Granite Bay Hilltop SDA Church Live Stream 9/4/2021

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] hello friends and welcome to another edition of the sabbath school study hour my name is pastor sean bruman and i'll be your host today as we continue to study in a very enriching topic it's our last study in uh rest in christ and so i trust for those of you who have been joining us from week to week over the last three months have been enriched by this very important topic and that you will be blessed i know as you have decided to join us over the next hour as we continue to study and worship the lord and so we're in lesson number 13 which is the last lesson of this quarterly and it's entitled the ultimate rest and so if you have your sabbath school quarterlies available make sure that you go and take advantage and grab that right now and of course we're always going to be able to need our bible as we continue to study together and open the word as well our pastor our youth pastor pastor lucas rodor will be our teacher here today uh before we invite our singers out though i'd want to invite everybody to uh that is watching today to take advantage of our free gift offer and so each and every time that we come together for study hour we'd like to give something that will continue to help you in your study of the word now this is one of my favorite reads it's entitled is sunday really sacred a very important question to ask in regards to bible truth and present truth and and prophecy for that matter and so please take advantage of this little booklet it's written by joe cruz it's a free offer number 150 so if you do decide to dial into the number that you can see on the screen it's eight 1-866-788-3900 nine six six and just ask for free offer number 150 and we'll be glad to give that to you if you're in north america uh that is in canada or the u.s for that matter and and also you can get a digital copy of this and uh so if you'd like to download this on your computer or on your phone on your phone you just text the code sh042 and you want to be able to uh dial that to zero five four four and and you can also see a website that's available there on the screen as well if you want to download that on your computer so please take advantage of that we're just so thrilled that you have decided to join us here today we're going to invite some singers out for it right now as they lead us out in worship in song as they prepare our hearts to be able to receive the lord and his word and we're going to invite them out even now please join us in singing this morning number 100 great is thy faithfulness song number 100 in your hymnal [Music] there is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] springtime [Music] mercy and love [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] amen [Music] i want to invite all of us to join me as we ask the lord to be with us in prayer father in heaven we want to thank you for this opportunity to be able to worship you through the study of your word we're thankful that you have given us a book that is writing the messages of the ages that you have given to us through your prophets of old that we might be able to understand the all-important present truth that you have given to us in our generation that these might take root in our minds and our hearts and these truths will truly guide us and lead us in the way and so lord as we open your bible as as pastor lucas leads us in understanding and explaining the different scriptures i want to pray god that you will help us to take it to heart and so we pray for your holy spirit in jesus name we pray these things god amen thank you pastor ridor happy sabbath it's good to see you all and to be here with you um just hearing that beautiful song uh takes me back to when i used to go to church with my my parents as a child and um and that was one of those songs that would always resound with me you know i love that song great is thy faithfulness and that just reminds us that we have a faithful god we worship a faithful god friends uh today is the last the last sabbath of this quarter we have the last lesson here of this quarter and i don't know about you but it hasn't been an extreme blessing to study the subject of rest in christ right just studying and learning more about how we can rest truly rest in god in in ways that transcend even just the sabbath i mean usually when you talk about rest um we our mind jumps straight to sabbath but rest in god it transcends even that it goes beyond just just the hours of the sabbath and if we understand this correctly rest in the bible is uh is our lifestyle it's a lifestyle of resting in god so this lesson has been just a blessing and this week's lesson has been just uh it's just been this deep remembrance and reaffirmation of everything that we've seen so so far um the lesson begins with uh the great controversy the lessons teaching this week it begins with an approach of what has been going on in our world for the last uh few millennia you see friends the entire universe has been immersed in a moral conflict that has affected everyone everyone in the universe the unfallen worlds the angels god everyone has been affected by this great controversy this great conflict the infinite and the eternal god was also inv involved in this by this invasive force of evil you don't have to go very far to realize it to see it i mean just turn on the news and you see all the bad things that are happening in the world the wars the political unrest the social unrest just look at yourself we don't have to go very far just look within and we see the results of this conflict in our own lives the infinite and eternal god was involved by the invasive forces of evil doubt was cast mistrust was sown malice deceit a conflict of formidable proportions began and this years ago in the brilliant paradise of heaven the enemy we know he employs the weapons that he wields with extreme mastery lies and deceit i mean when we study the book of revelation and the lesson it mentions the subject and we're going to get into it a little bit more profoundly as we go through the different days of this week's lesson but revelation itself reveals to us that the tale of the dragon what does it represent lies deceit the conflict began in paradise in heaven in god's paradise and then it was extended to our small planet you know according to jesus the enemy and this is a big this is a big thing in our world today where several different voices try to make our enemy sound as this impersonal force as an energy as a myth a legend but according to jesus the enemy is not a myth he's not a legend he's not an impersonal force in luke 10 verse 18 we find jesus saying that he saw i saw satan fall like lightning from heaven he saw him come down in the book of revelation the scene is no less dramatic revelation 12 17 12 7 a verse that we all know pretty much by heart there was a war in heaven war broke out in heaven michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels also fought but they did not prevail nor was their place found with them or for them in heaven any longer so the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and satan curious that these words they mean literally the accuser and the contender and that is really the best description for our enemy the one that accuses and the one that contends the one that fights who deceives the whole world he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast down with him friends the satanic ideals that appeared for the first time in heaven mysteriously you know theology i've said this here a few times before theology recognizes three great mysteries of course there are many there are many mysteries that that we come to in the bible but in theology you'll find three classic mysteries the mystery of piety the mystery of the incarnation and the mystery of iniquity these ideals that mysteriously were conceived in heaven in the heart of a powerful cherub they didn't develop further over there they moved they changed their zip code and they came down to our world with tragic consequences revelation 12 10 and 12 say then i heard a loud voice in heaven saying now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our god and the power of his christ of his christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accuses who accused them before our god day and night has been cast down and then verse 12 therefore rejoice o heavens and you who dwell in them good until that point right but then look at this next part woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that his time is short imagine john the relevant revelator seeing all this and hearing this how clear it must have been at that time oh so this is what's been going on all the imagery all the signs the symbols that he's seeing in this vision being given to him this harrowing description indeed indicates that our small world became the center stage the main place of a massive deception the enemy's primary strategy and effort is to seduce to deceive i mean look at everything in our world friends look at media look at society look at what the ideals the virtues are pushed down on human beings where is our self-worth to the world it's in money it's in things it's in diplomas perhaps in a house a car a bank account fame in his efforts no weapon is spared no scruples observed each inhabitant of this planet is involved you are involved if there's something that you need to understand friend is that when it comes to this great this great controversy when it comes to this battle there is no way for you to opt out we're all involved one way or the other we are all involved there are no spectators here there's no audience here we're all involved we're all on the stage and that's why one of jesus's greatest virtues and and capabilities in scripture you'll find jesus in the in the gospels having this this great ability of removing people from the audience and placing them on the stage or at least revealing to them that they were on a stage for them to think better for them to understand better for them to know and see that they were involved that there is no way to opt out deceit lies pain all sorts of low blows abuses and mischaracterizations have made the human race personas of this evil plot and objects of satan's evil wrath his motivation is personal did you know that his motivation is personal the bible tells us that he knows that his time is short he has little time he's desperate his aim has always been to cause god pain by destroying perverting mocking deriding and humana dehumanizing god's creatures how long oh lord has been the prayer that rises up from distressed hearts that hopefully await the final resolution of this great plot of this great drama so what we've done so far is create a an environment to understand the context of the lesson right here we have the problem the world has been immersed submerged into this great controversy all of us are affected at home at work at school at church we are all affected 24 7. there is no way there is no moment there is no place where in one way or the other you are not affected by this great controversy by this great war in fact you're here right now because of this great war you study your lesson to prepare yourself you read the bible you pray you witness that's part of this this week's lesson too we are all here because we've been involved in this battle you sitting down me up here speaking you at home uh watching you are involved in this planet sunday's lesson is is beautiful it's entitled a vision of the end and it emphasizes various scenes of the great controversy here we see um the authors of the lesson going and emphasizing various scenes of the great controversy in the book of the revelation of jesus christ and never forget this all right the full name of the book the revelation of jesus christ we find the summary and the climax of the bible as a whole to ellen white in revelation all the books of the bible converge everything makes sense from the book of revelation that's why the study of this book is so important that's why we emphasize it so much here at this church because all the books of the bible converge in revelation it's there after all that the old serpent is finally unmasked as the devil chapter 12 verse 9 so the great dragon was cast out the serpent of old called the devil who deceives the whole world he was cast of the earth and his angels were cast out with him he is explicitly openly unmistakenly revealed and exposed here friends this book of revelation was written to be understood that's another big thing that we have to understand most of the times most of the people will say that they kind of clear cl steer clear from revelation has has anyone here ever gone through that experience either either you and your in your earlier days as a christian or maybe right now if you're coming right now or perhaps you've heard this from someone else but the book of revelation can be kind of scary to a lot of people it's not meant to me it's not supposed to be but a lot of people kind of fear it but it was meant to be understood as we find in its very beginning in verse 3 chapter 1 verse 3 blessed is he who reads and who hears the words of this prophecy and this is in contrast to the book of daniel that was told to to be sealed up until the time of the end you remember how in daniel god tells him look daniel this isn't for you you're not really going to understand it right now seal up this book till the time of the end but in contrast to that revelation the instruction we find is do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand this book was meant to be understood the word revelation itself it's a latin word but it comes from the greek the biblical greek apocalypse or apocalypses which means to remove the veil of the future an exposition of the final events as an ending to the conflict that has dragged on for so long the symbols of this book are exact are extracted from the pages of the old testament almost entirely of the 404 verses of revelation do you know how many contain direct or indirect references to the old testament 278 of the 404 verses 278 contain either direct or indirect references or allusions to the old testament i'll give you an example in the chapters in the scenes of chapter 4 and 5 of revelation it's based entirely on the coronation of israelite kings you can find this more thoroughly if you want and if you study deuteronomy 17 or then second kings chapter 11 you'll see that that is the wording that you find here in revelation chapter chapter 4 and 5. the curses of the covenant you see that also you'll find that in leviticus 26 those are the backdrop of the vision of the seven seals the hundred and forty four thousand upon the sea of glass singing the song of who moses and the lamb they reflect exodus chapter 15. and after all what is friends a sea of glass mingled with fire if not a reference to another red sea indicating the final victory in this new exodus for god's people do you see do you see how you'll find the book of revelation it's quoting the old testament it's in reference to the old testament that's why you got to know the old testament this is what the lesson is teaching us here in in on monday the plagues of revelation chapter 15 and 16 are a clear reference to what other plagues do you find in the bible the plagues of exodus the plagues in egypt for god's overwhelming victory over pharaoh the scenes of revelation chapter 16 through 18 are built upon the historic victory of cyrus and his armies who dried up the euphrates in order to conquer babylon the end time babylon will also fall is there any doubt of that but now by the actions of jesus for whom cyrus was a type the trumpest the locusts from the pit sodom egypt mount zion babylon the ophratis the battle of armageddon all of these all of this imagery all of these symbolisms are extracted from the history of israel in the old testament and so to communicate his will and his plans for the future of his people god uses the language of the past in fact friends the prophecies of revelation are built on the biggest or built upon the biggest events of sacred history the creation the flood the sabbath the exodus the plagues the covenant the babylonian exile the references the use of these events are intended to edify our faith based on god's redemptive act of the past because here's the thing if i know that god has already done this and this and this in the past well won't i know that he will also do this and this and this and this in the future the same god that opened the red sea the same god that made the sun stop in the sky the same god that made an axe head float is the same god that will lead us through this period of time that we're living in right now that is the the the crux of the book of revelation it's to give you with absolute certainty that the same god that led the children of israel that led the first century church he is the same today right here right now and he can get you through your exodus also his interventions in the future will be similar to those of the past that is the guarantee his power is never extinguished it's never over it never expires the great lesson friends of revelation is that god punishes the oppressor and he frees the captive nothing absolutely nothing can stop him from doing what he intends to do nothing what he has already done is the guarantee of what he is yet to do and that's why we can rest that is why we can rest the ultimate rest because our future is in good hands look at what the lesson says this is in the lesson of uh sunday what followed from these verses revelation 1 9 are visions about the future of this world an awesome panoramic view of history would be portrayed before him basically what's to us the history of the curse of the christian church but was to him yet the future it's talking about john and yet amid the trials and tribulations that would come john was shown how it all would end now i saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away also there was no more sea than i john saw the holy city the new jerusalem coming down from heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband the great apocalyptic vision john has recorded in revelation helped john confidently to rest in god's provisions and promises and it can do the same for you it can do the same for us because i'll tell you friends we're living some very dark days on monday the countdown the lesson continues on this day to go back through other events of sacred history described in matthew 24 and in the book of daniel and this provides more insight into how god dealt and deals with the great controversy because this is a great question how can i rest if i'm in this controversy how can i arrest if there's wars if people are divided if people seem to hate each other if the world's already throwing up its demons to say that things are not going well how do i rest look back that's what the lesson is doing on this day on the mount of olives jesus answers his disciples question and i can i can imagine these men just terrified at the prospect of what jesus is talking about because they ask him matthew 24 3 they say when will these things be when will it come to pass and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of age well then jesus provides a great apocalyptic exposition and that's the famous uh sermon that we find here in matthew 24 a timeline that covers the events of his days all the way down to the very consummate consummation of time one thing that we have to keep in mind and the reason why god is doing this is found in the truth revealed in amos chapter 3 verse 7. again it's a verse that a lot of us know by heart it says surely the lord god does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets you see friends contrary to the pagan gods to the mystery religions because that's that's how they operated the mo of those pagan gods is that they they would act in secret no one knew what they were doing so contrary to them the god of heaven the only true god he reveals himself he is transparent i mean isn't that one of the great things in the world today the lack of transparency you never know what's going on in someone's mind you never know what's going on be that your boss your employee be that at church or church says you never know people it seems that they're not transparent the god of the bible is painfully transparent sometimes sometimes painfully always transparent he lets us know what's going on you know we frequently hear of bearers of new light have you ever been around someone like that someone that comes along with the most fantastical new idea or new theory people trying to sell their ideas that usually go beyond the clear thus saith the lord this was also foretold by jesus because in matthew 24 4 and 5 he says see that you're not deceived many will come in my name friends everything that we need to know is already revealed we don't need any weird wacky theories we don't need any imaginations or fantastic calculations or mental gymnastics we don't need people trying to tell us that jesus is coming back in five years seven years he's coming back at the end of this we don't need that our church more than any other should know the dangers of that kind of mentality our great need is not to know fantastic speculations but to accept believe and live what has been revealed in scripture what we need to know friends doesn't involve imagination but serious applied study that's why it's important to study and there's a reason for this the reason is that we're not meant to sit idly by just coming up with weird theories as to what happens next you know usually when i when i encounter people that are like that or you know groups that are like that people that that kind of go around you know well this is going to happen then this is gonna it's kind of like you know they have their crystal hats on their head and usually i see that when it comes to groups like that they're not doing a lot of missionary work it's just so a whole bunch of sitting around talking about weird theories that really you can't argue with because you can't argue with the lack of logic but that's what i usually find they're not doing a whole lot of missionary work and that's precisely where the lesson leads us to because the very next day is called marching orders on monday's lesson it ends with in this cosmic conflict we are more than just observers you're not just an observer a spectator we are to be active participants in spreading the gospel to the ends of the world which means that we too will face persecution marching orders that's what tuesday is all about well we learned that the the the depiction of the events given by jesus that will soon take place on this planet forbids us from being idle from being indifferent or from being mere curious spectators you can't you cannot be a christian every christian is born in the kingdom of god as an evangelist as a missionary so the question is have you been born in the kingdom of god in the kingdom of heaven if you say yes praise the lord but know that you should be born as a missionary and as an evangelist and if you haven't and i'm not saying that you have to go up and preach you don't have to do what you know preachers do or maybe you don't have the gift of singing or maybe you know find your gift there are so many ways that god can use you to be an evangelist to be a missionary but you need to be one friends the world has been consumed by the audience mentality the mentality of the audience tv internet sporting entertainment all of these things they're extremely proficient teachers that educate multitudes multitudes millions to only passively observe what the few do you'll have hundreds of thousands of people seeing and watching and observing and commenting and coming up with theories as to what the 10 people or the 20 people on the field are doing and that conditions these audience towards alienation so many of us has been have been educated to take on this audience mindset distant cold alienated on the best of chances people like that become fans the question is what is god's plan for those who are living in the times of the end what is god's plan for us living today for you because he has one for you you're not meant to sit in the middle of nowhere doing nothing at this point in history friends we're not at the point where we should be running off yet the cities need us people need us the world is dark the world is sad the world is lonely the world is terrified and billions perish we're called to be a light in the dark but how can we be a light if we're just spectating just an audience friends god's great commission cannot become the great omission in your life as revelation 14 describes the three angels messages as an invitation to act to jump into the action to warn others at this point in history as i've already said our purpose our marching orders are defined by god himself according to jesus those living in noah's time in noah's days they occupy themselves with the the periphery of life even though they were living on the cusp of a great emergency eating drinking buying selling marrying and giving in marriage you know what's curious is that jesus doesn't mention the great sins of those times he's not talking about murders about drunkenness that's what he's talking about he's talking about normal things eating drinking working planting reaping sowing marrying why why does he mention these legitimate things what's the problem with these things you know what's the problem indifference not recognizing what was truly important especially in the context of eternity the disciples of jesus are taught by him to establish correct priorities we are challenged to relate to the world appropriately friends what's sinful here it's not really practicing those activities eating drinking you know the world has always been bad it's always had sins it's not particularly worse than it than it's been in any other point in time the world's always been bad but what marks this time what characterizes the time that we live in is that people nowadays are more indifferent they're cold they're untouchable you know that the contrary to love the the the opposite of love it's not really hatred it's indifference it's not caring and friends many many today and look preaching to the choir here many of us cannot live a life of ultimate rest how could we if we're indifferent if we don't care sometimes it comes up we we are like that sometimes as a mechanism of defense a defense mechanism we've been treated so badly we've been deceived in the past we've hurt been hurt so badly but friends the disciples of christ don't look back they open themselves up to a world that is needing them we have the privilege of being used by god how should the disciples of jesus relate to the world around them in the last days well read revelation 14 6-12 look at what it says then i saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the eternal the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on earth to every nation tribe tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear god and give him glory for the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made the heaven and the earth the sea and the springs of water and another angel followed saying babylon has fallen is fallen the great city because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of god which has poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascents forever and ever and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name hears the patience of the saints here are those who keep the commandments of god and the faith of jesus is this the description right here that i just read is this the description of a normal day-to-day event as a life just back to normal life as always a walk in the park something that can be just neglected and not considered as relevant or is this the description of urgency of a crisis one that we can participate in being instruments of salvation that's why this proceeds in the lesson i love the structure of this week's lesson because this right here precedes the next topic which is rest in peace only then can we understand this part throughout centuries the followers of jesus have awaited his return as a flame that burns in their hearts and as the final resolution of this great drama of the great controversy for centuries we've been waiting for this we talk about it we preach about it we pray about it we read about it we study about it my dad i'm a third generation adventist my dad was believing this 50 years ago my grandpa this has been taught for centuries this is the culmination of his of history the fulfillment of the glorious hope now here's the thing there's hope it's not only ours it's not only yours you know who this hope belongs to the most god god wants this thing to end just as much or more of course more than you do god wants to turn the page more than anyone else he wants to do away with this evil that installed itself into his universe and in particular to our world friends the second coming of jesus is god's final answers to the problem of death this lesson on wednesday makes a connection between the idea of the eternal gospel the three angels message and one of the great truths that has been obscured and buried by the enemy's work of deception which is the state of the dead the main text used here for the transition is hebrews 11 13-16 that says these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them from afar they were witness uh from from far off were assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would haven't had opportunity to return but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore god is not ashamed to be called their god for he has prepared a city for them friends we frequently see tombstones that have that classic saying rest in peace after all the the paradox is very evident are the dead truly resting in peace in the grave awaiting christ's return for the resurrection or are they in heaven already or in hell already as is usually preached by many in the world today you know friends it was pagan beliefs that introduced the idea that the dead in death don't truly die and that clearly denies any kind of biblical teaching otherwise you wouldn't really have true death would you think about it if you go to hell right after you die i mean you're just talking about eternal life in hell right in that case you're not talking about death but eternal life in hell or eternal life in heaven or a period of life in purgatory if you go through some other options out there but in the bible the dead are truly resting awaiting the perfect morning when the dead in hymn will rise first the beautiful text of psalm 116 15 provides comfort to those who await to see their loved ones those who have had their loved ones stolen from them taken from them by the sleep of death psalm 116 15 says precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints how can you say precious is the death only in god the same thing in revelation blessed are they who have from now died in the lord how can you be blessed when you die only in god because we find the truth in john chapter 11 if not if i'm not mistaken the story of lazarus what jesus tells martha if you believe in me will have eternal life you will never die even those who die will not die what kind of logic is that it's only only the logic that comes from god friends our hope regarding the resurrection is based on the resurrection of jesus himself his resurrection is first of all central without it everything else would be darkness and death despair would have the final word and the proclamation of the gospel would be madness without the resurrection of jesus it would be madness so it's central second it's comforting the resurrection of jesus is comforting without it the presence of death in the presence of death we would see no meaning the apostle the apostle paul affirms that jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep that's in first corinthians 15 he is the pledge of all who sleep in him the certainty of our trust he is the refuge and the fortress because i live you will live also jesus says in john chapter 14 because i live you will live also so it's central it's comforting and it means power it was the resurrection of jesus that drove that gave that first impulse of the apostles to leave jerusalem and took out to the ends of the world it's powerful preaching the death and the resurrection of jesus is powerful it constitutes a challenge it's central it's comforting it's powerful and it constitutes a challenge it gives us the task of telling the story this glorious event needs to awaken us and it needs to awaken the sense of urgency and sharing with others this living hope that we possess look at the comfort that we have since we know about jesus resurrection and finally thursday's lesson rejoice in the lord always i love this one one of the most recurrent exhortations that we'll find in the bible is the one to rejoice in god to be grateful to live an attitude of gratitude an attitude of gratitude philippians 4 4-6 says rejoice in the lord always again i will say rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men the lord is at hand be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and by supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god friends what paul is telling us here is to always rejoice in the lord in tribulations and trials despite of the circumstances that surround us during our pilgrimage we have to rejoice now that's a hard teaching how do i rejoice how do i rejoice when bad things happen when relationships break when i'm betrayed when i am hurt how do i rejoice is god speaking about a form of masochism thank you i'm hurting thank you i love it no the bible does never tell us to rejoice or to give thanks for all things you know what the bible tells us to give thanks in all things for that is the will of jesus christ of god and jesus it's not for the things that happen but you can rejoice in the lord always and again say rejoice even in the worst most harrowing experiences of life you know according to psychologists and to psychiatrists anxiety is the great evil that plagues our society today it's taken the place of depression even after all depression is always preceded always preceded by anxiety in this text in philippians the apostle is exhorting us telling us to rest in god friends where god leads he provides says this old proverb his goodness his love his mercy our infallible anchors and once i reflect these things once i dwell on these things well it's kind of hard to be sad it's hard to be in darkness if there's light around you right it's hard to be sad when you surround yourself and fill yourself with the joy of the lord david was able to do it so can we psalm 23 known as the gem the gem of the psalms reveals that our path is always in his presence that the great god can never be surprised he is never helpless to come to our need you know friends psalm 23 is known as the nightingale of the psalms why it's a very common bird in south america it's able to sing in more than 30 different tones and keys it's all it also sings during the night where there's no more heat or light it's said that it's ballad is all is always a prelude an invitation to celebrate the dawn what a powerful symbol for the divine comfort that we have in god psalm 23 in psalm 23 jesus is introduced as the shepherd the guide and the host as the shepherd he provides as the guide he leads and as the host he prepares a table in front of our enemies and friends he continues to prepare a table in the front of our enemies you know i'll end with this one of my favorite um one of my favorite realities of psalm 23 is that psalm 23 is a perfect lesson on how to rest how to truly find the ultimate rest in psalm 23 you see you see a shift a little bit in the literature look at what it says right psalm 23 it says the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake you see how the psalmist is referring to god these are all good events god is leading him and guiding him life is good and marvelous its it sunshines and roses you know he's leading me towards still waters he restores my soul he leads me in paths of righteousness do you see how things here are comfortable at this point of the psalm things are good and he's talking about god in the third person he leads me he takes me he calls me he he but when things get hard when things get dark he changes the way that he refers to god yeah though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for he is with me or for you are with me for you are with me it becomes more personal for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup runs over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever when things get tough god gets closer that's how you rest that is the ultimate rest when things get tough god gets closer my dear friend i invite you to rest in god rest in the shepherd he who is the pastor of the stars who sustains the worlds by the breath of his hand who has become personally responsible for you and for me he invites us today and always to find rest perfect complete comforting rest amidst the trials amidst the storms amidst the hurricanes of life christians don't dwell in a land without storms christians don't have houses in stormless lands but with the god that we have we are invited to to dwell in a land that has storms that can never knock down our house that god has built up may god bless you i'd like to pray with you right now please bow your heads dear lord thank you so much for this lesson that was such a great inspiration on the reality that we need to rest in you father thank you so much for providing in your word in the bible such a beautiful understanding of the fact that we need to find ultimate rest in you thank you lord for the various aspects of rest that we've studied but ultimately lord help us understand that when things get tough you get closer and that is the only way that we truly rest of having you close by father we want to hold on to you we want to hug you all the days of our life and we want to dwell in your house forever bless this church lord bless not only the local church here of granite bay but bless the worldwide church allow us to dwell in this land allow us to understand the moment in time that we live in allow us to understand that you are instructing and guiding us to be instruments we are under marching orders and finally father allow us to dwell in this land of storms but with our eyes in heaven on you i thank you and i ask you these things in the name of jesus christ amen and amen may god bless you and have a happy sabbath [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to the granite bay hilltop seventh-day adventist church we are glad that you decided to join us here in worship for all of our church members welcome back and for those of you who are joining us for the very first time as a visitor welcome to our church it is our prayer that not only will today be a blessing for you but that you'll decide to come back and continue to worship with us as we continue to discover and connect with the lord jesus christ it is uh my privilege to be able to uh host uh our worship service here today my name is pastor sean bruman and our pastor senior pastor our lead pastor doug batchelor is going to be preaching our sermon here today as well and so we're just so glad to be able to have him join us here today and before we continue on with our worship service though we want to uh share just a couple different things that are taking place within our church and uh that is first and foremost for our children our pathfinders program is beginning we have jeff collins who is one of our faithful leaders of the pathfinders program and uh he and his wife are going to be hosting an orientation party at their home tomorrow so please take note of that if you have children that are interested in pathfinders or pathfinder age that's going to be tomorrow in folsom at three o'clock and you can find jeff's uh jeff collins phone number there just give him a call let him know that you're coming and he'll give you the address and directions on how to get there as well for those uh ladies within our church we have a women's ministry event that's taking place on september the 19th and so please mark that in your calendars uh 10 a.m there's going to be in the fellowship hall games fellowship as well as some outdoor activities again please rsvp to the email that's in your bulletin under that announcement outreach ministry is going to beginning beginning again we uh kind of put took a a bit of a break over the summer but we're going to be picking it up now the smoke has started to clear people are back in school and more of a routine and available to be able to reach out to our community once again and so if you want to learn how to give a bible study how to find bible how to find bible studies how to give bible studies that's available at the amazing facts building a facility which is right next door in the same property here and so as soon as you go into the main entrance that first room to the left which is their chapel and instruction room that's going to be available for you each saturday or sabbath afternoon at 3 p.m so please take advantage of that if you can and then also we have granite bay church picnic that's going to be taking place uh shortly just three weeks from tomorrow so market on your calendars that's sunday that's sunday september the um let me see now the 26th 11 a.m at the lumen basin community park and you can find all the details there in your bulletin so please mark that in your calendars again adventures and pathfinders if you'd like to register you haven't got your registration packet yet those registration packets are available any questions that you might have we have our two faithful leaders there both jeff collins as well as sabrina thompson both representing the pathfinders and adventures so again if you have small and young children then please take advantage of that and pick up your registration packet now this fall is a very exciting fall because we are going to be hosting our very first full-fledged prophecy seminar live right here in the sanctuary auditorium and and that's going to be opening up on october the 15th so please put a big red star in your calendar and that's a friday evening friday october the 15th we're going to be opening up panorama of prophecy again our lead pastor amazing facts speaker and director pastor doug batchelor will be the speaker for that prophecy seminar and again it's going to be happening right here in our brand new facilities and so we look forward to being able to reach out to our local community and in addition to that this is also going to be telecast i believe on 3 abn alive as well as af tv amazing facts tv and as well as streaming online on a different various um different social media and so on so we're going to be looking at several different avenues to not only reach our community here but across the nation and around the world and so this is a big event we look forward to being able to have your attendance inviting your neighbors praying over your neighbors even right now so i just want to invite you to choose one or more of your neighbors that you've connected with in the past and perhaps you have a relationship with and begin to pray over them on a daily basis starting right now that the lord will lead them in their circumstances and in their hearts to be able to find themselves in this facility and watching and taking in the present truth that god has for this generation right now and uh so please please pray over that pray over your neighbors pray over the community pray over pastor doug and the team that will be making that uh possible and and and we really want to pray that the lord will help bring in a harvest that will really make a difference and an impact on as many lives as possible now we also are not going to only be serving the adults during that program but we're also going to be during that seminar but we're also going to be serving our children not only our children but the children of all the visitors that are coming in as well and uh and that requires some very real people and and so pastor lucas is going to be heading that up and and he is asking that if you are available uh for a substantial if not all of those nights between october 15th until november 13th now if you can't make it every night and you still would like to be a part of that please let him know when they'll be able to schedule in accordingly we want to be able to put together a very committed team spirit-led team that will be able to serve our children and so we're going to have a parallel children's program and and so please uh i know that pastor lucas is going to do a top-notch job i want to pray that you'll contact him as soon as possible there's a email that's in the announcement he also has that same email as well as a cell phone number that you can text or call him in the back of the bulletin with his uh shiny face there that's smiling just right underneath go ahead and call or or email him and and he'll be very much appreciative of that blood pressure check is going to be available in the prayer room right after service today and so the prayer room is where well if you leave the foyer going this direction you go to your right uh as you make your way to the right you're going to see that large beautiful glass room with all the free literature and such that's available in there right next to that i think it's to the right of that is the door to the prayer room and so if you haven't had your blood pressure checked recently or you check it on a regular basis and you'd like to do that today that is available as part of our health ministry we believe in health and knowing our blood pressure is one of those symptoms that can help us to know if there's something that we need to tend to that's right after service today no children's story today we have had to postpone our grand opening and we in that program we did not have a children's story so children's story please hold tight we will be uh having children's story again in the future we're going to invite valerie up as she represents our health ministries team and she's going to be sharing with us just a short health nugget on how we can be healthier people valerie thank you good morning church family i'd like to ask you a question how many of you experience doing a good deed and then after doing that to a person you suddenly feel happy so today i'm going to share with you what kindness or acts of kindness can do actually to our health and so that we can be a witness for jesus and his sin return so what is acts of kindness so mayo clinic defines it a simple way and it said that the art of kindness means harboring a spirit of helpfulness as well as being generous and considerate and doing so without expecting anything in return so what happens to our body when we do acts of kindness so when we do acts of kindness the we create an emotional warmth and this is released by a hormone that you can probably hurt it a lot and it's called oxytocin so this oxytocin releases a chemical that we call nitric oxide and this makes your blood vessel dilate making your blood pressure be lowered so this same oxytocin also it increases our self-esteem and being optimistic so this is one helpful way to if you feel anxious or shy when interacting with people now there are a lot of researches that have been said about doing acts of kindness and what it does to our body so i'm going to share with you three the first one is that it says kindness keeps you really young looking so kind people have been found out that they have two 23 percent less of the cortisol that's our stress hormone and in their blood and they age two times slower than the average population so think about that and the second one is that people who volunteer live a longer and more satisfied life they even experience fewer aches and pains and the last one that i wanted to share with you is that kindness stimulates the production of a chemical called serotonin and this feel good heals chemical feels uh heals your wounds calms you down and makes you happy so now that we know what kindness acts of kindness can do to our health especially to our blood pressure so how can we practice kindness daily the good news is that god has given us his holy word to guide us in our path and there are two bible verses that i wanted to share with you and that's proverbs 17 22. a merry heart does good like a medicine but a broken spirit dries the bones so you see it's not just about helping others but also what can you do to take care of your body as well because when you're happy and you have a happy heart it flows right through on the people that you you help just like what proverbs 17 22 says so for example you can actually start having a gratitude journal or gratitude day or maybe start a healthy routine so that you can lower your blood pressure or maybe start a daily bible reading plan because god's word gives us joy and encouragement in this time that we live in so that we can share it with god's word and the second bible verse i have is galatians 6 9 it encourages us not to grow weary in doing good for others so maybe you can take time to write or call your family your friends and even your enemies so leave a bible or maybe give a bible to someone be a volunteer donate or help a worthy cause to further god's work or maybe smile to everyone you meet today how about that and there are so many other ways i know you can think of things to do acts of kindness because jesus has given us an example for that and i'm sure we can do that too so aside from having a healthy lifestyle and exercise to make our blood pressure normal i encourage you to add up in your routine acts of kindness as well to make your blood pressure be lowered down and as a reminder our health ministry has a blood pressure station right there at the prayer room and it's every first sabbath of each month and this is open after the church service between 12 30 to 1 o'clock so feel free to visit the station and also for those of you who are interested to get a handout of this health nugget we will have them over at the blood pressure station thank you happy sabbath everyone me and kathy are here to talk to all of you about a very special program that we have for granite bay church and for our afco students yes good morning so as you know we have afco students joining us here and we're very excited to have them a lot of them have come a long way from home but we want to make sure that granite bay is their home and that they feel like they are at home so amazing facts in the afco program has an adopt-a-student program it doesn't mean they have to come live with you although you probably would love to have one of our students live with you because they're all so awesome what that basically means is i have a book right here and it has all of their photos in it and their interest in their hobbies and so what you'll do is you'll come and meet me in the lobby and carlos will be out there along with anna and a day and then you'll meet us in the lobby and you'll go through our book and you'll go through our list and you'll find a student that you can adopt and that means you're going to call them throughout the week you're going to pray with them you're going to encourage them you're going to be their favorite auntie or uncle and you're going to make them feel real welcome you can invite them over your house for lunch you can invite your students so you only need to adopt one student and we have 38 that still need to be adopted two have already been adopted so yes so you'll just look through a book you'll meet me out there you'll adopt a student you'll get their information call them pray with them take them out to lunch they're going to be going out into the community pray for them when they do go out into the community because they're going to be looking for bible study contacts and then when they get a contact they're going to call you and say auntie i have a bible study contact pray for so and so and you'll be able to do that for them so meet me in the lobby after the church service we will have this there and you can sign up and adopt a student amen amen i remember when i did afco in 2013 my my adopted parents were elizabeth and ray rennie frost i can't believe i was here you did that that's great and they still they were here the other day and they were like oh our girl son and they hugged me and we still speak every once in a while so yes it's nice and they would invite me over have lunch and i need everything she still gives me gifts [Laughter] so it's it's just a nice little thing it's a great connection that you can have with them and they'll be here for three months and they'll have that family environment so right uh it's part of what it means to be a christian family amen and bringing afco and granite bay together so we hope you come and see us in the front of the foyer at the end of service amen who's who's who's thinking about adopting an afco student raise your hands raise your hand okay everybody that didn't raise your hand we'll talk at the end all right god bless all right let's all stand for our call to worship [Music] uh [Music] space oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] right [Music] our loving father in heaven lord it is a joy and a privilege to come into your presence on this sabbath day and to worship you we thank you for the promise that when we gather together in your name that you are there and lord we just rejoice in that truth we pray that you will speak to every heart today that your spirit will be here and that something mighty will happen in our lives and minds to help us to better represent jesus and share him with the world we thank you and pray in christ's name amen you may be seated how is everyone today god is good how many of you have been blessed this is a time when we have an opportunity to give thanks for what god has done for us in our tithes and offerings and as we're here the deacons are aren't going to take it up as we used to do we have it in the back so as you leave you can give your tithes and offerings you know as i was up this morning i was just thinking how god has taken care of me through the last few years sometimes when we're younger we think we're always blessed you know we're young we can do a lot of things but as we get older sometimes you realize god is blessing us even more than we realize and so but god has really blessed us i know he's blessed all of you in a very special way and at this time i just want to have a word of prayer our kind heavenly father is we think of all the blessings that are in this room that only you can give lord we are here and we just ask that you be with those that are able to give their father you're the one that continues blessing and throughout eternity you're going to bless and we are so thankful for the blessings that you gave to us and that's you dying on the cross thank you so much be with us now as we go into this service we pray in jesus name amen [Music] ah uh foreign [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] ah ah [Music] ah [Music] uh uh [Music] huh huh [Music] wow [Music] ah [Music] good morning happy sabbath um i invite y'all to stand and come with me to john 17 scripture reading and it reads like this these words spake jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour has come glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as that has given him and this is life eternal that they may know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou has sent please remain standing [Music] now dear lord as we pray [Music] is [Music] is [Music] join us [Music] our kind heavenly father as we are here we are looking up to you dear father for you are the one that we need it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks or does but you are the one we want to focus on today that's why we're here lord we know many are struggling with many different things challenges in life and lord those things you can handle we give them to you and lord be with those that were able to come today give them a special blessing from on high because lord that's why they're here they want to see you thank you dear lord and we just ask that you be with pastor doug here as he speaks today give him the wisdom which you have given him for this moment in time and bless him by your spirit and be with all of them that have prayer requests today with the challenges that are in this world there father you're the one that's guiding this ship to harbor and we want to be on that ship with you thank you dear lord be with us now as we go into this divine service we pray in jesus name amen [Music] good morning friends and it's so good to see each of you i want to welcome you if you're visiting the granite bay hilltop church we know that we've got folks that are watching on amazing facts television and facebook and internet and other different venues and it's good to see you here today some are here because they had planned in their schedules to be part of our grand opening that was going to be happening today so i'm trusting most people know that that's been postponed for a little while for a number of reasons but we're just so glad if you are here today pray the holy spirit speaks to you um if you did not know the the bachelor family in our travels among the children of men we picked up covet and uh so i want to thank you for your prayers and we're all doing fine this has been a few weeks and we're you're all safe i'm probably the safest person in the room right now but because i got the antibodies but um karen and nathan did fine i i'll tell you friends i got the industrial strength version so i mean it i you know i've been really healthy my whole life and so this is probably sick as i ever was and there are two or three days that uh karen was checking the life insurance policy so uh so uh but uh really good to be with you today i hope you'll be patient with me uh you know i feel great uh you know matter of fact in some ways i feel better than before i haven't been able to wear this suit in years and so you know i feel really good about that i had all these aches and pains from playing racquetball that are gone now because i haven't played in a month but what it does is it it hits your wind and so you'll probably notice a couple times it's going to sound like my billows have shrunk a little bit but uh i i really wanted to share this message with you today it's such an important subject that i i trust the lord will get us through if i run out of air the sermon will be over but in the meantime i'm going to preach the word amen and you'll pray for me along the way this subject of knowing the lord may be the most important thing i've ever talked about i don't know that it'll get a lot of hits on youtube or go viral but either way i'm convinced it's one of the most important things i could ever talk about because it is the life and death issue for the christian you know i i appreciate knowledge i'm fascinated by technology by just the wisdom and things that are going on in the world you know i'm fascinated with things like nuclear submarines and how people can live six months under water those machines can be powered for years all of that is amazing to me i heard about an experiment some of you may know about it's called itter i-t-e-r and that stands for the international thermonuclear experimental reactor it is the biggest and most ambitious attempt to harness the energy produced by forcing two atoms to become one that's known as fusion the 25 billion dollar experiment in france is a joint project of the european union china india japan south korea russia and the us it's a large scale international project parts are made all across the world and they come together and they have to fit together like a puzzle and it has to work the ultimate goal is for it to do what no fusion experiment has done before produce more heat than it consumes the challenge is essentially to build a miniature star inside a laboratory and then control it the heart of the experiment i catch this friends is a 23 000 ton cylinder where intense superconducting magnets will try to keep a 150 million degree did you catch that 150 million degrees celsius plasma contained long enough for fusion to occur they're basically trying to reproduce what the sun does in this building they expect the budget to go from 25 to 64 million they're way over budget now by the way it will not be a generator when they're done it's an experiment if it works then they want to move on to build reactors that can help power the world with clean almost unlimited energy i looked at the science of that and i'm not going to go into it all i'll just tell you that by the way sometimes a pastor might get fusion and fission mixed up this is fusion this is very important if we get it mixed up it doesn't matter if the nuclear scientists get it mixed up we're done for but there is a difference between the fission and the fusion but this thing is basically going to have the the explosion of a sun 25 what did i say there 150 million degrees going on magnets big enough to pick up a battleship that knowledge to me is astounding it's astounding that they could do something like that i'd love to go to the international space station i love technology but you know the bible tells us in the last days people run to and fro in knowledge will increase and i don't think anybody here is going to contest that knowledge has exploded the question is what kind of knowledge you could work on a nuclear reactor and come home and yell at your wife is that knowledge the right kind of knowledge i believe in you know science and medicine and technology and uh you know i'm fascinated by philosophy and psychology we get to watch that department a little bit but all of that knowledge is wonderful but it's not the most important knowledge the most important knowledge is to know god and sometimes i'll have to be honest with you friends i wonder if there's something wrong with me because i watch people going through their lives and they seem indifferent about the most important thing they could know and saying lord is there something wrong with me why is it for me the most important thing in the world would be to know god if there's a god and he made everything that all the nuclear fission reactors are made out of why would we not want to know him that to me would be the ultimate joy the ultimate goal is to know god you see we've been separated from god because of sin before sin adam and eve could talk to god like i'm talking to you they knew god he walked and talked with him in the garden it was a very personal thing but then because of sin man lost a whole dimension there are angels in this room god said he's in this place but we've been cut off from that and it's like we stop believing in it we believe in wireless everyone here believes in wireless some are using it right now i mean we can't see it but we believe in it the spiritual world is just as real and god wants to be known by us nothing is more important than that and yet it seems like the world is so diff indifferent to it i saw a bumper sticker years ago it said maybe it'll be on the screen here yeah there it is no god no life no god no life i know carlos is in the back translating and that did not work for him just now but he'll fix it i know he will but in english of course no god no life but if you know god you will know life this is eternal life that you might know him now the world's preoccupied with knowledge but it's often the wrong kind of knowledge and you know i think it's good to pursue knowledge you read proverbs it's pretty clear but if you pursue every earthly field of knowledge and you you neglect knowing god you've lost it all that has to be the priority jeremiah 9 23 thus says the lord let not the wise man glory in his wisdom and let not the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches but let him who glories glory in this don't miss that word glory that he understands and knows me you know if you're going to be proud of knowing something be thankful that you know god i know that there's a lot of people out there that have much much better theological training than i do i cannot speak greek hebrew aramaic but i praise god that i know god and i think that if you know everything else theologically but you don't know god then you're in that class of people where the lord is going to say i'm sorry i don't know you but lord we preached in your streets and we taught and we cast out devils and did many wonderful works what good is all of that if you don't know god first corinthians 3 19 for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with god i remember reading about mark twain and he was a very brilliant speaker had an incredibly creative mind he went through some tragedies in life where he basically turned away from god his brother died and burnt in a riverboat explosion and a lot of other tragedies and he just he thought god burned people in hell forever and ever and like others it just he turned away from god became pretty much an agnostic well he was a good speaker great writer lost almost all of his money through bad business investments he invested in some type setting machine for years and just lost almost everything so he had to go on the road speaking to make money and he went on tours across america went to europe and he became incredibly famous it was very successful and as he was traveling around europe people were just so entertained with his wit and his humor that he was invited to the palaces and the parliaments and he was meeting everybody kings and queens all across europe in this very triumphant tour and his daughter was with him and she was so proud of her dad she said papa said soon you're going to know everybody except god and he did he knew everybody but if you don't know god what good is it philippians chapter 3 verse 7 listen to paul's priority but what things were gained to me these i have counted loss for christ yet indeed i count all things for loss for listen the excellence of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i've suffered the loss of all things and i count them as rubbish that i might gain christ and jump to verse 10 that i might know him and the power of his resurrection friends do you have that hunger if you didn't start today i sure hope you do at the end that you might know god don't you want to know him better i mean what could be more precious than that the supreme goal in life in my estimation is to know god and his love and share god and his love this church exists for those goals to know god and his love and to share god in his love everything else is secondary so is it the priority in your life solomon god said lord the lord said to solomon what do you want he said i want wisdom that of course was after he became king before that before solomon died he was having a talk and a walk with his father and david appealed to his son see it's one of the rare cases where david was still alive and his son was coronated king and it says as for you by the way first chronicles 28 8 i won't have all the scriptures on the screen but i think i have this one first chronicles 28 9 rather as for you my son solomon know the god of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind for the lord searches all the hearts and understands the intents of the thoughts if you seek him he will be found by you but if you forsake him he will cast you off forever now you realize of course knowing god is different than knowing about god what we're talking about today is not knowing stuff about god we're talking about knowing him having a personal relationship with him where you're you're talking to him this is how it describes enoch it says he walked with god he had that personal relationship it also says that by the way about noah noah walk with god the people who live in the last days are going to be a people are the ones who succeed in the last days who walk with god now when you think about it it's almost outrageous that i would be suggesting that to you that uh you and i could know god because in in reality i mean you and i we can't even comprehend how big the sky is and how vast the universe is isaiah 55 9 for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways than your ways and my thoughts and your thoughts i mean how can you and i possibly know god and yet he wants us to know him you'll never come to the place where you know everything about god it's like thomas edison who said we only know one millionth part of one percent of about anything we only know one millionth of one percent about anything and if you're middle age you probably learn that the longer you live the more you know you don't know isn't that right there is a time when you peak as a teenager and you think you get it figured out but from there you realize and something else happens is though the longer you live the more you realize your parents knew it's a strange dynamic that occurs romans 11 33 oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of god how unsearchable are his judgments in his ways past finding out so when we talk about knowing god it's not that you're going to know everything about god his ways are past finding out but he wants to have a personal loving relationship with you and he uses the most tender examples of father and a child a mother and its baby jesus uses the example of a friend and this is how he wants to know you now there's a story in the bible about moses and he probably had one of the closest relationships with god of anybody you can read about and you read in exodus 33 and this is after the whole terrible golden calf debacle god was going to wipe out the children of israel make a nation of moses and moses said lord hey if i could ask something special let me tell you what i want don't make a nation out of me but he articulates in exodus 33 18 he says please he asks politely show me your glory now what did he mean by that you ever wondered if you could see an angel what would it do for your faith if you could like see an angel first of all it ought to scare you because you don't know if it's a good angel or a bad angel and what he's up to right but if you can see an angel or something like that i mean just think about the power of that i've often thought oh lord if i you know just little miracles things that will strengthen my faith but to say lord show me your glory did he want to see a bright light no he's saying reveal yourself to me i want to know you pull aside the veil lord i want to be with you and god understood his request he said all right moses i can do that for you i will appear to you you won't be able to look me straight in the face because no man can do that and live then you go to exodus 34 where it actually happens and it says the lord descended in a cloud and stood with him there can you imagine standing by god the lord stood by moses and he proclaimed now god speaks the lord the lord merciful and gracious long suffering abounding in goodness and truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and by no means clearing the guilty he revealed his character now there's no comment that moses made that said you know his fingernails were really long he had three tattoos on his left bicep and there's none of that it doesn't describe anything about him physically what it does is it describes who he is in his character so when you and i are saying we want to know the lord it's not that we want to know what color his hair is or wanting to know what his characteristics are who is he you know when you fall in love with somebody you're falling in love with their character if you're falling in love with the external that lasts a little while but uh you know those things fade over time the character can actually get better while the outward man grows old the bible says show me your glory now when we're talking about knowing god let's just settle something in case you have any question god already knows us isn't that right psalm 139 verse 1 david said oh lord you have searched me and known me you know my sitting down and my rising up you understand my thoughts are far off you comprehend my path and my lying down you're acquainted with all my ways for there's not a word on my tongue but behold lord you know it all together god not only knows what you said he knows what you're going to say he knows what you're going to say before you say it jeremiah 1 5 before i formed you in the womb i knew you. even before you're born god knew you and you go to jeremiah 12 3 but you o lord know me you've seen me and you've tested my heart towards you john 1 47 when jesus saw nathanael coming he said behold an israelite in whom there is no deceit now they'd never met and nathanael said lord how do you know me of course he didn't know jesus was god at that point but he's saying lord how do you know me and jesus said off before philip called you when you were under the fig tree he had been under the fig tree praying about the messiah he said i saw you there of course christ sees all of us all the time he knows everything about us and zacchaeus is up in a tree jesus says the key has come down they'd never met the lord knows us some of you spent half of your lives you didn't know god you weren't a christian you weren't a believer but god knew you and you had a plan for your life he's always known you so as we talk about knowing the lord the part of the relationship that has a problem is adam ran from god you and i don't know him he knows everything about everybody second timothy 2 19 nevertheless the solid foundation of god stands having the seal the lord knows those that are his and let everyone who names the name of christ apart from iniquity jesus said the good shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know the shepherd and then john 2 25 the bible says christ had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man god knows all about us unfortunately the big problem in the world and some in the church is that people really don't want to know god when you think about it it's crazy you know i i'm amazed how often i see people surfing their phones we did a an amazing fact in the philippines we were sitting in front of a mall and we're doing something on cell phones more texting i think happens in the philippines than any other country in the world that was the amazing fact and we talked about the guy who had the record speed for texting but while we were videotaping this i saw a mall with hundreds of young people and they were all lined up sitting on these benches and these planters and they all had their phones and their elbow to elbow with each other but they're not looking at each other and they're all looking on the phones they're probably texting the person next to them any of you ever text your spouse in the room the house and and i see them all doing this and they're all searching and they're all and i'm thinking to myself what are they looking for sadly most people are not looking for god we're all searching people have this vacuum in our hearts and they're wanting to know god but most of the world is not interested job 21 11 they send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance they sing to the tambourine and the harp they rejoice to the sound of the flute they spend their days in wealth and in a moment they go down to the grave yet they do not say yet they say to god depart from us for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways that's describing most of the world interested with the pleasures of this life before they go to the grave they say god don't bother us we don't desire the knowledge of your ways that sums it up friends right there so much of the world just doesn't want to know god they're afraid he's going to interfere with their plans but how sad what plan could really matter if god's not part of it john 3 19 the lord said this is the condemnation that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil i don't want to know the lord it might be convicting romans 1 28 there's a lot of verses i could pick paul said and even as they did not like to retain god in their knowledge they want to know everything in the world about everything but the most important thing god gave them up to a debased mind to do those things that are not fitting because they do not have a desire for the knowledge of god like the pharaoh you know by the way not knowing god is fatal if you didn't realize that pharaoh said who is the lord that i should let israel go i know not the lord neither will i let israel go and he was enslaving people like the devil hosea 4 6 my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have rejected knowledge and notice right there you said people are destroyed for lack of knowledge it's not that god's destroying people because they don't know notice that next part of the verse because you have rejected knowledge it's not just that they don't know they don't want to know so many people are lost not because they don't know but they don't look jesus said seek and you'll find and god wants to be sought after he said if you search for me you'll find me jeremiah 29 13 if you search for me with all of your heart it's like david said to solomon if you seek for him he'll be found of you so god wants us to know him but he must be pursued you know if a man spots a young lady and she gets his attention and he thinks she'd be a great prospect i think i'll propose well if they don't know each other that's not going to go very well uh he's got a pursuer amen okay and how's that happen try and get to know them spend some time communicate find out what their personality is little by the little you reveal who you are hopefully they'll like that and so you uh develop a relationship well god wants to know us and keep in mind when we're talking about knowing god the bible says adam knew eve and she had a baby and so in the hebrew mind knowing someone is about as intimate as it gets it means it's a love relationship it's personal and god wants to have that love relationship with you jesus said not everyone that says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom it's not the religious trappings on the outside but he that does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in your name any name we've cast out devils and done many wonderful works in your name and he'll declare to them i never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness now we're going to say more about that in a minute what does it mean to know the lord one thing it definitely means is that you do not practice lawlessness because you know him and you don't want to hurt him on the other hand you look at the sons of eli first samuel 2 12 the sons of eli were corrupt they did not know the lord so knowing god is going to at least for one thing mean that you know what his will is you know what he wants now i've spent some time kind of setting this up i want to talk to you now how do we know god i got five points how do we know god i'm going to try and make it easy they're all w wonders you know through his word his ways his witness and his worship you'll see him up on the screen i think but i'll repeat him again wonders word ways witness worship we know him through his wonders psalm 19 verse 1 the heavens declare the glory of god and the firmament shows his handiwork day unto day they utter speech and night under night they reveal knowledge through the things that god made he reveals himself if you want to know god the earth is full of the glory of god you look around i mean to me i'm embarrassed that i used to believe in evolution because now i look around i just see god in everything not just all the inner working systems and in nature and science and the things that happen in life this is like i have god sightings all the time and creation is one of the places we see that you look in the book of job 12 verse 7 but ask now the beasts and they will teach you and the birds of the air and they will tell you or speak to the earth and it will teach you and the fish of the sea will explain to you who among all of these does not know that the hand of the lord has done this in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind the creatures that you look at you look up in the sky at night look at the birds in the sky you look in the water if you can scuba dive you look on the the land you look around look at the animal kingdom there's so many wonders in the world we can know god you can learn a lot about god through what he made the one who opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing and how the symbiotic relationships in nature just it's such a wonder and that's your creator you know him through his word now these are not in the order priority i just did it the way i did it jeremiah 31 33 and this is one that bears some emphasis but this is the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days says the lord i'll put my law in their minds and i'll write it in their hearts i will be their god and they will be my people no more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the lord for they will know me from the least of them to the greatest all right notice that this is the covenant that saves it's a new covenant by the way it's in the old testament this is also repeated in hebrews 8 10-12 the new covenant is all about knowing god and how does he say that what is the evidence that they know god i put my law in their minds in their hearts so if you want to know god what's one of the most important ways you can know god christ in you the hope of glory well how do you get christ in you he is the word incarnate as you're reading your bible you're getting to know him and you know who he's like and he speaks to you through his word jesus said john 5 39 you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life these are they that testify of me you want to know the lord this is a love letter from god you know it's amazing that people used to fall in love long distance before the internet i know some folks that they did all of their dating through letters and for me that seems like it would be a lot of work but when i was at summer camp they used to make me write home and it would say dear mom how are you i'm fine having fun love doug this is the same card every week because they made you write your parents because writing was anyway but you know people written some beautiful eloquent letters uh and they fall in love with who the person is even though they're not there with them because they feel like they're getting the essence of their heart and so as you read the bible you're getting the essence of god's heart that just popped into mind years ago there was a um a story i don't know if any of you ever heard of cyrano de bergiac yeah it's uh certainly it's a classic story about this man in france and he was a brilliant guy extremely eloquent very brave best swordsman in the country it's a story it's not true but he had a very big nose i mean enormous he fell in love with i think a second cousin named roxanne but he thought she'll never have anything to do with me because i'm just playing old ugly well roxanne was smitten with this actor she saw on the stage one day and his name was christian and that guy was an imbecile but he could read a script and he was good-looking christian goes the cyrano i'm truncating the story and he said you know i'd like to write her a letter but i don't know what to say she's a sophisticated woman and and cyrano this is a chance for me to talk about my love for her so he begins to write love letters to roxanne signs christian's name she falls madly in love with christian that not only is he good looking i've never heard such prose and romance and such eloquence and later she he has to talk to her face to face and she thought what happened he's a knucklehead because that's not the word they use in the story but then cyrno tries to redeem the relationship he stands outside her balcony at night actually uses his voice she thinks she's talking to christian from her balcony and he says all these things when's her heart back again well it's this ugly guy out there but uh she's so smitten with who he is in his his heart and his words at the end of the story finally she finds out who it really was and they declare their love for each other and he dies of course because it's a tragedy but uh anyway i think there was a lesson in there somewhere about knowing that uh you know it's who the person is so when you read the bible you know we don't know really the bible goes to great length saying don't make an idol don't try and figure out what i look like i want you to know who i am and jesus wants to reveal himself to you he's a person you are made in the image of god we all got personality because we get that concept from god he's got the ultimate good personality you know i think it's in the book desire of ages to know god is to love him if you know god you will love him you know all the problems you and i have with obedience are because we don't love him enough if you loved him better you would obey him better so if you want to serve him better you've got to know him better how's that going to happen through the wonders through the word how much time do you take with the word i think a lot of you probably pretty well versed in politics right now and we'd have a real interesting discussion if i asked your opinion on the vaccine that's been a very polarizing i was amazed how much email i got i had no idea how politically polarizing that is among christians not just our church all christians and that whole society i better change subject right away just get away from that but people know all kinds of things folks spend a lot of time reading the paper and surfing the internet how much time do you spend seeking after god wanting to know him so we know him through his word jesus said you search the scriptures they testify of me luke 24 the bible says begin it in moses and all the prophets by luke 24 27 beginning at moses all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself that's jesus by the way no new testament's even written he says all of it new and old testament you want to know who he is he reveals himself and you've got to take time to get to know him if there's some effort involved do you study to become an expert in any field it's because you invested time in learning well if you want to know god this is one of the principle ways you're going to get to know him through his word christ said first john 3 6 whoever abides in him does not sin whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him so the way that we've got the victory over the sin is by knowing him how we're going to know him through the word we know him through his ways through the providence of god now time does not permit for me to take you through the bible i mean i could talk about the incredible providence you see in the book of esther you can see the hand of god working in such marvelous ways it doesn't make itself clear right away but when you get to the end of the book you look back and say wow look at how god delivered his people through his ways see god's hand do you see him in your life have you gone through experiences before and you wonder why did this happen you look back and say praise the lord i i could see that he was working in the background all things together for the good of those that love him you look i'll take for example the story of joseph i mean poor joseph he was the beloved son of a father sold by his brother he's a good kid he said too much about his dreams but other than that he's a good kid that doesn't record him doing anything wrong jealousy i sell him he becomes a slave for years and here he had been pampered son of a wealthy nomad and then he's falsely accused he does the right thing he serves god and in spite of being pure and noble and honest he's falsely accused of a terrible crime and put in prison for years the best years of his life you might think is youth in his teen years a slave and a prisoner you could become really bitter if you want to going through something like that joseph knew god and he believed that god had a destiny for him that's what all those dreams were about he didn't know how it was going to work out but i think he trusted god and he said i don't know why i'm here right now but where lord if i'm going to be his servant i'm going to be the best servant i can be and god blessed him he said if i'm going to be a prisoner i'm going to be the best prisoner i can be and god bless them in the prison and then something marvelous happened with the pharaoh's dreams and in one day joseph goes from the prison to the palace and he becomes the prime minister of the most powerful kingdom in the world years later of course he you know the story reconnects with his brothers and i want to get to heaven and see their faces when he says i am joseph i want to see the video of that or dvd i don't know what they're using up there but listen to what joseph says in genesis 45 joseph says to his brothers please come near to me they were terrified when he said i'm joseph so they came near he said i am joseph first time they're hearing them speak in hebrew he had been talking to him egyptian he said i am joseph your brother who you sold into egypt but now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves i can just hear jesus saying that to you and me so look i don't want to be you'd beat up on yourself i died because of you but this was part of god's plan do not be angry or grieve with yourselves because you sold me here for god sent me before you to preserve life and god sent me to preserve your posterity for you and the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance so now it was not you who sent me but god so we get to know god through his ways look for his ways through his witness one point number four now if you're counting ii corinthians 4 6 for it is god who commanded the light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ we know god through sharing god so we not only know god in looking for god as a person but god is saying look if you want to really know me then don't just try to you know shower me with words of love show love to your brother and you will get to know me and it's in our interaction and practicing the love of god with people we get to know him better did that make sense and so you know when christ sends us out to do mission part of what's happening is not just that you're reaching others but he is reaching you as you try to reach others he is revealing himself to you as you you try to reach others i learn so much more about god being involved in ministry and even as i stand before you like now and i'm teaching and preaching god speaks to me and he's revealing things to me as i try to be a channel to you so you will come to know god better in your witness the bible says how many of you want to be spirit-filled you're spiritual why are you going to be spirit-filled i will give you my spirit that you might be my witnesses and so he says look i'm going to reveal myself to you that it might go through you to others and so as you say lord hear my send me you are opening yourself up to knowing him better because he wants to go through you to others and you read stories in the bible like the the good samaritan you know you got three characters four characters the guy that fell among thieves and you got a levite you got a priest and you got a samaritan which one of the three knew god it was the despised samaritan that clearly knew god because he showed love and compassion for someone else see what i'm saying and i think that the lord even revealed himself to him more through that experience so for the believer the purpose of life our mission is to know god and to make him known you've probably heard that before we want to know god and make him known so he's known also through his witness and then finally how do we know god oh wait i want to give you another verse on the other one before i leave that point first john 4 20. if someone says i love god and he hates his brother he's a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen how can he love god who he he has not seen so one of the ways we demonstrate that we know god is by what by loving our brothers we say i know god and we hate each other you don't know god amen all right and then finally we know him through his worship god reveals himself to us through worship now knowing god is not just god talking to you through his word knowing god is you're talking to him when you come and you sing his praises when you come just to talk about how worthy he is that's where you get the word worship you come to adore him because you love him he reveals himself to you in the in the experience of worship you get to know him better ephesians 3 17 this is a great verse that christ might dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may have be able to comprehend catch this with all the saints what is the width and the length and the depth and the height and to know the love of christ which passes knowledge that you might be full filled with the fullness of god what a magnificent verse that we might know the love of god in that way i think about isaiah when he was there in the presence of god he heard the angels worshiping god saying holy holy holy in that context of worship there in heaven isaiah finally saw himself and he repented and he went through a dramatic conversion experience but it was in the experience of worship that that happened and we often come to know him in that experience not just public but private worship and the book steps to christ page 98 there's a great quote pray in your closet as you go about your daily labor let your heart often be lifted up to god it was thus that enoch walk with god these silent prayers rise like precious incense it's an attitude of worship before the throne of grace satan cannot overcome him whose heart is thus stayed upon god you will be safe if you live in an attitude of worshiping god we don't just worship god once a week people sometimes accuse seventh-day adventists oh yeah you guys just worship god once a week we don't believe that do we no we gather together we rest once a week in corporate worship but we worship god every day we're to walk with god and worship god all the time and you know him through worship so what do you gain if you know god everything this is eternal life christ said that they might know thee the only true god everything hinges on knowing him look at psalm 46 verse 10 be still and know that i am god you can actually swap that around know that i'm god and you'll be still it works that way too and another verse to prove that matthew 11 27 all things have been delivered to me by my father and no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the son that was kind of discouraging no one knows the son except the father jesus i want to know you keep reading no one knows the father except the son and the one to whom the son wills to reveal him moses said lord show me your glory and god said yes we say jesus show me your glory show me the glory of the father will he will he listen to you he wants to reveal himself to you know what the next verse said come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i'll give you rest where's that rest come from knowing god now knowing god is also comforting because if you know him and you know his love and you know he's your friend have you ever had a friend in high places it can be really great if you're in trouble and you got a friend in high places i got pulled over by a highway patrolman once and uh there in the dark he shined his flashlight in my face he said pastor doug i won't tell you what i was doing but he felt it necessary to slow me down and he had been going to an evangelistic meeting that i had been doing at a town nearby and i thought praise the lord for friends in high places and so i got a warning of grace and going through this recent uh health challenge um and i so appreciate you know the health workers that are doing their their very best but let's face it sometimes you go to the hospital and folks line up i don't know if you've had an emergency room experience before appraisal i wasn't hospitalized but karen took me to emergency and they did x-rays and sent me home but you know they're just kind of churning people through the best they can and uh sent me home with an over-the-counter prescription prescription for over-the-counter i thought here i'm dying i thought i was i wasn't but um i'm just a baby and uh but i was sick karen could have an amen he was just sick and uh i felt like i was just trapped in the system but then i remembered i got some friends in high place i got on my phone i thought i'm calling doctor so-and-so and dr so-and-so and dr so-and-so i call three or four doctors men and women friends of mine that are way up in the system and man they got on the phone they called the drugstore all sudden things were happening within an hour everything i need i had because i had some friends i'm sorry if you don't have those friends i can't tell you their names but um it was wonderful and everything began to turn around right away because i was able to get the personal treatment that i thought i needed for my particular problems but i think we all know it's wonderful to have friends in high places the book of james chapter 2 verse 23 and the scripture was fulfilled that says abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness catch this and he was the friend of god is god your friend exodus 33 the lord spoke to moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend wouldn't you like to have that experience friends or god speaks to you face to face like that acts 13 22 and he gave testimony and said i found david the son of jesse a man after my own heart that you could just be tied heart to heart with jesus as your friend you know you hear it all the time you grow up and sometimes i think we get callous and it just goes over heads people say do you know the lord as your savior is he your lord and savior do you know the lord and he said yeah i know the lord and leave me alone and then you ask yourself in your quiet moments do i really know him do you have that person do you walk and talk with him do you run into situations and you say lord i know what you want me to do because i know you i know what you want me to do in this situation that i think is a pretty good definition of what it means hebrews 4 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed through the heavens jesus the son of god let us hold fast our confession for we don't have a high priest that cannot sympathize with our weakness but he was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin let us therefore boldly come to the throne of grace god wants to save you he would not go through everything he went through to save you if you couldn't be saved he loves you desperately the lord wants to love you all right let me say that differently the lord wants to have a loving knowing relationship with you a thousand times more than you do he longs for you to long after him now this is an especially important subject i started out telling you that for the last days because the ones who are going to succeed in the last days and do the greatest work are the ones who know god daniel 11 you know that's in last chapters of daniel daniel 11 32 those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery but the people who know their god will be strong and carry out great exploits who's going to do the work in the last days those that know god they've got that personal relationship now before i tie it off i should mention you're never going to come to the place where you say bingo got it i know god i'm good it's something that is ongoing even through eternity they'll always be bottomless resources of god you'll never be able to plumb i mean we'll always be learning about god but hosea 6 3 let us know let us pursue the knowledge of the lord always we should be pursuing god first peter 2 2 and 3. now i'm going to put two verses together but i want you to catch this as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you might grow thereby now look at ii peter 3 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of the lord and savior jesus christ we grow through the sincere milk of the word be growing in the knowledge all the time knowing him better and better and better how many of you married somebody you thought you knew who you married you know i'm going to finish this but then you found that after a while you didn't know them as well as you thought but as you're married longer you get to know them more and the more you're with them and as the years go by you know them better and better and better now in marriages it may not always be good but in your relationship with god knowing him better is always going to be better it's going to be good knowing him more is going to always be an upgrade because he's going to reveal his glory to you and his goodness and his love you know i'm always uh touched by some of these incredible reunions people that love each other that are separated by circumstances it happens a lot with soldiers where you know they're deployed and they're in a foreign country and for sometimes you know months or even years they may not be with their family and then it's great when there's a surprise you know mom and the kids don't know but some of the relatives know that dad's coming home and she's out on the soccer field and uh all of a sudden the middle of the game it's all prearranged where dad swaps places with a goalie and his daughter comes up to kick a goal and there's dad it's your scream and she runs the hugger dad and the mom comes to hug the dad and the dog comes running over the field and he's doing back flips because he knows the dad and there's this reunion because there's been this separation from someone they know and love and it's so wonderful to be reunited you know i think about the story in the bible where joseph is separated from his father for 30 something years this is his beloved son the father thinks he's dead for years he finds out he's alive and can you imagine the joy it says he fell on his neck and he kissed him a long time this love this reunion bible tells us that when you get to heaven it's going to be special for those that love the lord because then we will see him face to face he wants to have that love of relationship with you now and if you have that you're going to be yearning and longing after your time with god because nothing is more precious than that the reason we exist friends is to know god and to make him known other knowledge might have value but if you don't have that as your priority you're going to lose everything he that has the son has life this is eternal life that they might know thee how many of you want to know him better amen we're going to sing about it i'll invite our singers to come up i think the orchestra is going to help we're going to sing more about jesus if you got a hymnal ear it's 2 45 invite you to stand and we'll pray at the conclusion [Music] more about jesus [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] who died for me [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] amen you sound good lord this is our prayer these words we believe we're not just singing them we want to know you every day we want more of you lord help us do our part through our lives to seek you as the most important truth person our friend our savior our king and i pray that you'll reveal yourself to us lord that we can be transformed by that revelation bless each person here i know that both those that are watching those that are here there's always a broad spectrum of challenges we know through all these things you're trying to reach us reach others through us and often both lord we pray for the holy spirit to be on your church help us be witnesses in the world right now bless us as we go from this place with your presence in christ's name we ask amen god bless you friends please remember that we'll be having our happy deacons at the door that will receive your offerings you

Channel: Granite Bay Hilltop SDA Church

Views: 5,699

Keywords:

Id: Ab_2Bv18q5c

Length: 152min 25sec (9145 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 04 2021