"Healing And Forgiving" by Elder Randy Skeete

let's bow our heads and pray before we pray do three things for me favor number one do you have a cell phone it's already off blessings upon you but there always some stragglers who have not yet turned off their phones please turn off your phones notice I did not say turn them down I said turn them off parents monitor your children because I'm sure each one has a cell phone make sure the phones are off not texting no checking anything in the presence of a holy God before whom angels veil their faces one of my gripes with my church is that we're a highly disrespectful Church to God and I speak in general terms of course all phones turned off anything that could make a noise favor number two while I'm speaking pray for me and what I want you to say is Lord put your words in that man's mouth and that is based on Jeremiah chapter one verse nine which says then the Lord put forth his hand and touch my mouth and the Lord said unto me behold I have put my words in thy mouth and favor number three I want you to think come now let us reason together saith the Lord Isaiah 1:18 let us pray now loving father in heaven I ask in the name of Jesus please God grant us your spirit one of his functions is to lead us into truth father if he does not lead us into truth we will guide ourselves into error and so please as an expression of mercy grant us the presence of the Spirit of Truth give us hearts to receive the truth gladly speak through me to God as I humble myself in your presence bless not only us but wherever your people are worshiping you on this holy day bless them they got me pray in Jesus name that all God's people say a man and Amman or something for today in the beginning what did I say in the beginning go with me to Daniel chapter 1 we shall begin reading at first 1 Daniel 1 reading from first one our subject is in the beginning please don't put the text on the screen I want people to find them if you've listened to any of my messages I frequently complain about the the loss that the church is experiencing of the ability to find the books of the Bible because everything is on a strain and when you read the text on the screen you don't have to find out if Corinthians is of the New Testament or the old you just read it off the screen but when you go to your Bible and try to find it and you help your child who hopefully sitting next to you then you kill several religious birds with one stone daniel 1 reading from verse 1 the Bible says in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it and the Lord gave to hurricane king of Judah in his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar and brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God and the King spake unto ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs that he would bring certain of the children of Israel and of the Kings seed and of the Prince's children in whom was no blemish but well favoured and skilful in all wisdom and cunning in knowledge and understanding science and such as had ability in them to stand in the King's presence and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans and the King appointed them a daily provision of the Kings meat and of the wine which he drank so another singer in 3 years but at the end there of them I stand before the king now we are familiar with this historical event in the lives of Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah those three boys better known as Shadrach Meshach and Abednego along with Daniel verse 6 tells us now among these were of the children of Judah Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah unto whom the Prince of the eunuchs gave names for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar and to Hananiah of Shadrach and to Misha L of Misha and to Azariah of Abednego but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the Kings meat nor with the wine which he drank therefore he requested the Prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself maybe kanessa had conquered Jerusalem this was the third time the Babylonians had come and on this third occasion they really did a job on Jerusalem took with them the best of the nation laid waste the city left a few of the Israelites there and they went back to Jerusalem Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah Daniel and the three Hebrew friends were among a group of young men Nebuchadnezzar selected for special education that he might train them to help him to administer the kingdom of Babylon which at that time was the ruling power on earth the Bible says that Nebuchadnezzar did three things in verse four he introduces a Babylonian curriculum in verse five he introduces a Babylonian diet in verses in 4/7 here two juices Babylonian names the names given to those three Hebrew boys Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were all associated with Babylonian gods Nebuchadnezzar's intention was to bring about us change in the spiritual thinking of these through boys to break the connection from the to the Hebrew God and bring about a bonding to the Babylonian gods and so the naming that the Prince of the eunuchs did for those four young men that attacked them spiritually that was the intention the curriculum was to change them mentally the diet was to change them physically mental spiritual and physical what I'd like to bring to your attention is that of the three innovations let me put that word in quotation marks that Nebuchadnezzar introduced in order to Babylonian eyes these three Hebrew boys we have no record of Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah opposing the curriculum because what they had been taught as children on the knees of the mothers and their fathers was enough to defend them against anything that curriculum may attempt to do to their minds what you teach your children is critical the change of name we have no record of Daniel and his three friends opposing the change of names because we're not called upon to tell people what to call we're called upon to decide what we call ourselves and so while if you read Daniel 226 maybe Kelly answered and said to Daniel whose name was bested shaza able to make nor intermediate dream which have seen and the interpretation there off the Bible says his name was Bell - answer that's from the babylonian standpoint but if you read the Book of Daniel for instance Daniel chapter 7 verse 15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body he did not say I belteshazzar when Gabriel came he said fear not Daniel I am now come to give thee skill and understanding Daniel called himself Daniel Gabriel called him Daniel because heaven called him Daniel even though Babylon called him Bell Takata are you following me it is not what people call you it is what you call yourself and so there's no record of the four young men opposing the names you want to call me belt Hashanah that's your business you wanna call me Shadrach Meshach Abednego you go right ahead that's fine I know who I am but there's a record of the four Hebrew boys opposing the diet what they had eaten in the infancy was fine but it could not protect them if they had chosen to eat the Babylonian food which clearly was contrary to God's recommendations because Daniel uses the word defile when daniel said define while the verse verse eight of Daniel one uses the word body we can assume that Daniel did not use defilement simply to refer to the effect on the body because the body is connected to the mind and the mind to the spirit they are indivisible what affects the body affects the mind is that clear and so the fileman would not start simply target the body of Daniel it would have the mind of daniel and consequently the spirituality of daniel and so daniel wanted to protect himself from comprehensive defilement and he opposed the diet but Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself now we also were the three Hebrew boys along with Daniel also purpose in their hearts because if you read the rest of that chapter is very clear all four of them underwent the test ten days pulse and water he waited for seventeen as for these four children God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom and Daniel had understanding an old fish in a dream so all four of them purpose in their hearts not to defile their bodies with this diet we do not read with a purpose in their heart to rebel against the names we do not read with the purpose in the hearts to rebel against the curriculum clearly for these three points what they put into their body would have a marked effect on the functioning of the mind and the spirituality and consequently the ability to receive God's information to make sense of God's communication to them my beloved brothers and sisters my friends visitors diet is of critical importance to the health of body but also mind and soul I don't mean soul in the sense of an eternal soul as some churches teach I mean the spiritual side what you eat is who you are are you with me let me give you a quotation from the book maranatha page 62 paragraph 5 this is written by my second favorite writer my favorite writers are in the Bible my second favorite write is a lady called Ellen Gould white she was born in 1827 she died in 1915 and if you ever read her writings even casually something will happen in your heart if you read honestly even casually so if you're not Assembly adventist ask your 7-day Adventist friend to get you a sample of her writings perhaps a little bit like steps to Christ read it and see what happens to your mind in the book Maranatha page 62 paragraph 5 she says the controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands who if they had conquered if they are conquered on this point would have held the moral strength or power to gain the victory over every other temptation of see you miss what I just said let me say it again let me paraphrase it from 19th century English to silver springs English victory over appetite is the foundation of victory over every of the temptation young lady sent me an email she said pastor I can't control my fleshly urges speaking euphemistically what should i do I wrote back and said stop eating me stop eating me along with praying and finding Bible verses that deal with that sort of thing memorizing them thinking of them dwelling on them but stopped eating meat a few weeks later she wrote back she said I cannot I'm telling truth she said these urges they have not vanished and praise God they haven't vanished because they were put on us by God but they have come down the controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands who if they have conquered on this point would have had the moral power to gain the victory over every of the temptation of Satan I repeat the foundation of success against temptation is to conquer appetite first it is not by accident or happenstance that a very first temptation brought against Christ was a temptation targeting the appetite in heavenly places page 194 paragraph 3 the same favorite author of mine writes these words in temperance lies at the foundation of all the moral evils known to man what lies beneath the foundation were nothing essentially nothing then what is she saying the root cause of all sin is in temperance and for the purpose of this weekend's emphasis in temperance is not simply the lack of control of appetite control of AB that is both controlling we tend to think of appetite when we control it is that we control how much we eat the control of appetite is to control what you eat how much you eat and when you eat those of you who not offended say Amen let me say it again control of appetite involves what you eat how much you eat and when you eat in which is a breakdown in control in any of those areas lies at the foundation of all the moral evils known to man Christ began the work of redemption just where the ruin began now that's a very serious statement listen to it again Christ began the work of redemption just where the ruin began where did the moral ruin begin appetite the fall of our first parents was caused by the indulgence of appetite then the quotation and the swaying in redemption in redemption the control of appetite is the first work of Christ how many Gospels are they how many Gospels and books Gospels how many are they for how many talk about a crucifixion all for how many talk about the trials of Christ all for is that repetition well let me repeat what I just said I'm in good company I'm a biblical company let me repeat in Redemption the control of appetite is the first work of Christ Satan can have no great power over Minds when the kappa type is kept under control as he can when it is indulged let me say that more simply than L White puts it in the references North Pacific Union Gleaner April 14 1909 paragraph 12 Satan can have no great power over Minds when the appetite is kept under control as when it is indulged and is constantly working to lead men into in temperance or indulgence what does that say the devil knows that he has an easier time with someone who cannot control appetite he has a difficult time with someone who can control appetite why do i title the message in the beginning this is the deportation again Christ began the work of redemption just when the ruin began how did sin begin submitting to appetite how did Christ begin his work of redemption controlling appetite god has split into man certain urges by God's arrangement the result of God's creative genius appetite is one but appetite is considered an animal passion now sometimes the word animal the expression animal passage is not negative or it's sometimes called the lower passions the lower passions appetite and sexual urges they were put in us by God but they do not control themselves to balance or to control the lower passions or the animal passions of the lower powers God gave to mankind the higher powers the will or the mind enlightened by the Word of God the conscience the mind the will let me say again enlightened by the Word of God conscience is not enough conscience must be educated properly there are some cultures where eating people is fine it does not bother the cult the conscience are you with me so your conscience must be properly educated or it will lead you astray the higher powers essentially the will and lightened by the Word of God so that the appetite is controlled by the higher powers when appetite is not controlled by the higher powers the will enlightened by God appetite grows in its strength until it gets to the place where it is virtually uncontrollable I was sold several years ago I don't know how true it is I'm not an animal specialist and if you feed a chicken to a barnyard chicken and the chicken is well fed you fed him by himself he eats then he walks away if you bring other chickens and they start eating that stuffed chicken will come back and start eating again there are chickens like that but they have no feathers yeah do I have to explain there are a lot of chickens like that but they have no feathers they cannot say no to food not just a food to harmful food now I don't want to talk about bananas or plums or so no that's not the point the point is the principle and the principle is appetite uncontrolled we'll take you straight to hell appetite controlled by the power of God will he quip you for a place in God's kingdom or will contribute to your equipping and so when I say in the beginning what I want to draw your attention to Christ when he began his public ministry or before he began it he went into the wilderness not looking for the devil but the devil came and the devil knew if he could get Christ on apatite he'd have him no problem the victory Jesus won in the garden or in the wilderness was a victory for us are you with me and so the power of that victory the power of that overcoming is available to us when we connect with Jesus Christ as verily as Adams failure Rock consequences in us so verily does the victory of Christ have consequences for us when we are collected to Christ appetiser Pharisee was seeing my beloved brothers and sisters is 20 after 8 God could have made human beings without the need to eat none of us would have liked that but we could nothing we could do about it but he could he could have made us without the need to eat but he made us with the need to eat in the new world we'll have to eat as a matter of fact in the book spiritual gifts volume 1 page 69 paragraph 1 we read these interesting words in order for man to retain an endless life he must continue to eat of the leaves of the tree of life the fruit of the tree of life let me say that again in order for man to possess or attain an endless life he must continue to eat of the fruit of the tree of life deprived of that tree his life would gradually wear away so we need to take a second look at immortality you are immortal because you continue to do what God sends you miss what I said you miss what I said completely in the new world it is God's arrangement we must eat in order to maintain the endless life we must eat of the Tree of Life deprived of that tree the life would gradually wear away what I'm stressing it was by God's arrangement that we eat but like so many of the things God has given to us we use what God has given for his glory to bring disgrace to God and so God has given to us sexual urges to be expressed in a marital context we use it for homosexuality we use it for lesbianism we use it for bestiality we use it for prostitution and God gave it for his glory first and to be expressed in a confined context but we use it to disgrace God appetite falls squarely under the heading of god-given gifts used to disgrace gone my brothers and sisters there is no power no negative power that affects your life and mine for which God does not have power to help us overcome let me say it again the same way Christ overcame you and I can overcome let me say differently the same way Christ overcame you and I what selection what do you think I'll use will is not strong enough must very often we see Christ like a painting in a museum a very very famous painting called The Scream was just sold for ungodly sum of money I could have drawn it myself and about a hundred twenty million dollars we go to museums and we look at the screen we look at the you know what's that lady called them Mona Lisa now what do we do we look we admire and we say oh my what a lovely painting is behind the glass you can't touch it they're armed guards ready to shoot you oh my what a nice painting then you realize it's time to go you turn you leave it and you go that's how many Christians treat Christ they look at his sinless life they look at this victorious life as a painting by the father and they say oh my he never sinned Oh dear me he never cursed he never lusted after a woman what a nice man and then return and walk away not understanding that Christ is not a museum painting to be admired he is a reality to be imitated by having him dwell anew are you still mister you said in Amen very melodiously but you missed it Jesus Christ in life is not simply to be admired it is to be copied and the emphasis this weekend is diet appetite that which lies at the foundation of spiritual growth of spiritual deterioration in the book desire of Ages page 664 paragraph 4 we read these powerful words Christ revealed no qualities and exercise no powers that men may not have through faith in him his perfect humanity what humanity his perfect humanity is that which all his followers may possess if there will be in subjection to God as he was listen to me God does not have two standards for admission to his kingdom 1 for Christ and one for us then he has two levels of righteousness or two kinds the life that Christ lived that qualified him to sit on his Father's throne is the life you limas live that will qualify us to sit on Christ's throne and so the Bible says in Revelation 3:21 to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me and my throne even as or the same way that I overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his room in the beginning sin entered the world because of a lack of control of appetite when the work of redemption began Christ began it in the very area where the problem began my beloved brothers and sisters and Friends tonight I want you to take a second look at this issue of appetite appetite is not just reserved to food it's reserved to all the sensual urges because we have appetite for all kinds of things I want you to do a few things do you acknowledge perhaps don't answer me you have a problem with don't answer let's say you say yes and I hear the yes my fee step 1 recommit your life to Christ you know this Christ in you and you in Christ Christ in you is the power to live the christ-like life you and Christ is the protection from condemnation is if you are in Christ when the Lord looks at you it sees Christ you keep missing everything I say tonight let me say it again if you are in Christ when the father looks whom does he see Christ when the law looks what is the law see Christ so there's no condemnation to him who is one in Christ Jesus now Christ in you is power and the two are simultaneous you can have one without the other what I'm saying to you recommit your life to Christ 100% God will accept nothing less than unreserved surrender lastly offense page 191 paragraph 5 let me say it again God will accept nothing less than unreserved surrender many of us are miserable Christians because we're not 100% surrender to God Ministry of healing page 44 80 paragraph 3 many who assumed the name of Christ are unhappy and unstable in mind why because we do we are afraid to trust ourselves with God they do not make a complete surrender to him for they shrink from the consequences that such surrender may require or involve unless they make this surrender they cannot have peace what is she saying the surrender the Christ must be complete step 1 recommit your life to Christ step to surrender that weakness to him let me tell you something if you think your weakness an appetite or mind is a big problem you should talk to Abraham and Sarah there's no physiologist no medical doctor who will tell you you cannot control appetite they may say we'll do this they can't tell you it's impossible but you will find gynecologists obstetricians neurologists who will tell a man or a woman you're a ninety nine you can no longer father children or become pregnant and there would be right at a physical level are you with me but I'm telling you there's no problem that you have that comes close to Abraham a serious problem but as impossible as it was at the earthly level when God got involved you can understand why God asked Abraham the question in Genesis 18 14 is anything too hard for the Lord you answer it yes or no no is your appetite problem too hard for God no is it hard for you yes is it hard for me yes is it hard for God no understand me clearly the power God uses to deal with any difficulty you or I have is the same power that brought Jesus Christ from the dead when I say that there I mean the second death let me say it again I see all week and I'll have to repeat what I say listen closely what is harder to fix what is hard as a reverse apatite problem or death death if you have a smoking problem and here's a dead relative which is easier to raise the dead relative or give you a victory over smoking of course

Channel: Remnant SDA Church

Views: 49,515

Rating: 4.8136439 out of 5

Keywords: Remnant, SDA, Church, Adventist, Christian, Seventh-day, Gospel, Worship, Sabbath, Randy, Skeete, Healing, Forgiving, Vespers

Id: TEjM6FNLgjQ

Length: 34min 32sec (2072 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 15 2012