Luccas Rodor - The Ultimate Rest (Sabbath School Study Hour)

[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 uh 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 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 1-866-788-3966 and just ask for free offer number 150 and we'll be glad to give that to you if you're in north america that is in canada or the u.s for that matter and and also you can get a digital copy of this and so if you'd like to download this on your computer or on your phone on your phone you just text the code sh042 you want to be able to uh dial that to 40544 and then you can also see a website that's available there on the screen as well if you want to download that on your computer thank you pastor rador 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 um 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 uh 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 um 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 uh reaffirmation 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 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 and rest 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 um 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 o 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 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 in 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 to 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 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 ii 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 144 000 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 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 trumpets 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 has 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 uh 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 cush 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 help 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 your 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 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 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 through 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 a sense 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 proceed 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 hit 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 answer 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 witnesses 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 have 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 and him 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 you 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 said that its 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 it's sun shines 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 don't forget to request today's life-changing free resource not only can you receive this free gift in the mail you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or mobile device to get your digital copy of today's free gift simply text the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address shown on your screen and be sure to select the digital download option on the request page it's now easier than ever for you to study god's word with amazing facts wherever and whenever you want and most important to share it with others amazing facts change lives [Music] i'm clinkett indian from sitka alaska my clinic name is wish dash declaw it was a very depressing time for the people of alaska a lot of alcohol abuse was taking place and unfortunately my mother got caught up in the alcohol it made myself and my siblings grow up in [Music] a pretty horrible environment it was really hard to to understand god it was really hard to understand what love was i ended up [Music] having a child in my 12th grade and leaving home when i was 15 years old but somehow someway we made it and i became a loner i became a hermit so i went up to the biggest marijuana county to humboldt county and started my new career things weren't right though no matter how nice i kept thinking life was living up on top of the mountain not having to worry about wearing clothing just waking up and watching the plants grow searching still for more and more i went to the post office and i was standing there by myself i looked down and here was this what is called a hand bill a postcard and the letters on it grabbed my attention and it said revelations i never heard revelation taught before and i thought gosh that would have been so good i looked at the time and the date and i said wow that's today and for six weeks i sat there in the front seat of that building and could not believe the things that i heard and i found this hunger that i had in my heart for decades being filled i i was actually like a starving child you know wanting to get in to learn more about revelations and i chose to be baptized on april april 3rd even though i chose to serve god i kept falling i was going to bible studies all four times a week and just so hungry to learn as much as possible god just overnight had me studying the word of god through afco and the miracles that happened through avco is so incredible the only preacher i was listening to was pastor doug batchelor who i didn't even call by his name i called him the caveman and then here all of a sudden i'm sitting in front of him in his classroom learning from him on october 11th i sat there though in my room saying lord here i am studying your word but what what am i doing here what what do i need to do what is it you want me to do and that night about one in the morning god spoke to me and he said i want you to write a note to pastor duck and tell them what you do i sat there and i said no i'm not going to write or not i'm not going to write a note and i said okay so i ripped off a piece of paper and i wrote on the note and i said i'm an experienced fashion designer i can sew anything i can make any patterns if there's any way that i can be of any service to you god told me to be bold and tell you and i walked up and i handed him the note and he didn't know what it was but he said thank you and four hours later i got a phone call from amazing facts pastor doug told me that i was an answer to their prayers they had been looking for a wardrobe stylist for their new film that they're producing action 2 3 amazing facts has changed my life in the direction that god wants me to go and now out of all the knowledge that was taught to me i'm able to go out into this world and share the gospel and finish the work for jesus christ [Music] friends it's because of god's blessing and your support that thousands of others like nida have found jesus an everlasting life [Music] amazing facts change lives [Music] we were going to church every other week about 19 years old things really start to make sense for me i started to go to church for myself and the pastor wanted to study with me we came to this study about baptism and i kind of just shrugged looked put my head down i said i'm not ready he looked me in the eye and said jason you'll never make yourself ready this is something you have to do put a lot of things behind me the drinking and smoking all that stuff stopped all throughout the time when i've been learning about god it was just me and god comes around up to about august and i i meet this girl about two years in the relationship we're talking about marriage and everything we didn't pray we didn't study together we were arguing a lot but uh we were engaged i started drinking again and that was a slow downward spiral in the different things and my devotional life started really weaseling away when we broke up in 2008 it was heavy for me because again being with somebody for that long it's almost like a divorce i started to fall back away even more i remember looking in the mirror just looking at myself and saying what are you doing how can you do this to god it's brought you so far and you know god really heard my cry [Music] there was a testimony telling at my church and there's a call and kids start getting up a bunch of high school kids are getting up for calls of baptism i'm back doing the pa system at this time and i feel just like this urge just my heart just ripping out of my and chest just have this feeling just to go up i get up to the front and i just meet the pastor and open arms i realized that there's so much more to life than just living life for myself and you know falling away it's not a necessity but god can work through anything in the bed to make it the good that's a promise he makes together we have spread the gospel much farther than ever before thank you for your support [Music] amazing facts change lives well my conversion story is when i was in the philippines i just graduated as a nurse and afterwards i did not have any religion and one time i found myself inside a small church catholic church in manila and before a big cross and i was kneeling before and i could hear jesus telling me to enter the convent save myself and also my family and i said lord i would like to follow you all the way at that point i seem to be happy externally but because inside the convent we don't read the bible we don't study about the word of god we pray the rosaries we also at the same time study the lives of the saints and also our founders and the encyclicals of the pope and the virgin mary and so i do not know the truth and i had this torture of conscience the guilty feelings that cannot be resolved so i would confess to the priest in the confessional box saying father forgive me since my last confession was last week since then i have committed the following scene including the root cause why am i falling and falling in that same scene over and over again and still for 21 long years i struggle and i struggle and i struggle i realized that i was totally empty i was totally helpless and hopeless and so depressed and so desperate that i would like already to end my life i was working for five years as dean of the university of san agustin college of nursing in illinois city one of the islands in the philippines after five years i received a commission from my parents to help my sister who is being a battered woman this is one of the reasons why i came over to united states it is because my sister needs my help as i was working in the hospital in new york my boss seraphin he was so gracious enough to give me an invitation to the millennium prophecy as i was listening to pastor dog bachelor's presentation my heart really was beating so fast and my mind i'm able to grasp the truth that this is the truth that i've been longing to hear all my life that i have been seeking for so long my personal relationship with jesus i can see jesus as my personal savior he is not only the savior of the whole world but he is my personal savior he was the one who delivered me mightily from the depths of sin from the mighty claim pastor dog bachelor has been used by the lord in my conversion the amazing fox i owe to them the lord really blessed this ministry and i'm so proud i was able to attend this millennium prophecy my life has never been the same it has given me that peace that joy that never i have never tasted in my life and it i now i'm set free to be able to work for him and to follow him [Music] [Music] you

Channel: SDA Burgas

Views: 618

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: sabbath, school, study, hour, sda, burgas, seventh, day, adventist, amazing, facts, luccas, rodor, ultimate, rest

Id: _E0lH6bHomE

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021