Longing for More

[Applause] pastor if you can lead us in prayer at this time please father god hand in hand that's where we want to be with you amen amen thank you pastor and thank you kendall for that meditational peace asking the holy spirit to hover over us at this time so we're now at lesson number 11 in our series rest in christ and today we're looking at longing for more so yes i think we have somebody from our congregation that's going to actually lead us in our memory verse our memory verse for this week is taken from first corinthians chapter six sorry chapter 10 and verse six and um sister george if you can kindly lead us read out our memory verse for us at this time now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did thank you first corinthians chapter 10 verse 6. thank you very much thank you very much so words such as type model end sample example shadow reflection are all used in the bible to indicate a representation of something grander something bigger and much more intricate than the model itself scripture is full of imagery and symbols pointing to larger heavenly realities now pastor whether it's a miniature model or you know any form of advertising or even trailers the objective is to make the recipient of what they're hearing or seeing look forward to the genuine article to long for more but here's my conundrum you know is there a problem where a christian who has studied biblical types been through the rituals and seen the models but is not excited or longing for more what do you think sir hmm you know john i've thought about the question all week once i got the question and i was reflecting on it there there's there's a theology that's called the delay theology delay um and and what this theology talks about is uh the fact that we have been waiting so long and we have seen this this model we have seen this sample we have seen this shadow this skier that sometimes because we have waited so long we can fall into this um i'm trying to find the word i was thinking of we we find ourselves elder johnny falling into this we become a bit um complacent complacent apathy the sense of apathy that seeps in you know and and um and because we we we are living in a society especially um in in this world where we are we're talking about they want it now you know getting it now kind of situation the the the the micro the microwave mentality so i think that is actually hemorrhaging or longevity in our faith because you know we're struggling you know we want you know we're this longing you know the question is lord how long you know when when when will all this happen and that is where faith you know faith should take should should take over where faith should should control control us because i've made a note in my in my quarterly that says model is nice but the real thing is better and you know you think about before you got married and you kind of think about you know you did a practice run and and it felt nice and then on the day that you got married to the one you love so can you imagine when jesus turns up what a day that will be and what what what what what an eternal rest that will be so yes um those are my rumbled thoughts and notes that i've written down the fact is the real thing is much better than the model itself okay so apathy complacency interesting thoughts so congregation viewers listeners do you agree with pastor what is the problem where a christian who has studied the biblical types and been through the rituals and and seeing the models is not excited or longing for more would love to hear your feedback or your comments on that particular question while that's coming through we will move on because we're always battling against time so let's have a look at how the apostle paul uses examples and metaphors in his letter to the corinthians so sister sita i'm coming to you first of all what are you getting from first corinthians 10 verses one to five if you take those first five verses for us looking at the examples that paul is using here yes so first corinthians 10 verse 1 to 5 i'll be reading from the new international version and it says for i do not want you to be ignorant of the fact others brothers and sisters that our ancestors were all under the clouds and that they all passed through the sea they were all baptized into moses in the cloud and in the sea they all ate the same spiritual food and drunk the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them and that rock was christ nevertheless god was not pleased with most of them their bodies were scattered in the wilderness um you know in these five verses the apostle paul recalls the history of israel and describes israel's experience as a baptism um he made a connection between the israelites in the wilderness and the christians in corinth and by passing through the red sea and by following the pillar of clouds the israelites were baptized with the power of god through the ministry of moses they all ate the same spiritual food in the form of manna from heaven and they all drank the same spiritual drink in the form of the water that flowed miraculously from a rock and so paul identifies that rock as christ himself who provided water for the israelites and like those israelites christians are baptized and though into christ instead of moses and christians observe communion by eating the spiritual food and christ's spiritual food of christ's body and rather than manna they drink the spiritual drink of his blood rather than water from the rock and you know it's possible that paul's intention and this message is to make a specific connection between the experiences of israelites and the corinthians practice of christian baptism and communion but however in verse 5 paul shows that none of this was enough to earn god's favor from the israelites so punishment had to take place and that punishment didn't imply or symbolize a lack of salvation it does however indicate that believers are not immune from consequences when we sin deep okay thank you um eldar o'neil if you pick up for us verses 6 through 2 11 please um first corinthians um 10 verses 6 to 11 i'm reading from the king james version now these things were our example to the intent we should not lost after evil things as they also lasted neither be idolaters as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand neither let us tempt christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of the serpent neither murmur he as some of them also murmured and were reached and were destroyed of the destroyer now all these things happen unto them for example and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come in terms of an explanation that which happened in the past was a type an example given to us that we should learn the lessons of our ancestors who have gone before us the hope is that as we walk with integrity not doubting god god will fulfill his words and his promises that he has made to us and psalms 138 and verse 2 the latter part says for law as magnified when god said something he means it thou has magnified thy word above thy name our ancestors through the eyes of the old testament were looking through tight to try to see jesus but we through the eyes of the new testament are looking to jesus and thus we can clearly understand time the earthly sanctuary with all it ritual and procedures were just examples or mere symbols in first combination 10 paul revisit some of the key experiences of god's people in the wilderness on their way to the promised land to teach us the important lesson of jesus's ministry and the plan of salvation we see some in closing that part we see some key symbols coming out there symbol number one at the red sea the people the children of israel leaving out of egypt from slavery entering them to a new freedom on the cloud that was a symbol in reality our baptism marked the end of the journey of sin and slavery and in our life and the beginning of a new life romans 6 verses 4 and 11. in in symbol again god fed them with manner that the children of israel reality jesus is the bread of life um john 6 and verse 48 symbol again they drank water that flowed from a rock um reality jesus is the living water so we see a connection between symbol and reality and the examples that were set before us for us to recognize the life and ministry of jesus amen thank you panelists and as it says it's written for our admonition it's not for us to just read and dismiss it's important today as well pastor any comments coming in our responses to the conundrum i through out there quite a lot of points elder jordan i'm looking at live stream at the moment and um brother member talks about the adage that ghost familiarity brings contempt very powerful thought from that elder johnny clive clyde made a very powerful thought i just want to share clive's thought he says maybe it's the wrong question he says lord how long but rather lord give me strength each day to please you yes so you know where the model that the typology that is there doesn't it it's not deleted within our minds very powerful thought thank you for that clive um and elder keith burton um pastor dr keyboard he makes this point he says um the model is distorted um sorry oftentimes he says models are distorted from from there you know that is only that it only brings excitement to those who have a a certain mindset and he calls it a far circle mindset so so that that's the thought i i think about um angela says and paul was connecting history to jesus affirming the fact that jesus was instrumental at work in israel's past as he's present in as he's present today she's saying that he's using some sort of typology i like what the point that tom tom has made so if we go back to tomtom's point that would be so good um he said models and rituals may have outlived their usefulness or relevance apathy sets in and hence the longing for the real that's about i think we should highlight that as one of the thought for the day um and and statue of the lord seems to agree with um dr keith burton he says many of the rituals are man-made which which don't require any change of heart on the following who follows them the real thing strikes to the heart pointing out sin and the need for change that seems to be coming through um elder johnny that sometimes as as um as humans um because we're looking at something we we don't get attuned to it but when the real thing comes in then obviously we recognize that there needs to be some modification sun sun says the word complacency comes to mind we now live in a world of instant gratification and throw away society therefore patience is short and society looks for the next instant gratification and and sunson agreed with you know sunshine last week was talking about you know how we need to protect our environment yes so there he's talking about throwing away i think he's suggesting reuse recycle and there's other ri i don't remember it right now but sunson thank you for that i can see sunshine is an environmentalist el chico says when its spiritual application is missing it becomes a mere ceremony without the significance of the salvation in christ against again el chico is agreeing with what um clive says on on live stream and what um the pastor dr keith burton has said he must increase final thought as the saying goes familiar to breathe content instead of having a relationship with god some people worship experience just turns into ritual and tradition we need to connect with jesus what a powerful thought he must increase and i think donald donald davis then says the need to see jesus for myself is a real thing i'm excited that longing for home what a powerful thought thank you very much but i want to highlight what um el chico has said also i think we need to make that one of the points of the morning so if the person running like youtube can i like that so others can think that in their thought that would be very very good over to you elder johnny excellent please keep your comments coming in and not to be outdone i think we have a comment from our congregation as well sister lana good to see you good morning um with the examples that we have been given i think it's for us to keep our eyes on the prize to learn patience and to have faith and to give thanks in all things so we can be receiving what we were promised eternal life with christ excellent thank you just in line with everybody else keeping our eyes on the prize making sure the spiritual application is not lost all those important things that's great keep your comments and thoughts coming in here's another question going out to you um and we've i'm coming to you pastor actually yeah let me let me go to you now and then i'll go back to the question yes before you take that question because i think one of our viewers um early in samuel she's asking the question he says what is the significance of the sabbath that a lot of people is not recognizing about the sabbath rest that gives us a fortress of eternity what is the significance of the sabbath that a lot of people is not recognizing about the sabbath rest that that gives us a forte of eternity i think i want her to um to simplify the question okay um i think that question was in in our quarterly um let let's let the comment come back in come back to it some people may have some thoughts already but i think that will come out um hopefully otherwise we'll make sure and pick that one up later on so here's my question along with the question that's just come in although models and types are here to help our understanding is it easy in 2021 to lose sight of the spiritual significance of modern rituals now this has kind of been touched on on some of the comments as well so that that's okay we may have some further answers so the specific question although models and types are here to help our understanding is it easy in 2021 to lose sight of the spiritual significance of modern rituals so let's have your thoughts and comments on that one as well as the question that was just posed so the earthly sanctuary service as elder o'neill had touched on earlier was one of the most important types and rituals given to man it was literally a matter of life and death so eldre o'neil as a teacher by profession please read and expand on the importance of the specific instruction given in leviticus 4 verses 32 to 35 please um thanks ella um reading from the king james version um leviticus 4 verses 32 all the way through to 35 and if he brings alarm for a sin offering he shall bring it it shall bring it a female without blemish and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burn offering and the priest shall take the blood of the thin offering with his finger and put it upon the horn of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar and he shall take away the fat thereof as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offering and the priest shall burn upon the altar according to the offering made by fire unto the lord and the three shall make an atonement for his sin that he had committed and it shall be forgiven him it is very important in my teaching profession or from a teaching perspective that students follow instruction my particular interest on my particular subject area is math failure to follow instruction can lead to wrong answers and wrong answers can lead to failure in exam the levitical system was enveloped in types and each type pointed to a specific reality in the life and mission of jesus omission of any of these precise type as instructed would give a false narrative about the life and mission of jesus just ask kane when god instructed him what offering to actually bring and he chose to bring his own god left nothing to chance he was precise in his instruction regarding the sacrificial system in the levitical priesthood so in backing up that um leviticus 432 to 35 god gave detailed instruction as i say as it related to the sacrificial system central to many of these rituals was the blood out of the sprinkling and still the spilling first and then the sprinkling of the blood which represented the life death and ministry of jesus christ we see that the blood was key to the whole process of atonement that means we as sinner can make it right only through jesus christ our redemption and salvation was encapsulated within the system itself so if i just go back a little bit in terms of symbol and reality the offender would place his hand upon the lamb in reality we confess our sin to jesus coming back to symbol they sacrificed the animal in reality we acknowledge that jesus died for our sin going back to symbol again from leviticus the priest would put some blood on the own of the altar and spill the rest in reality in our reality the blood that jesus filled on the cross can redeem us from sin and coming shortly in closing the fact in in symbol was burned upon the altar in reality we surrender our life to jesus and and then again in symbol the priest made an atonement for sin in reality jesus makes atonement as made rather atonement for our sin so we see the connection between the symbols over there and following precise instruction and the reality to which is points amen good comparison and contrast i'm sure if i was a student in your class elder o'neill i will pass my my mass exam i mean you know ingesting but there's something serious here nowadays a lot of instructions and professional qualifications you're taught to pass the exam as opposed to understand and you know looking at the spiritual connection here it was important for people to understand what those symbols were and what was going on so great comparisons thanks for explaining that sister sita so um the apostle peter now how does the apostle peter also highlight in first peter 1 verses 18 through to 21 about this fact if you can read and expand on that for us please yeah so first peter um chapter one verse eighteen to twenty one i'll be reading from the new international version and then it really is you know that it was not but you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed it down to you from your ancestors but with the perish the precious blood of christ a lamb without blemish or defect he was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in the last times but for your sake through him you believe in god who raised him from the dead and glorified him and sow your faith and hope are in god and so it's quite similar to what elder o'neal was just saying i know the apostle peter is saying what cannot be done to obtain anyone's redemption and he mentions that gold and silver did not bring redemption it's not something that can be bought with material things you know he he strengthens his exaltation by reminding us that it is only through the blood of christ that the world was you know was able to be redeemed and the sacrifice of himself which christ offered to god with that blemish um likened the sacrifice of the pastoral lamb and of the lambs that were dead that were offered daily as sin offerings for the whole nation um the shedding of christ blood is a real atonement for the sense of um the world thank you thank you so congregation did you hear what our panelists are saying i'm sure you've got comments or questions just make your way to the microphone those of you listening on radio this is croydon's have a school panel going out live and we'd love to hear from you um let me take some comments pastor before i go to the congregation and pick up a comment from there yes i think um a few individuals have responded to um erleen samwell's point um one of the points um that was made is that you know as advent is in relation to the sabbath we're locked we are locked into a prison so it it you know it's it's a ritual rather than a genuine excitement you know it's sabbath so i'm coming to church it's it's sabbath so i'm not going to do that rather than seeing the sabbath as as an experience you know as as as a time took week to connect i think we talked about that last week didn't we and we we use those five r's relationship reconnecting and rest in in you know not in any particular order but we did talk about that um angela says um patterns and models are designed to give us an understanding of the bigger picture there's something much bigger that we are not tapping into elder johnny that we're not looking into our viewers and that is very very important that's a missing point that we need to that we need to actually um get ourselves into that there's a bigger picture there um i like what donald donald donna makes a point about um this world is not our home and it's also coming on on live stream um that this world is not our home and so if we get bogged down into this world and into the things of this world rather than actually recognizing and i'm going to make this point because i've written it here that that models are actual models and rituals have values think about that models and rituals actually have values i i remember when i um you know when i got married you know a lot of people say you know just just go and live with the person you know but the wedding itself has value it shows the female that she's valued by the male it shows the female that the gentleman has made a commitment to her and to her alone it shows the male that he's loved by this woman by her and her alone they could have gone off into the sunset and just live on their own so rituals actually have values and if we allow those rituals to lose their values and we devalue them that we won't want to participate in them at all [Music] and think about the holy communion and somebody made that point that's my last point the holy communion is a ritual but it has value that's right it has meaning so if we devalue these rituals and tradition by saying we don't need to do them anymore then the values that come with them we will do we will lose those values and one of the things i've learned is when you admire the model when you get the real stuff it is sweet just a thought okay good points thank you hello my brother good to see you please remind us of your name and then make your comment for us i would like to point out that i see hope in those passages learning from paul himself because he missed that big picture he knew the rituals being a pharisee but he didn't he ended up persecuting christ through his disciples but hopefully god made a way for him to get a better understanding of those rituals now he's there to teach us about how to make that connection likewise peter did miss the relevance of jesus death so he didn't understand that big picture that christ had to die but hopefully by the holy spirit he was ah put back on track so there is hope in this how do you see and this what we're talking about about those rituals and sacrifices symbols and the bigger picture the importance of free will the importance of freedom of decision and the importance of the holy spirit being involved in that process of making choices and having a perception of those rituals yeah good question importance of free will um we're throwing out there for my my two pence for what it's worth it's a deep question because when you think that the children of israel had come out of bondage where they had not the opportunity of exercising free will they had to obey what was being told them or face the egyptian masters whip so when free will came about i'm wondering how much they really understood what free will was and this is what god as they journeyed was hopefully trying to get the message through to them the challenge as we see is that we're exercising free will some then didn't make the right choice so i think in these rituals and these symbols the choice is there because god has given mankind a choice of free will from from creation and it's important in these rituals that we understand i suppose the importance of our choice and what making the right choice is going to be but those are my thoughts but by all means those of you online or in the church happy for you to comment on the importance of free will in these rituals and models and services um as we go through so while you're thinking about that one i'll go to pastor royson i think it's got some additional comments yeah there's a thought that is coming through on live stream that i want to make that i want to mention often this is a point ritual in a family establish and immortalize the way a family live their values culture and beliefs these are important for self-id i like that self-identity and self-worth self-identity and self-worth likewise rituals are for children of god and then somehow there seems to be a you know synchronizing between um live stream and and youtube because somebody made the same point that that talk talked about um children and people who know you would like to know how to treat the sabbath in action if you treat the sabbath like like like day that is boring untrusting to observers that's not the point i want to make here we go right he must increase we have to be careful not to just rely on what we already have learned we must constantly read and reread the words of god when we need we we we need to teach the upcoming generation why we do the things we do so passing on and and you know self-identity and self-worth and and as as as adventists we you know we we we need to pass on these rituals to to those who are coming after us because it it shows who we are it shows whose we are and it shows to where we are going because a lot of time we don't understand that these rituals actually have a direction they are not just static stuff they have a direction they have motion with them and they're taking us somewhere and and if i if i might just add through the chair um i think that it is very important for us to understand why we do the things we do because sometimes we tend to have this old idea that we partake in particular ritual and our children will come up after us and see us doing certain things whereas we might have some amount of understanding as to why we do it they are not aware they just do it out of habit because this is something that their parents have done i think that there must be a balance in terms of understanding the ritual and also making sure that those who come after us understand why we do what we do and just last point is that you know when they do when they architect where they do their drawings and so for houses and so on nobody lives in the blueprint the blueprint is important for the actual construction of the house but when the house has been constructed then we move in the house the blueprint is there but the the house becomes more important and sometimes we i say that to say this that sometimes we can be lost in ritual that we do not appreciate the real thing that the ritual points to good points good points keep them coming in so there's a couple of questions on the floor there was the question earlier on about the sabbath pre-figuring a taste of eternity i'm just summarizing again your your comments on that and the comments from my brother here the the importance of free will in these rituals and points um good comments there from um elder o'neill thank you so we're going to move on so rest itself also has types and symbols hebrews 4 was central to this week's study which followed on from god's call to his people to persevere and remain faithful perseverance and faith is something that came out early on so sister cetera could you read for us hebrews 4 verses 1 to 3 let's start with those three verses and expand on the rest referred to here please yeah so um hebrews 4 verses 1 to 3 i'll be reading from the new international version and it says therefore since the promise of entertaining his arrest still stands let us be careful that none of you have fallen short of it but we also have had the good news proclaimed to us just as they did but the message they had was of no value to them because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed now we who have believed entered that rest just as god has said so i declared on on oath in my anger they shall never enter my rest and yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world um so the rest mentioned is in context of the prior example of the israelites in the desert hearing the good news of a place of peace and rest from their enemies an earlier generation of israelites disregarded god's rest and suffered the consequences but however this rest is still available today but it remains that some will enter and some will not um the deciding factor is is faith and when we choose to believe and solely trust in jesus then we enter into the rest that god promised his people amen when we choose to believe then there's an answer there coming out to the question that was asked thank you sister sita um elder o'neill anything you want to add against those specific verses i think i'm quite happy that you swing by my address um one of my favorite chapters um hebrew four and verse three i want to pick out um chapter four verse 3 and points to a close relationship between faith and rest we can enter into rest only when we believe and trust in the one who promised us rest and who can deliver on his promise and of course that person is jesus christ himself so if i thought a calf back in hebrews 3 and verse 4 paul uses a symbol from the old testament to address the topic of rest god promised israel that they will find rest once they possess canaan however only those who believe and persevere could enter um could enter that risk yeah that's right that's right good good good points thank you sir um pastor let's take some comments coming in um somehow this morning elders only live stream is a bit quiet so so i you know i want to see live stream come alive there's some points coming through but i want to see you know some other views coming from live stream um now here's the point it is essential to note how god refers the sabbath as my rest and i i also made that point it's my rest can we truly enjoy the summit rest without the lord of the sabbath because he says i'm the lord of the sabbath jesus help me jesus help me please powerful point how can you enjoy something that belongs to somebody else unless you are in a relationship with that person i want us to think about that point but that's a powerful point here's a thought as believers are we going through the ritual they're not grasping the essence of the promise of the end result if we are these rituals are useless and eternal rest is lost what a powerful point elder johnny can i say it again go ahead if we do not grasp the essence of the promise of the end result then these rituals are useless and eternal rest is lost i think this is the power point of the morning so far i thought the points that were made before were the powerpoints but this one is the powerpoint i'm going to read it again the key thought as believers is are we just going through the motion through the rituals and motions and not grasping the essence of the promise of the end result if we are these rituals are useless and eternal rest is lost that's right in other words in other words in other words um when you have a let me read my notes here because um i'm not saying my notes is perfect let's go when we trust god our rest is sweet when we when we trust god our rest is peace and i think that's the point you you you get all of god and god gets into you and suddenly you have rest el chico said obedience born out of faith results in true rest in christ agreeing faith and rest are intricately linked now there's i got a point here from um on on what's up which i want to read when when you design a building agreeing with eld o'neil and submit it to the contractor to build he or she must work to their proof plans and not deviate from the design otherwise it will be rejected by the local authority likewise stick to god's plan and we will will be successful so when you if you want to enjoy rest then you need to enjoy god because god is the one that gives us that sweet rest here's the point here's the point sabbath rest is an act of supreme worship in which we rest totally in jesus for our salvation so when you celebrate the sabbath you know somebody says are you looking towards the end result when you when you when you celebrate the sabbath you're looking towards that end result that end result when you will have that grand glorious sabbath rest with christ not just weekly but that grand sabbath rest amen and here's here's okay that's it sabbath rest is also symbolic of freedom from the bonds of sin as our labor ceases on sabbath in god's kingdom there shall be no more sin that's a powerful thought so rest is not just physical rest is spiritual rest is social rest is moral early you release you you you lee whittingham says we enjoy sabbath rest when we stick to god's plan yes and i think that is coming through on both livestream and on youtube over to you elders yes yes i think pastor will have an impromptu testimony spot for our congregation and those online too so congregation tell us in a sentence how being saved by grace and not works gives you rest in jesus i don't want theology i want what it means to you tell us in a sentence how being saved by grace and not works gives you rest in jesus just make your way to the microphone or those of you online you can send in your testimony to in a sentence of how being saved by grace and not works gives you rest in jesus while you're coming up we're going to to to move on we got to verse 3 in hebrews chapter 4 so elder o'neill if you pick up the baton please verses 4 through to 7 of hebrews chapter 4 and expand on the warning that's given in these verses as well please i think you're on mute sir you haven't taught us to do lip reading so if you could just um thank you hebrews 4. okay thank you very much i was hoping that the spirit would translate but here i go hebrews 4 verses 4 to 7 i'm reading from the king james version for he has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way and god rested on the seventh day from all his work and again in this place they shall not enter my rest since therefore it remains that some must enter it and that those whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience and again he designated a certain day saying in david today after such a long time as it has been said today if you will hear his voice do not harden your heart um paul represents the disobedience of the israelites that prevented them from entering canaan as a symbol of the rejection of jesus christ as a nation and some since the beginning of creation god decided to give rest to all his children but not all of them got it god's promise rests for the soul we will find it fully when we surrender fully to jesus christ then our life will then become gradually linked into god's eternal purpose and in terms of context isaiah 30 and verse 15 speaks about that and jeremiah 6 16 speaks about that matthew 11 and verse 29 also speaks about that we can still enter this rest but it is urgent that we make a decision at this moment to follow jesus all the way amen amen amen thank you for that elder um [Music] sister sita yes let's move on maybe verses 8 through 2 11 if you could read those verses and comment um as well please yes and it says for if joshua had given them rest god would not have spoken later about another day there remains then a sad rest for the people of god let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience um it just ties into what elder owning said for me joshua became the chief leader of israel after the death of moses and the greek indicates that the if in verse 8 is a condition contrary in fact that joshua did not give israel rest in his day and but the rest that joshua gave when israel settled in the promised land was not god's final or ultimate rest um but there is still a rest that can be appreciated today that's the sabbath rest of believers that god put in place and god gave clear instructions to rest from work just like he did in verse 11 it's made known what the consequences are if we don't take the word of god seriously it is possible for history to repeat itself and christians can follow the same pattern of of israel in the wilderness and they can neglect the grace of god and ignore his promises but it's important to to know that believers do not enter god's rest by just being comfortable and there needs to be active determination by faith active determination by faith i like that i mean going back to verse seven that said you know hard and not your heart or or don't you harden it's a conscious action that you decide to harden your heart so deep thoughts deep thoughts pastor any testimonies or congregation any is coming through on how to be saved by grace and not by works as sorry how being saved by grace and not works gives you rest in jesus or any other comments go pastor i i i somehow i think um i i've not seen many comments on that hopefully our congregation there's a thought coming what's the congregation is is coming forward um there was a thought that that um that's um oh that was a question that was typed there but um what is coming through basically from maura from ruth from um trevor um from alana from catherine is the idea about enjoying rest in this life so you can you can enjoy rest in the life to come in other words this is a trial run for the real thing um on the question of free wills um there's a gentleman if we can go back down um who made the point about retraining the mind in terms of free will you know i think the person was saying that we have a certain mindset but we the mind needs to be retrained so that um we are connected there go um pierre jedi appear said i believe that the part of free will will also involve retraining the mind to think differently so he's talking about mindset there okay here we go this is me being saved by grace this assurance give me the hope of salvation and rest in jesus despite my sinful state amen um you know despite my sinful state because no matter how much you work you will fail but then with jesus as somebody says to to really enjoy the sabbath you need jesus as your companion yes and and that makes a difference um david billett um um go and sin no more john chapter eight the woman caught in the act of adultery grace is the power given to overcome sin in this power we have rest that is so true thank you david for such a wonderful um comment uh milton daley says unbelief is a disqualifier from rest in christ and i think he he quoted john 3 16 for god so loved the world capturing the essence of what grace is is christ dying on your behalf um el chico says rest in christ through faith manifested in obedience by his grace points us to his love for humanity whilst israelites look forward by faith we look backwards by faith to the blood or in the blood of christ one looks back when one looks forward but i'm looking forward when that grace will will take me home and i'll be with christ forever rose says being saved by god's grace gives me a peace of mind rest from worry that there's nothing i can do to deserve god's grace and nothing i can do to to be removed to remove the grace on offer it is always there regardless of so god's grace is unconditional amen julius says come unto me all you labor quoting matthew 11 28 and i will give you rest if we try to solve our problems it means we don't believe in god's grace how then can we find true rest she's coming back to the point is there anybody ready from that that's okay continue i'll take a couple more um time is against us as usual um sunset to enjoy it rest in christ we cannot be like a crab who walks sideways six days a week and try to walk straight one day a week [Laughter] what a metaphor great imagery the crop the crab mentality walking sideways then on sabbath we want to i'm trying to walk straight i think that's the point for the year um let me control myself before myself while you're controlling and getting your your thoughts and comments together then pastor let me just throw out my last question for our listeners now how would you answer someone who says how can warnings for today written thousands of years ago still be urgent so many years later so somebody comes up somebody new to christianity somebody who you are studying with says you know these warnings for today were written so many years ago are they still urgent for today how would you answer them in that question let's hear your comments and thoughts on that you're back now are you sure you composed yourself i'm just praying i walk straight not sideways okay um karen says i often beat myself up thinking that i'm not good enough for god and then it hits me that this is salvation by works i need to remember to let go and let god powerful thought on live stream being made there so so that that is something that we need to think about um erleen says god's grace exceeds all our sins but even though god's grace exceeds our sins it doesn't mean we should live in sin that's right you see that's that's what we need to understand that grace is there i i there's something i call it responsible grace you know the fact that somebody loves me doesn't mean i'm going to abuse the love by doing the wrong thing so that they can forgive me the fact that i'm loved i'm gonna do the right thing so that i can be loved even more so as christians even though works cannot save me i'm not gonna stop working i'm gonna work because i'm saved i'm not working to be saved yes yes good points thank you um so joshua leads the new generation of children of israel into canaan but did that act of joshua give them rest so sister sita in the context of who can have rest in jesus what is galatians 3 verses 26 through to 29 saying to you please okay so galatians 3 26-29 i'll be reading from the new international version um so in christ jesus you are all children of god through faith for all of you who were baptized into christ to upload yourself with christ there is neither jew nor gentile neither slave nor free nor is there male and female for you are all one in christ jesus if you belong to christ then you are abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise you know god never intended the law to be the final solution for the problem of sin instead it was meant to guard mankind until the arrival of christ and this freedom from the captivity of the law also transcends all the other barriers such as race gender wealth health and culture are all irrelevant to to our relationship with god anyone who belongs to christ by faith is promised to have rest yes thank you thank you for spilling that out um [Music] elder o'neill you know some have said that hebrews 4 1-11 you said earlier it's one of your favorite chapters but some have said that this can be used as justification for or against the sabbath the seventh-day sabbath but from this study and obviously from you know your previous studies how would you respond to that point about the for and against the sabbath only in terms i'm not going to read it i mean the interest of time but if you want i will um but in terms of in terms of a comment yeah you say at times hebrew four has been used to emphasize the observance of the seventh day stubble while others have used it to challenge the fidelity of the sabbath rest in light of the fact that there is another end time rest you know when eternal rest when jesus returns neither position reflects the biblical text well instead the text suggests that the end time focus on god's special rest has been since the creation and that the celebration of the sabbath rest offers a small weekly taste of end time rest instead for the indeed for the jews the sabbath was to be understood as a sort of precursor of that which is to come our eternal rest the sabbath-like rest that remains for the people of god echoing god's rest of the first sabbath in hurts history means that we can cease from our own words and trust god to fulfill it from our salvation um to us so it's not a token of things to come so it's important and i think as you you've just said there it's it's understanding what it's really pointing to and i'm thinking back on some of the comments about free will and choice and understanding and even going back to the point as i was saying earlier about just learning to pass the exam as opposed to understanding and i think when we are in that place of sabbath rest when we've you know had a tough week as some of us have but because of our love for the lord and our discipline and and what the sabbath can give us that's what can take us and give us this this rest and this peace which is prefiguring what is is to come let me not take up the time oh go go ahead elder before i go to pastor go ahead just before you go it's the whole fact is that when we speak about this particular rest it doesn't mean the absence of trouble you know because sometimes people think that you know god offers rest so why am i experienced are experiencing so much trouble and and trauma what it means to allaying our assurance in god's word that god will perform what he says he will do when god says something that he will do something it's not just a mere word it's a prophecy and it will come to pass and if we doubt that word it it is equivalent to calling god a liar and we know that god is not a liar because what god says he will do amen just before i come to you pastor let me just take a final comment from the floor hello sir thank you um i was thinking about what when they say joshua did not give them rest maybe we should render some justice to joshua in some it did not fail in his mission no absolutely good point goodbye he did not fail in his mission so they were not willing to duck rest they were not willing to look forward to the rest in christ so he did have a good mission when they say they did not give him rest yes that's the first point the second one i would say understanding the big picture from the rituals and those symbols is not a question of iq are you very smart then you can understand that if not paul before being paul you could have understood the connection between all those rituals in christ it's all about a submission to the holy spirit when paul received that holy spirit on his way to damascus he became a new man his mind was retrained i would repeat that that sentence of different perspective different visions of things so it's all about our free will if it's submitted to the holy spirit yes then we have a new perspective of things excellent thank you thank you very much pastor let me take final online comments please there's so many there's a lot of information coming in but i mean both livestream and and youtube are basically saying the same thing today that god is the same yesterday today and forevermore um sister hartley over there um evan hartley over there in um in bristol she made the point he's the same yesterday today forevermore that god doesn't change god's expectations do not change peter burton says if one is ill but doesn't take urgent treatment i'm reading this one to save their life the urgency becomes more intense over time so it is with god's warning written thousands of years ago they are more urgent today yes so you know so because something was written a long time ago doesn't make it less important than it is than it was when it was written to where we are today kylian carline archer says when i think of jesus as my sub at rest i understand that because he is the lord of the sabbath then i can rest in him physically and spiritually relating to that el chica says it is urgent for us today since we do not know when we will die our probation closes faithfulness and commitment to christ is better done at the moment we hear his word than to procrastinate yes what a powerful point and finally um our sister over there in canada says the direction from canada to england is the same the ruth may be different but it all leads to the same destination the warning that was given is still used for us and the generation to come powerful thoughts coming through the fact that something was written many years ago does not dilute its urgency its potency today powerful points thank you so just before i hand back to elder valsi let's take our final takeaway comments from our panelists first you sister sita yeah this mine is just really quick and brief um god always has our best interests at heart and we just have to be willing to trust him because he knows what's best for us great thank you very much and elder o'neill my is taken from our high calling by ellen g white is that the best preparation we can have for christ's second appearing and therefore entering the heavenly kenyan is to rest with the firm faith in the great salvation brought to us at its first coming we must believe in christ as our personal savior from sin and that sense of urgency must never be lost amen amen and pastor i'm to take some son's um example you cannot walk sideways in the week and experience through rest on the sabbath you cannot walk sideway in this life and expect to walk straight to eternity there has to be consistency in our walk and when we understand that god has given us that eternal rest and to experience that eternal rest we need to learn to experience that rest now so that when that eternal rest that hebrews speak about arrives we would have already practiced with our dress rehearsal and so it becomes natural for us so whatever challenges we face on this earth the rest of christ offers is not temporary i'm reading sabbath rest foreshadows the eternal rest that jesus desires for us in heaven's promised land amen amen thank you for myself when longing for something you should be in an active state of readiness as opposed to a passive state of inactivity that causes your heart to harden today if you will hear his voice harden not your heart next week by god's grace we look at the restless prophet who is that study to find yourselves approved thank you panelists thank you congregation and those online for your comments thanks to the av team and let me just point out that one of our avt members is not here today you're going to hear more about that we're standing with you my brother at this very sad time and may god continue to be with all of us as we go through the challenges of this lies and we want to thank god for his presence and thank you for being here today over to you elder welcy so we have come to the end of another lesson discussion and i'm sure you have been blessed and it was so inspirational so thorough so what i'm going to ask you please come prepared for next sabbath we wanted to feel like a sabbath school and we wanted to get involved so i know that you may not be too comfortable coming to the mic but by now i'm sure you know all of us in here so don't be fearful so come next week god willing please come prepared to make your contribution and i find that if you contribute you feel more that you're part of the sabbath school in joseph just sitting there and listening i like to get involved i like to take part in things that i do now since we started this morning i've seen some new visitors some other visitors have entered the summer school so welcome it's nice to have you and we have a sister also visiting from jamaica and i got to know earlier um this morning and she's been here before she went back home to jamaica and she's back again so welcome my sister and welcome my brother and family and anyone else who have come here whom have never seen before welcome to croydon and please come again we're happy to have you always now before we we say our final thought and our closing prayer just to let you know that there won't be any sub school study at the park as you can see the weather is not very pleasant not cold but not warm enough so please let's hope and pray that by next week god willing the weather would have improved and we can meet together again to discuss this sabbath school lesson at four o'clock now these are the words of our lord and savior jesus christ because i know that we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow or the day after so as we go through the week may i leave the words of john chapter 14 verse 27 with you peace i live with you my peace i give unto you not as the world giveth give i unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid amen king of kings and lord of lords glory and honor due to your holy name dear father we thank you for the time we have spent with you this morning may you continue to be with us as we go through the rest of this sabbath bless every head that has brought before you this morning and will you give us the peace that we long for within our hearts for christ's sake amen [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Croydon SDA Church

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Length: 65min 11sec (3911 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021