glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders verse 13 thou in thy mercy had led forth the people which thou hast redeemed thou has guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation may the lord have blessings to scripture just [Music] so [Music] oh [Music] before i read god's word the summer is almost over in fact it's almost over in the sense in terms of the weather that you are experiencing this morning that means the school area started for our children in kindergarten in elementary school in middle school in high school and college and even the universities and so we like to keep our young people in our prayer especially not only with the kobe 19 with all the restrictions many of them going back in person but also in a very purposed world that we are living in anything can happen it can be shooting or anything else so we would like god's protection to be our own people and also give the need of wisdom and knowledge that they would not only do well in the studies but also make the right decisions in life so i'm going to request all of us to just bow our heads as i offer a special prayer for our young people father of love and tender mercies we want to thank you lord for the gift of life for the gift of families for the gift of children for your word says children are the heritage of the lord and so we as parents we are privileged to have children and we want to thank you lord that in your own mysterious way that you enabled our young people to get back to school and more so in person with all the apprehensions with all the anxiety that might be there i plead with you that you would abide with every one of four children that you give the needed wisdom need an understanding to do well in their studies may they realize as your word says the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom you are the source of knowledge you are the source of wisdom so before they can study science or math or history or whatever it is may they seek you and say lord give us the wisdom so that i will do well i also pray lord that your holy angels will be around them so they'll be kept away from any kind of a danger for any kind of an unpleasant experience for any kind of a tragedy for any kind of a sickness and so that they will be safe and they'll come home safe and rejoice with that with their parents and so please bless each one of our children our young people as they get back to school in this new school year may this new school day be a wonderful joyful experience for them more than anything else but they realize that you are their god and that you care about them this is our prayer in jesus name amen the word of god reads as was shared with us with by gigi i'm going to read exodus 15 and i'm reading verse 11. who is like unto thee o lord among the gods who is like thee glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders merciful father in heaven as we sit at your feet for a few more moments as we open your word and as we meditate upon it we want you to take control of ourselves please maybe fix our eyes upon you and allow you to speak to us through your word breathe your spirit upon the message that has been prepared that it might be made into your season make our bless worship your blessing is my prayer in jesus name amen imagine a stranger walks through the door while the church is in session and he turns to you and says hi everybody i was impressed by god to come and see you today i have a very special message for you and then he comes right into the front looks into our eyes look into every one of the pews and says i hate your worship service i despise all that you do your prayers your offering your singing your music and you've got to start doing what is right otherwise the destruction is right at the door that was the burden that was placed upon amos when god called him out after all he was only an ordinary farmer from the little town of taker just like a small little town in virginia down south in alabama or mississippi whatever it is god picked him up and told me i have a special message that you got to give to the northern kingdom of israel and that is what we have been looking for the last few days and a few weeks and many a times let's face it in our culture when you hear the word prophet what comes to our mind is we tend to think of him someone who has someone like having a crystal ball knowing the future but that is not what is portrayed in god's holy word a prophet is one who is supposed to speak what god asked him to speak a prophet is someone who is supposed to rebuke us who is supposed to point out sin point our force point our transgressions he is also a person who is supposed to convey to us remind us again and again that god does really really love us and most of all it is the work of the prophet as a messenger of god to lead us to repentance call for repentance no wonder when you turn the holy word in the old testament as well in the new testament you see prophets of old patriarchs of old calling people for repentance why whether you look into the life of noah as he preached 120 years or whether you look into elijah and mount carmel or you look into the life of isaiah the prophet or jeremiah the prophet or amos or you look into hozier or even to malachi and then you come to the new testament whether you talk about john the baptist or apostle peter or apostle paul every one of them called people to repent in fact the theme of elijah the theme of malachi the theme of john the baptist even the theme of peter on the day of pentecost repent and be what be baptized that was the call of the prophet that was the burden that was laid upon their shoulders the last time we looked into the book of amos that we looked into the the last few versus in chapter 4 and we saw god pointing out creep besetting sin that stopped the children of israel that can stop us from preparing ourselves to meet god the sin of materialism or luxury the sin of hypocrisy trying to pretend what you are not and the sin of willful stubbornness of wanting to do your own thing and not willing to follow god's will come with me as we pray fully meditate on amos chapter 5 we'll cover the first 15 verses today and let me submit to you for all consideration for our meditation three important specific cause that god is making in this passage of scripture what is the purpose of it three these three specific cause are made so that it can lead us to repentance which is very extremely important and that is why entitled our message seeking god of urgent need are the greatest need of today can you turn your bibles to the very first verse of amos chapter 5. if you can have it on the screen join with me as we read that amos chapter 5 and verse 1. while they're getting ready here it says here hear hear this word which i have taken against you even a lamentation or house of israel i trust that people at the back are able to catch up with me on this it's important it's coming up okay thank you thank you all right here is what it the words of amos who was among the husbands and i just want to you look show me verse one verse one i want verse five anyway hold on to it just leave it like that i already went through the first verse so here in verse one of chapter five you find that prophet amos is saying hear he this word which which i've taken up against you even a lamentation or house of israel i want you to pause here and see the significance of this words because if you notice very carefully if you go back and even read other chapters you have the same phrase being used by prophet amos in chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter four chapter seven and even chapter eight and of course chapter five that we talked about and the series they put up here look at the first words that we looked in here chapter one verse one the words of amos when we meditated upon this verse we saw that it is not something that originated in the mind of amos he came from the mind of god god told him to speak and amos is speaking and so in reality it is god's word the word of god then if you come to chapter 2 verse 1 again very first verse of the next chapter he says thus saith the lord not what most amos is saying but what god is saying likewise if you come to chapter 3 he says hear this word that the lord has spoken then if you come to chapter 4 verse 1 if you cannot catch it with you that's fine if chapter 4 verse 1 it says thus saith the lord hear this the king of bashan then chapter 7 verse 1 it says thus saith the lord chapter 8 verse 1 again you find the prophet amos begins by saying that saith the lord and so the question we beg to ask is this why is that prophet amos almost in every chapter it begins with the same phrase thus saith the lord or this is what the lord has spoken it is a call for attention it is a call to pay attention it is a call to take heed it is a call to grasp our attention and not ignore not walk away not turn away because this is something important if the lord is telling me something that means it is extremely important and so you find that this significance is important now here is my question to you why is it important here is the crux of the matter daily beloved here's the truth the way we treat god's messenger is the way we treat god's message the way we treat god's message is the way we treat god because god is the source he is the one who chose the messenger he is the one who gave the message and so since we cannot see god if i am rejecting or hating the messenger i am also hating the message that he is giving me and because i hate the message that he is giving me in turn i am hating god who is the source of that message and that is why in john chapter 15 verse 18 jesus himself said if the world hates you he know that they hate it before they hated you so it is not a pleasant experience for a prophet to share the worst message of god and it is never pleasant even today for a preacher to talk about something that we are not comfortable with because the work of the pastor whatever the topic taking for example the passage that i have for our meditation here it is there is nothing that i can sugarcoat i got to say what it is and it applies to me i want you to know that at all times because i do spend a lot of time going over this not only preparing but making sure that i am able to share with you god's news and as such all of us need to i realize this the crux of the message is this that if i hate the messenger i hate the message if i had the message that i hate god and that is something that you got to wake up and ask a question am i doing that in my relationship with god and so here in verse 1 of chapter 5 you find that amos is weeping he's mailing he's crying he's lamenting and that's what the last part of the world what does he say even a lamentation because is lamenting over the northern kingdom of israel for their sins for their transgressions and for the hypocrisy but at the same time prophet amos realizes that our god is a gracious loving forgiving god and as such he please with them seek the gracious god that is the first important specific call that i find here in verse 1. god is playing playing with us he's pleading with us that we got to seek this god who is gracious who is loving who is kind because he is interested in your salvation he's interested in my salvation and that is what the lord says here through prophet amos don't turn your back on me but come to me seek after me in yesterday bible commentary volume 4 page 969 you find out right when the scholars have this wonderful comment on this verse in this he talking about amos reflected the spirit of christ and then he says yeah who is so gracious follow me very carefully that he not only shows our sense but he sorrows when he must punish us for them do you see the graciousness of god do you see a little picture of a of a human father a human mother because we as parents when they are small we have punished them for discipline them and the purpose of the discipline it's not to destroy them but to refine them to make them better children so that they would be in tune with your will and also in tune with god's word that's exactly how our god in heavenly heavenly place are both he's not only a god who shows exposes our sins he doesn't stop there but his pain is hurt when we he has to punish us for the sense that we're committed in fact ellen white has beautifully portrayed this in prophecy and king's page 283 if you can have that on the screen the transgressor had many opportunities to repent again she's talking about repentance the transgressors had many opportunities to repent in their hour of deepest apostasy and greatest need god's message to them was one of what forgiveness and hope now that should say hallelujah in our hearts and in our mouth because god even when we are in sin in the deepest part of our sinful life god is so gracious that his message to you and me is not one of condemnation not a one of destroying but one of forgiveness and hope what a gracious god that we have and that is why the first call is that seek this gracious god now seeking let me pause here and say this seeking god means to listen attentively to what the lord has to say to us and also not only listen attentively but obey him very carefully very truthfully very diligently very earnestly what he says in his word because keep in mind god's word is what is found in this book that is the reason we call it god's holy word yes 40 different people wrote the 66 books but they wrote what god asked them to write and that is why there is uniformity in his message right from the book of genesis to the book of revelation they don't contradict one another because to all 40 of them the main source is the same god is the source god is the one who told moses to write god is the one who told samuel to write god is the one who told david to write what to write god is the one who told matthew or mark or luke a john or apostle paul as such there is a common thread and the common thread is the same god is speaking to us now here is what we need to also emphasize even the ones who are here who are joining us on live broadca broadcast even if you're not an adventist here is a special message that i want to share with you listening to god's word is not just part of the bible but the whole bible god's command is not just part of the commandments but all time in fact in the last days the test of loyalty to god is not based on how much you know but are you keeping the commandments of god including the fourth commandment sabbath is a test of loyalty that every one of us will have to go through daily beloved and so may i plead with you it is not what the preacher preaches is not what somebody else teaches but it is what the bible says that we got to keep and keep all commandments including the seventh day as the sabbath that is what is demanded of us it is a requirement that god and that is what is called as a commandment it is not something that you can choose pick and choose and say okay i'm going to obey the first five or the last three no we got to obey all why here is the truth this word of god is infallible this word of god is timeless amos lived thousands of years ago but i want to assure you on the authority of god's word that his writings is very timely to us in the year 2021 it is also transforming it changes people's lives people have tried to destroy god's word many times in the past you turn the pages of history you'll find that but they are dead and gone but the word of god stands to and that is why the word of god says the flower withered grasp the flower fadeth the grass withered but the word of god what's what does it say stands forever that is the valuable thing that you want to have god has given to us so what do we do we got to listen we got to obey that is what it means to seek the lord seek this gracious god which is important in fact god's graciousness is demonstrated it is shown through his forgiveness he not only blots our sins but he blows our evil thoughts he will blot our wicked words he will blot of disobedient actions and treat them as though they never even existed in fact the bible says and he will remember them how long no more that is the graciousness of god that is the goodness of god that is the merciful nature of god and as such we got to see that is the first important cause specifically the lord is making here in the book of amos he says seek this gracious god who cares about you and and is merciful that he wants to define you you want to transform you and make you new new creature in the lord jesus christ no wonder king solomon answered king david writes in psalms 103 was eight a very familiar passage the lord is what merciful and gracious slow to anger and plenteous in mercy then we read in psalms 130 verses three and four a very beautiful passage brings a source of comfort to us that as we tread along in a sin-sick world that we have a god who understands us a god who is willing to give us the part to live about sin and live a victorious life what does he say he says if thou lord should have marked inequities who oh lord who shall stand in other words if god were to treat us for the sins that were committed none of us would be alive who shall stand he asked the question but then he says but with thee there is what forgiveness so that thy name may be what can be feared the word fear means not to tremble not to be afraid but to show reverence to show love to show devotion to god so he is forgiving us so that we will have greater respect greater devotion greater obedience to god almighty and that brings to the second important specific call can you turn your bibles to amos chapter 5 and we'll read verse 4 together amos chapter 5 and verse 40 the second call and the word of god reads here join me for thus saith the in lord 1 we saw the first specific call for repentance he says seek this gracious god seeking means to listen to him to obey his command to listen to his word that is what it means to seek now here and why because he is waiting with open arms just like the story of the prodigal son all through the time the prodigal son was wasting away the earned money that his father had worked hard for squandered away the money and wasted his life here is the father with open arms waiting for his son to come back that is the picture of god that we are the lost prodigal children and the lord with open arms and that's why i read in revelation chapter 3 verse 20. join with me a very familiar passage what is he saying behold i stand at the door and not if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come into him and suck within him that is the invitation the lord gives to us that is the reason why we got to seek and live and here in verse 4 he is giving a very specific reason why you've got to seek the lord and say seek me why that he may live now here is an important point that i want you to keep in mind when you look into this verse i want you to consider the three different applications or three different dimensions that we can find if we can have verse one there again back one verse one of verse four i'm sorry it was chapter five there are three applications that we got to look into understand comprehend number one is the local application the local dimension of this verse the lord says seeking me that he may leave why he's saying oh also if israel the northern kingdom of israel you are larger in number compared to the kingdom of judah which has got only two tribes you are made up of ten tribes greater in number greater than army but here is what's going to happen if you don't seek me if you don't turn around and come back to me if you don't stop worshiping the veil god and start worshiping yahweh destruction is at the door you are going to be plundered murdered slain taken as captive by the serious that is the the historical application of this verse and that's why it says dust of the lord lord under the house of israel seeking me that he may live that he should leave hear me out when the children of israel refused to seek the law in spite of amos and jose and isaiah pleading with them when the children when the assyrians came they showed no mercy upon the children of israel look at verse 2 for that matter was too if you can have that it says the virgin of israel has fallen that is what it says here here the lord is speaking to the children of israel and although you have been unfaithful to me to yahweh and you're gone after other gods including the golden calf because i've tenderly taken care of you brought you out of the land of egypt led you through the wilderness of 40 years and allowed you to conquer the city of the land of canaan destroying all the enemies that were they talk about the canonized or the jebusites of the amalekites and all of them and gave me this land flowing with milk and honey and in spite of your rebellion i have been by your side because i chose you you did not choose me i'm your god and you are my children and so he says although you have been unfaithful to me i still look upon you as a virgin undefiled but then look at the last part of verse 2 he says there is none that can raise her up meaning here is the historical fulfillment of what happened to the children of israel the northern kingdom there is that as they pointed out the syrian empire the soldiers came and they took people as captive and also slain thousands of the people of the northern kingdom of israel our adventist scholars in anders university bible commentary page 1092 commenting on this verse they say this the prophet announced if you can have that quote on that the prophet announced that the northern kingdom would not rise again what a faithful fulfillment of what god had warned them it's not they were defeated for some time and they came back this was the end of the northern kingdom of israel started so gloriously with jeroboam as the first king but then here's what it is because they refused to seek the lord refused to obey the lord the lord wiped away the northern kingdom of israel that's why they said and they would never rise again and look at the next part of the verse not only they would never rise again but if you if you can have the worst prior to this i'll come to this after 657 great controversy never rise again but what really happened also was this that which is called as comment taking into account the historical setting 90 of the people were either taken as captives or they were slain that means only 10 percent survived the decimation of the cities and towns only 10 percent and that is when verses 4 to 6 there is a vindication of the destruction that was coming upon the children of israel and so the lord says i know what is going to going to happen because i know the end from the beginning i know the past i know the present i know the future please hear me out seek me come back to me return unto me and i will return unto you let us build up a relationship start obeying me so that i can prevent the syrians from coming and god would god could have done it if they had fulfilled the requirement because they refused to seek the lord the destruction was sure uncertain only 10 percent was paid 90 percent of the people were destroyed during this time here is the practical application that i need to make and that is where i come to what i call the eschatological dimension of the application not only it had historical dimensional application what happened to the people of amos time then but to us now living now in the last days eschatology is nothing but the last day events just as god had told the children of israel then to seek the lord the lord is pleading with us today that we must seek the lord day in and day out it calls for a daily commitment a consistent walk with the lord not only on the sabbath day not just during the morning hours or evening hours 24 7 we got to make a total commitment to god and say lord i want to begin the day with you i want to spend the day with you and i want to end the day with you and i want you to be my my side so that i can live a victorious christian life and that is what it means to seek the lord at all times and so here it says here that it not only caused them the virgin of israel has fallen but he says no one can raise it up but then it was five it says here in as we already saw as four as we saw that that you seek me that he might live and the eschatological aspect of it as i pointed out is that as people who refused to seek the lord then got destroyed ninety percent of them at the end of time on the day of judgment anyone was refused to heed to the call of god anyone who has refused to seek the lord diligently will suddenly meet the same fate satan the evil angels and all those who refuse to seek the lord the destruction is sure it is certain and it is complete yesterday i was having a bible study with diamond and yes we are going through the resurrection topic as i went through what happened what will happen at the second coming of christ and what will happen to the third coming of christ when he comes back with the new jerusalem after the millennium she asked me a question what is the difference between the second death and the third death i'm sorry the first death and the second death now all of us if the lord would delay his coming have to go through the first death if you're what you're born you're sure to die that is the first death but that is not the final but the second death in one's life is only reserved for those who refuse to seek the lord those who refuse to follow god's command and that is final when the fire from heaven is going to come satan and the evil angels and everyone who have disobeyed god will be destroyed and they'll be burnt to ashes and upon the ashes right on this earth daily beloved the lord is going to set up a new heaven and a new earth that is the truth of the matter that is what the word of god says to us hell is not somewhere underneath the ground this place of this planet earth itself will be the hell and as on the ashes upon on the ashes of that has been found god will establish a new heaven and a new earth where god will dealt well with us forever and ever and that is why now we will come back to the that the quote that ellen white had in great controversy page 657 if you can have that for us now here at the coming of christ the wicked will be blotted out from the face of the whole earth when at the coming of christ the wicked will be blotted out from the face of the earth consumed by the spirit of his mouth destroyed by the brightness of his glory because revelation gives a depiction of that when christ comes a second time people who are not ready to meet him what are they going to say they're going to turn to the rocks from the mountains and say please fall upon us because they cannot stand the glory the brightness of god's glory that's what awaits the people who refuse to seek god and so the appeal come to us today seek this gracious god who wants the very best for you that is nothing but eternity number two in verse four he says seek the god that he might live live here right now live abundantly in the lord jesus christ because jesus said i have come that they might leave and leave how in a abundantly and then it says to enjoy eternity in the world to come that is god's desire for us and so we are asked to seek the lord so that we might leave now let me pause here i had been to scholars in of the andrews university bible commentary page 10 1092 they say this to seek the lord is implies repenting turning around or returning to god and trusting in his salvation and in his providence instead of self-sufficiency human power and religious system let me pause here and draw a very important parallel between worshiping god yahweh jehovah and worshipping idols have you given any serious thought as to how did these idols come into being whether you talk about baal or you talk about ashraf you talk about the golden calf or you talk about ganapati or shiva the different gods that people worship have you given a serious thought to it in a sense these idols represent human substitution for god's plan it is a byproduct of human wisdom is a byproduct of human manipulation is a byproduct of human intellect i'm going to come up with my own god i'm going to design how he is going to look well how long the nose is going to be or whatever it is and then i'm going to make that god that i've created in my imagination in my wisdom and in my self-sufficiency that i'm going to come up and i'm going to worship this god that cannot speak that cannot hear that cannot answer and expect that to be my god that is what idolatry is all about daily beloved but on the other hand look at the the wonderful thing that god has revealed to us he says i'm the one who created you as i read from exodus chapter 15 verse 11. he said there is no god like me there is no god beside me he is the only true god who created you in his image and so you are precious in the sight of god the idol that anyone worships that idol never made him in fact he made that idol and worshipping that eyelash god and that is where god knowing the danger how man might go down that route give that commandment thou shalt not make unto the what any graven image that shall have no other god before me nor do you make any graven image because when you make engraving image you are substituting someone for god who am i finite sinful limited human being that i am born today live for a period of time and die tomorrow who am i to come up with someone else that would be equal with the god that made me the god who has sustained me the god who has redeemed me there is no match whatsoever daily beloved there is no raising reasoning there is no logic behind it that is why the queen come to us seek me lord says that he might leave if you read if you have 2nd thessalonians chapter 1 was 18 the same thought that erin white emphasized the word of god emphasis with greater force as to what will happen to the ones who refuse to seek the lord at the end of time if you can have that follow me here carefully read with me in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that no not god anymore in 35 god is going to take vengeance upon those who know not god who do not know him so you cannot say oh i worship this and this and this god no god says you're supposed to worship me and so if you don't know me the vengeance of fire is going the flaming fight is going deep and number two and those what did you say that did not obey what the gospel of our lord jesus christ what more explicit way can the lord reveal what we are supposed to do in the last days daily beloved we are asked to worship god and god alone and nothing else now you might reason in your mind well i don't worship any idols but anything in your life that takes priority over god whether it is your job or your house or whatever it is that becomes our idol and we got to god against it and the same thing i find in second theme peter chapter 3 verse 7 where apostle peter talks about it but the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word be kept in store what does it say reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and also it says and perdition of the ungodly man that is what ways for people who refuse to seek the lord and so the lord says seek me and jeremiah puts it very beautifully in jeremiah chapter 29 verse 13. he shall seek me and find me when you shall search with me how with all your heart and so we've got to seek the lord by opening our heart our mind our desires our passion our aspirations our thoughts everything opening up to god because god knows it all he's an all-knowing god he is our only help he's a good god who's always interested in saving you and me and that brings me to my last call that i find here in this passage of scripture and the third call is seek to do good and not able you find that in verse 14 if you can have that on the screen amos chapter 5 verse 14 and the word of god reads join with me say good and not evil that email [Music] do what is right run away from evil just like what joseph did in potiphar's home and then he says then the lord god of heaven's armies will be your help as you are claimed when can god be a rescue when can be your helper when can be a refuge when can he be your protection and your fortress when we seek him and when you seek him here is here is the connection that i want to bring in why does the lord say here the third specifically seek good or not evil when we are in tune with god daily beloved there is no way i can indulge in evil thanks evil actions of mine evil thoughts of mine evil designs of mine is because the absence of god in my life as god as long as god is in my heart there is nothing evil that i can think about you because both cannot go hand in hand and so the lord says because you're seeking me you are going to do good and another reason why god asked him ask them to seek good and not evil is because at that time and even today you find that the children of israel and the world today are doing evil and not good that's why apostle paul put it in a very nice way what did he say what i must do i don't do what i must not do i do that is the predicament of human nature but then we can overcome that human nature when when we depend upon god when we seek him he will certainly lift us up from this human nature give us that divine grace that we will be able to live a victorious christian life and that's the reason why the lord says seek good and not evil now let me share with you again a quote from the adventist scholars in yesterday bible nadia bible com at anderson university bible commentary page 1092. and if you can have that here seeking the law depends i've already quoted this repenting means returning to god and trusting in his salvation and in his providence and not in self-sufficiency sufficiency not in human power on religious system when i'm having an idol in my life that means i'm creating a religious system and going by what i think is good for me instead of god deciding for me i'm trying to decide myself when i cannot save myself that's a tragedy of human calculation that is the tragedy of human wisdom and that we got to stop and seek the lord diligently so that he will do what is right for us having said that you find here starting with if you can have those verses one by one if you can have the lord through amos is pointing out specific sense or transgression of the children of israel they were indulging in and said eye opener to us as we come to the last part of this sermon here look at the first part of the verse he who turned judgment to what wormwood now if you read carefully at the commentary and all the historical setting for this time vermouth is a very special kind of a plant that grows in that part of the world and is extremely bitter in taste i was telling talking to myself as well it may be more bitter than the bitter gourd that we as indians are exposed to karela another word for it giving as a depiction of the moral corruption that existed in the time during the time of amos in the among the children of israel it was bitter to god to see them living in mortal corruption and then the last part of the world says here and live off righteousness in the earth and what it really means is this that they completely discarded right doing because righteousness is nothing but right doing so then not only that they their judgment was like wormhood in the sense they were moral degradation was there but then then they leave off what they live of righteousness right doing to the earth in other words they completely trampled down right doing they did not care for it they indulged in evil actions they not only hated the messenger but they also hated the message now if you and that's what you find here now if you can have verse 10 look at the first part of verse 10 if you can have that they hate him that repuget rebuketh in the gate now by the way in the eastern culture including india for that matter and i'm sure even in africa and other places it might be quite similar in the olden times the city gate was the center of attraction in any little town that is where all the businesses took place it is a syndicate that all the disputes was settled it was like court system it was at the city gate they also shared important information and so when you wanted to hear something important when you wanted to share i'm sure amos went to the city gate that is almost like the circle those of you who have gone through the campus were studied at spicer college i know about those of you came after us our days one other thing that we as saying people had to guard against was either past eriksen or pastor amitam looking out of congregating around the circle right in front of the ad building sitting there and trying to have conversation and then make comments as people pass by faculty hated that because that is not what but to us as young people that was the best place that we could congregate and have a good wholesome or sometimes whatever it is then go about talking such was the case in olden time the city gate the main that was the center of attraction not in their homes not on the sidewalks but that is where it is and there it says what people who came there and spoke the truth what was the result they rebuked them because they hated them and look at the next part of the verse and they abort them that speaketh uprightly that means anyone who spoke the truth who spoke the fact they were abort them that means they despised them that was in other words they didn't want to listen to the truth they didn't want their sins to be exposed they didn't want to be corrected they wanted to live in sin and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season now look at verse 11 if you can come to that now verse 11 if you can put up on that it says not only did they hate but you say for as much therefore as your treading is upon whom upon the poor i'm going to summarize it later on and and bring you the emphasis of what the lord is telling us through prophet amos here what we find is that the rich and the famous and the powerful they exploited the poor to satisfy their selfish greed that is what they did that thrashed down that did not have any kind of concern or any kind of interest for the poor they just exploited them in fact look at the next part of the verse not only they were treading upon the poor then he says and you take from him the burdens of wheat historically if you read very carefully even in the comment it says here they even went after the little harvest that they raped who the poor they took it from them he said and so they were left to starvation that was the sense that these people were committing now come to verse 12 we have got three other scenes that he's talked about if you can have verse 12 on there they are afflicted the just anyone who did what was right anyone who was trying to be fed anyone who treated both the rich and the poor the same they were afflicted they were persecuted next part of it says yet and they take pride it was an open sin without any shame without feeling any kind of a guilt other day i was talking to one of the person they said pastor i know in india there's a lot of corruption any level inside the church outside the church if you wanted the government circles if you want to get anything done for the paper to move from one table to another table you've got to give under the table but then he also said this and my mind began to work a little more curiously on it as a pastor it is done here also but it is done here in a very dignified way in a very dignified way they use the word law being and you hire attorneys pay through your nose and they do all kinds of things and get the favor from the congressmen or from the senators that is human nature selfish human nature again greediness selfishness and that's what they did they were doing this they were taking bribes and lastly it says here they turn aside from the poor in other words they didn't want to pay attention they didn't want to have any anything to do with them they just walked away as they don't even exist here is the truth that i want to try home having mentioned nine different sins starting with verse seven verse ten was eleven was twelve i wanted to notice something here out of nine specific sin that amos is pointing out about the northern kingdom of israel which is also prevalent today five of them have to do with social justice five of them have to do with dealing with the poor with the needy with the orphans with the widows and that is what we find here not only are we concerned about the sins but even the way we deal with them let me pause here god's message is timeless i want to emphasize that as on the premise that what god said to amos is also applicable to us we cannot say well god wrote your then it's for for them no then you don't need the bible at all daily below it we need it today because it has relevancy to us today in year 2021 and let me share my my my reasoning with you on this not reasoning what is relevant what is the truth of the matter all around the world you talk about the christian church here in america the evangelical world like the southern baptist which is the largest denomination i'm not saying that we as adventists are pure no we have our own challenges and some of us are guilty of this that's the reason i thought i must share this burden with you in the forefront of the moral values that these churches talk about you they talk about homosexuality certainly it is against god's plan they talk about abortion which is is the top news now in what has happened in texas with the new law that is passed you talk about the sanctity of life before the child is born while the child is still in the mother's womb we got to preserve life certainly because that is god-given life but the tragedy to all my friends that the rest of the issues of moral value when you talk about economical justice whether you talk about social justice of racial justice it is put in the back burn back bench no one wants to talk about it you are concerned about a child that is not even born but once a child is born you don't care how the child is going to go about in life because your own interest in let me take care of myself oh this is a capitalist country everybody has to work suddenly everyone has to work work hard and i'm we should never depend upon the government for no question about we as immigrants we don't even do that we even if i do two three jobs we do it to make sure that we have food on the table but then look into the bible daily delivered time and time again read isaiah chapter 58 talking about true fasting and prayer the emphasis is on what caring for the poor caring for the needy caring for the orphans that is also part of christian responsibility and let us not walk away from it that is why calling out the sins of the children of israel during amos time out of five nine cents five sins has to do with how they treated the poor the needy and the orphans and the widows so the question that means to ask ourselves is we as a church we as individuals are we doing what we can and let me assure you all you've got to do is contribute to one charitable institution and for the coming weeks and months you will have half of your mailbox filled with requests because the need is great and you make the choice you'd use your discernment and see where do you want to contribute but it is important that we care for the needy and the poor it is extremely important please follow what apostle what king david writes in prophet chapter 14 verse 31 if you can have that on the screen a very powerful message he that oppresseth woe the poor reproach at whom is maker he who discards the poor the needy and the offense you are bringing reproach to your maker and look at the next part but he that honoreth him had mercy on the poor and that is why micah the prophet in micah chapter 6 verse 8 what does he say what does the lord require of thee but to do justice to love mercy and to walk humbly before god look at the first part of the verse what does the lord require not what does the lord gives you the option this is what god requires of us he says do just that means you treat fairly regardless who they are whether rich or poor very educated uneducated doesn't matter everybody is saying before god and so treat them justly number two love mercy show kindness be compassionate look out for people who are less fortunate do whatever you can as individuals as families and as a church and then walk humbly before god that is god's requirement for us and so god says say good and not evil so that we can live and live eternally sam rayburn the speaker of the house of representatives was one of those who was a speaker for the longest time in the history of the united united states one day his close friend lost a child accidentally and next morning early in the morning speaker of the house sam rayburn decided that he would get into his car without even giving a call went to his friend's house and knocked at the door the sun was just coming up in the east and so his friend quietly went up to the door and opened the door and there stood his friend the speaker my friend i came to see in what way i can be of help to you and the man said speaker we are making all the arrangements there's nothing that you can do but the speaker was not going to take no for an answer he turned to his son fred have you had coffee this morning and the man said well we have not thought of breakfast because we are grieving over the loss of our child and so with all the liberty that he could command because he's his close friend he walked into through the door went to the kitchen there and started preparing coffee and his friend looking into what this great man was doing a great politician a great leader third in the president in the line of presidency right next to the vice president he said what an act of kindness on the part of the speaker of the house that is what christianity calls for today and that can happen only when you begin to seek the lord when you seek the lord in humility you begin to recognize others better than yourselves that they are also made in the image of god that just like you should be saved there to be they too should be saved in heaven no wonder jesus in this great chapters chapter 24 and 25 of matthew talking about the signs of the last days answering the question he disciples lord when will all this be he sums it up in matthew chapter 25 verse 14. what you have done to the least of this my brethren he have done it unto me serving people daily beloved is serving god and so maybe go out of this house of worship to seek this gracious god to seek him so that we might live and live abundantly here and live eternally in the days to come what love is this that you gave your life for me that you showed me the way you are good enough for me i want to assure you on the authority of god's word god who made you who sustained you who has redeemed you is good enough for you and me to save us in the eternal kingdom what love is this [Music] you never change you are the god you say you were [Music] you stay the same when hope is just a distant thought you take my pain and you lead me to the cross your life for me and made a way for me to know you and i [Music] confess [Music] i see the scars upon your hands that when i can't you [Music] and always here beneath the shadow of the cross i'm overwhelmed that i keep finding open arms what love [Music] made is way for me to know you and i confess you're always enough for me you're all i need jesus [Music] you thought of me [Music] what love is this that you gave your life for me and made a way for me to know you and i confess you're [Music] always need what love is that you gave your life for me [Music] you're always enough for [Music] you're always enough for me [Music] amen yes we must confess that god is enough for us let me leave you with the words of ellen white and minister of healing page 18 by our love and service to the to his needy children we prove the genuineness of a love for him to ignore the poor is to declare that we are false disciples strangers to christ and his love don't be a stranger to god and to his love represent god in every aspect of your life pass out god sang now the bacon area is good enough for us shall we all stand for the benediction i know them lord bless you and keep you may the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you may the lord lift his countess upon you and give you peace this i pray in jesus name and all god's people said amen and amen [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] thanks so much for tuning in with us today this sabbath day pastor sargent john led us in a study and a look into the life of amos we saw that god just as in the time of amos is deeply concerned with communicating with you sometimes god speaks directly to us but more frequently we see that god delivers his messages through other people just like he did through amos for the people of that time speaking of amos and the sda bible commentary we see that it's written in this he reflected the spirit of christ who is so gracious that he not only shows us our sins but sorrows when he must punish us for them speaking of jesus christ who was willing and wanting to show us what he wants to show us and discipline us where needed but also hurts with us because he deeply cares about us god speak to us god speaks to us through the bible not part of it but through its entirety and it is incredibly relevant even today for us to heed and will be forever let us now keep our hearts open and receive that which the lord wishes to tell us whether it be through other people such as through a pastor through a family member a parent a friend or even a stranger whether it be through god's word the holy bible or whether it be directly to you who is still a small voice and pressing on your heart remember for this week that god loves you anything he wishes to communicate with you whether it may feel like criticism made it really feel like constructive may whether it may feel like god why are you trying to tell me this now it's because he loves you and it's for your good it's for my good it's for the quality of your life and the salvation of your soul if you've been blessed by this ministry i would encourage you to please continue to pray for the seventh the remnant seventh-day adventist church pray for our ministry that we can continue to do what we're doing for god's glory and if you feel so impressed we would be glad to accept your financial donations either online or mail directly to the church once again may the lord bless you and keep you may he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you dismissing you with his blessing but never from his presence happy sabbath bye [Music] you

Channel: Remnant SDA Church

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Keywords: Remnant, SDA, Seventh-day, Adventist, Christian, Church, Sabbath, Gospel, worship, Youth, Praise, John, Sujjan, Jacob, Wayd

Id: haMjM9b3fjY

Length: 214min 55sec (12895 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 04 2021