Q3 L13 Rest in Christ: “The Ultimate Rest”

[Music] i'm cameron davier and i'm mark howard and this is talking points before we get started in our regular lesson study however pastor howard there's a couple of resources and opportunities we want to share with the folks today that's right the first is the sabbath school workshop coming up the thoroughly equipped is our theme and we are going to provide some practical training for all those involved in sabbath school who want to be better at those caring forward those responsibilities in a mission-minded way that weekend is going to be at our own campus novel here in michigan from october 29 to 31 october 29 as a friday begins that evening so people will drive up after work more than likely and then um all day sabbath and we finish by i think noon on sunday again there's going to be a lot of practical tools and training there that will help you out in your sabbath school responsibilities and if you go to michigan sspm.org right now in fact here it is on my phone you can see it the very first thing is a click on this banner and there's the registration form that has all the lodging and food all the different options that you can register right on your smartphone right now that's right cool and while you're on your smartphone what is exactly about the new app that's right well it's a sabbath school app for the general conference called if you click on this little icon it's opening that up and boom you have the official sabbah school app of the general conference of seven day avenues in fact let me give you a hint it's not just the sabbath school epis this sspm app because it's going to be continuing to grow and not only have sabbath school but also personal ministries resources coming down the line but for now you can find all of your regular sabbath school quarterly lessons what else can you find on there but when you click on any one of those like i just clicked on the first one in quarter three here and living in a 24 7 society right up at the top right as this is on the iphone application you can not only find the language thing but you can also find that audio where it will read it to you your lesson or the video button and look at all these other video resources like hope sabbath school it is written uh television uh the sabbath school study hour and the very last one there is talking points save the best for last yeah as they want to do so anyway we want to let you know about the training that's coming up at campus sable october 29-31 and also the sabbath school app where you can find not only talking points but all kinds of other resources for your sabbath school preparation that's right so we are what else today what else what other unique uh situation have we entered into i believe we have come to the very last lesson in this quarter study on rest in christ and the title of this week's lesson is the ultimate rest and this is of course 13th sabbath yes and i think that's where maybe you were aiming for is that this sabbath is not only the end of our quarter but it's also the high point of our mission giving that's right and 13th sabbath offering by the way all the offerings for the 13 sabbath projects are in the north american division this time so you know we have foreign missions somehow right here at home and it's pretty cool so please give sacrificially to the 13th sabbath offering but with that said we are on the clock here and we need to talk about this final lesson lesson 13 the ultimate rest and you know i was thinking it was just going to be generically talking about heaven but i was pleasantly surprised that there was a really good framework for big picture um security and rest that we find in the word of god so i was wrong why don't we pray and then you can tell us the talking points for this week and we'll dive into it let's pray together heavenly father we are so thankful that we can have rest in jesus and lord as we have had opportunity to meditate about that this quarter we pray in this last lesson your holy spirit would continue to guide us into a clear understanding of your truth not just theoretical but practical lord and we ask that you would bless our hearers as we go through this presentation and we thank you for hearing and answering for we pray these things in jesus name amen amen all right titled the ultimate rest um this lesson well in the very end of sabbath afternoon study said this week we will look at how we can rest in jesus in the face of global unrest and our unknown future at least in the short term in the long term things look very promising indeed so essentially it's the short term versus the wider angle lens that the scripture provides with the great controversy with the prophetic scenario and our mission for the lord a lot of things we can rest in even though the world is crazy right all right so talking point number one is a prophetic perspective gives peace of mind that's taken from sabbath sunday monday and wednesday so that's the bulk of this week's study is going to be that idea but it's that wide-angle lens a bible prophecy in our place in it that gives us peace of mind when the world is in chaos okay number two talking point number two we have a clearly defined mission and that's from monday and tuesday basically more than just having a place in history we have a role in the work in these last days and finally number three talking point number three peace is a choice that's taken from thursday that god offers us that choice and do we choose to enter into that rest that he provides all right so it's a great study let's go back to talking point number one how a prophetic perspective gives peace of mind now that just arrests my attention right away because it's so often that we hear that prophecy robs us of peace i guess this prophecy makes us afraid in prophecy do you hear that exactly the opposite isn't it that that right as we're going to go through here well first of all when we talk about prophecy sometimes we think only end time prophecy but when the bible actually gives a prophetic viewpoint that's bigger than end time events or even our current circumstance it goes all the way from the beginning of the issues to the very end and so we call this what meta-narrative the great controversy right this all-encompassing backdrop for everything right and the bible describes it in many many passages i just put a couple in the notes there revelation 12 7 through 12 where it talks about the fall of satan from heaven and and then how he's going to be destroyed at the end nahum chapter 1 verse 9 says what do you conspire against the lord he will bring an utter end affliction will not rise a second time that's right so when we understand that great controversy overarching theme we can have peace when stuff on a weekday is crazy we pan out we say whoa whoa there's a much bigger picture here right sabbath afternoon's quarterly says in the confusion of events we can easily lose the big picture of god's escape plan for this world wars political unrest and natural disasters can hold us in helpless terror but god's prophetic guidance can help us to keep in mind the big picture of where we are going and how we will get there amen and so that was the very first sub point under that is when we talk about prophecy we need to pan out to the largest wide-angle lens we can which is the great controversy now stepping more specifically point number two within that first talking point is that the bible's in time prophecies do pinpoint our place in the storyline of redemption so we're not just somewhere in the flow of this big picture but we have a specific spot in it uh we think of the quarterly brought this out when the apostle john was on the island of patmos how discouraged he must have been looking at his circumstances but said the great apocalyptic vision john has recorded in revelation helped john confidently to rest in god's provisions and promises so he found his place i know why i'm stuck on this rock i have a purpose and it gave him confidence and similarly as we look at the end well you also see the outcome prophecy always provides it doesn't leave you where you are and it gives you the outcome and you know like the old saying says i've read the end of the book and we win you know we've got we've got a positive ending to this whole thing and sometimes we need to be reminded of that it helps to do it well and specifically going to our place our chronology in this timeline we know that we are not only against somewhere in the flow we happen to be living in the very end of this flow where these end time prophecies are really taking their focus and specifically i'm thinking of even the prophecies jesus gave of the signs of his coming we can look all around and we can see wars rumors and so while those very things might be the very things that are making the world uneasy yeah we can have a confirmation of the sure word of prophecy and say wait a minute i can see why those are disturbing but praise the lord this is a sign of his soon coming it makes me think of the pastor richard ophelia used to say that uh uh adventists almost to a fault get excited when we see disaster hey jesus is coming soon kind of like yeah try to show a little compassion and sympathy for the people but the idea is it's not nothing is total disaster for us because we know that those are the birthright you know you think of the the prophecies of jesus that these are the beginning of sorrows or birth pains you know birth pains are are advertising a coming deliverance and the idea is when the woman is going to give the child uh have when the woman's going through the the labor pains she knows at the end of that a baby's gonna there's a resolution yes and so it likewise jesus liken these signs yeah you're gonna see wars and rumors of wars and famines and pestilence circuses etc these things but they're signs that something better is going to come amen and it's in that context we go to a third sub point under this first talking point and is that understood from this perspective prophetic perspective this cosmos it is this cosmic you know viewpoint that even death is merely rest the concept that if i know how the story ends i know how it started i know christ did bring it to you know in the cross and then our place in the end as we look at that that death as the bible repeatedly affirms is but a sleep it is something to be sorrowed but not sorrow like those who have no hope that there's the hope at the other end of it that this world is not all that there is and that gives us a peace of mind that others simply don't have i see you're looking up a passage in scripture well i was just in our family worship that the other day we were going through romans 6 and the apostle says for he who has died has been freed from sin for if we died with christ we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that christ having been raised from the dead dies no more now he's just linked that we're going to live with him jesus he dies no more and he says death no longer has dominion over him so even for the even though we can face the the first death the reality is that once we accept christ we are heirs to eternal life amen and so as you mentioned the even death is not a permanent thing for us right and that has to change the perspective you know uh i could say a lot about our society today in fear of death the bible talks about how fear of death has kept many all their lifetime and subject to bondage p you know it's people's greatest fear but the christian doesn't need to share that fear amen because it's not doesn't have the permanence that it does for those who don't have that hope well even inside out the text i was thinking of revelation chapter 14 verse 13 when you have these you know the the critical time in the last days when the three angels message is given there's the mark of the beast and sides are being chosen and right here is the patience of the saints right but in even in that context you read in verse 13 then i heard a voice from heaven saying to me right blessed are the dead who die in the lord from now on yes says here that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them that when we die in the lord we're dying yes a first death a temporal death but we can rest from our labors knowing that well you think about sands resting from the labors i mean now if you're if if you're tired from a long day's work rest is refreshing unless you think you're never going to wake up you know what i'm saying like so death in most cases for people is it but the way the bible treats it in this context is it is you're weary go to sleep get your rest and you're going to wake up from that and when you wake up man oh man it's a whole new day well if i want to read from desire of ages 787 mrs white's comments here to the believer death is but a small matter christ speaks of it as if it were of little moment if a man keep my saying he shall never see death he shall never taste of death to the christian death is but a sleep a moment of silence and darkness the life is hid with christ in god and when christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory that's colossians 3 4. so as we look at the origin of evil christ dealing with it the end time events our role therein and the hope that we have in christ that right that whole prophetic outline each step of that is confidence inspiring and we can trust in god and rest in him even if death is our lot it's not the end of the story so we've talked about this with the quarterly before that the rest we're talking about as a spiritual rest and the unique thing about spiritual rest is in in in the temporal world rest can only come with absence of strife but in the spiritual world you can have rest in the midst of strife yes so in all the conflict and all the mayhem that's going on where people say how could i find rest to the person who's spiritual it's in much of it is in these promises of knowing that what we're dealing with is temporary but the unseen things are eternal well and i would say that downstream even of that yes the eternal then is the great peace of mind that we have but it will it will reverberate into the other areas of our life we'll probably get better temporal sleep and have a better you know outlook and health chest stress even now because spiritual life is not just an insurance policy for later but now that that knowledge that framework can affect every aspect in our lives and so eternal life truly can start now and even if we have to go through temporal death it's just but a moment you're talking about jesus in the storm where the disciples are panicked we're gonna die and jesus is sleeping i'm good yeah and that friend is rest in christ all right well we gotta move on talking point number two in the light of this context of the scriptures you know prophetic picture we then have a clearly defined mission indeed that we don't just because we could leave it at talking point number one and say all right we know how the story ends we know how it started we find our place and we can rest easy and even if we die we die but that's almost too passive of a posture that i think that scripture doesn't you know let us off the hook so easily right that in this picture we have a work to do that's right and i put this note in the talking point clarity of purpose in life is a type of piece many lack i don't know if you've ever rented this i'm sure you're happy people like they don't know who they are what they're going to do or where tomorrow holds for them right but seventh-day adventists have no need to suffer such restlessness we do not have to toss about like i wonder what i'm supposed to do no we know what we're supposed to we have our marching orders we've shared the statement before and i don't remember off the top of my head where it isn't desire of ages it's in the chapter let not your heart be troubled but ellen white says she speaks of the holy spirit as a comforter and in that context she says there's comfort and peace in the truth but there is no comfort in error or falsehood much to what you're talking about there's a type of peace that comes from having that from knowing where we're heading from knowing the lord from having that level of confidence it brings a level of peace that you can't have otherwise uncertainty yes there's a certainty it and again it's not just a certainty that things are true but now i have an active part to play in god's plan for this world so i have a purpose and a mission in fact the quarterly brings us out at the end of monday's lesson in paragraph seven at the very very bottom it says yeah in this cosmic conflict we are more than just observers we are to be active participants in spreading the gospel to the ends of the world and so our role in this is not merely to watch what jesus is going to do on the good side and watch the world fall apart on the bad side that we're supposed to be active in this that's right and you have as a sub point here the gospel as it mentions here um includes the present truth of the three angels messages yes sometimes there's this mindset of and i've even heard it expressed like you know we need to preach the gospel and the three angels messages and is this as if there's this addendum to well when you go to the book of revelation i want to i don't want to be clear i don't i don't disagree with anything you're saying in fact if you go to tuesday's lesson mark that down folks in that sentence i didn't agree with anything he was saying but you said sometimes you hear the gospel and yes distinctive adventist three angels message type of stuff right i kind of noticed a a hint of that on tuesdays if if you look at paragraph one two three four down on tuesday's lesson it says speaking of this three angels message present truth it says notice it starts out with quote the everlasting gospel the wonderful news of christ's death and resurrection so apparently the gospel is the news about christ's death and resurrection upon which our hope of salvation rest there is also the message that the hour's judgment has come yeah and it so did it implies that the gospel has just separated his priestly work from the rest and my point is that the gospel is always the work of jesus whether it's being born in a manger or being dying a cross or interceding in heaven or coming back as king or even judging now on his throne in the most holy place that's all the gospel that's right and that whole message of christ is what the three angels messages points out and of course i'm sure that the author of the lesson wasn't seen to distract from that but just i just want to emphasize that the seventh evidence the uniquenesses of the seventh-day adventist message are not an addition to the gospel because when we once we start thinking that way it doesn't become essential it becomes a non-essential it's like the gospel we know is essential but this isn't necessarily essential no it's part of the gospel yes well and i wanted to demonstrate this and i like the way you put it we're talking of the gospel is the work of christ and the work of christ did not end with his ascension amen right well and i wanted to point that out from scripture in matthew 24 you and i have talked about this a lot i'm not sure if we've shared this on talking points yet or not but when jesus talked about those end time prophecies uh the signs of his coming and whatnot in matthew chapter 24 after he talks about how false prophets will rise and many will be deceived verse 12 because lawlessness will bound the love of many will go cold but then it says in verses 13 and 14 but he who endures to the end shall be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached and all the world is a witness to all nations and then the end will come so you have all the difficulties of you know tribulations the last days but there will be those who endure to the end right okay that he mentions and the gospel will be preached in that context and then the end will come then if you go to revelation chapter 14 that's exactly what you see happening starting with verse six with the three angels messages then i saw another angel flying the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach those who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe tongue and people what's it say in verse seven saying with loud voice fear god and give him glory saying so having the everlasting gospel thank you what's he doing he's here here it comes he's saying what's he saying the everlasting gospel quote fear god and give glory to him for the average judgments come so that's the first part of the everlasting gospel in the mouth of the angels right so as we have an actual picture of the gospel going to every nation to the whole world in the last days just like jesus is foretold and what's being said the hour of his judgment worship him there's talking about the sabbath the judgment the distinguished doctrines of the seventh avenue babylon so you can't say there's the gospel and then there's this added adventist stuff no you can't because the whole message is the gospel and you come to verse 14 and the end is coming you've got jesus representatives coming in the white cloud exactly so so revelation 14 those three angels message is simply a detailed retelling of what jesus foretold in matthew 24. the fulfillment of his words thus if you could read force evangelism page 120. this is in a special sense seventh-day adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers to them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world on them is shining wonderful light from the word of god they have been given a work of the most solemn import the proclamation of the first second and third angels messages there is no other work of so great importance they are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention the most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world the proclamation of these truths is to be our work the world is to be warned and god's people are to be true to the trust committed to them so talking point number two we have a clearly defined mission absolutely where to give the gospel in its entirety to the world as a warning before jesus comes okay so let's move on to our final talking point then that i took out of this week's lesson and that is peace is a choice and i say that because god can provide that prophetic outline you can give the promise of the holy spirit he can even give us the assurance of salvation if we lay our lives in it but it's still all of that that he provides is dependent on our choosing to take advantage of those precious privileges right that's right and so i put in the talking point here god has made ample provision for our temporal and eternal happiness right think of creation the plan of redemption prophetic guidance the promise of a new heaven and new earth we could go on and on and on with all the different ways that god has promised i want to clarify like what comes to my mind here is romans 5 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ amen far too many christians read this from a pagan heathen perspective and that is we have peace with god jesus died on the cross and now the god that was against us is now for us that's heathenism like christ turns god's mind around on right right and and what the bible's trying to tell us is when we're justified the peace with god and it was e.j wagner who brought up the point that peace is simply the absence of war so the question is who's fighting who was god fighting me up until the time that christ died or was i the one fighting god in justification does god stop fighting me or where is justification the time when i have chosen my fighting exactly i surrender to that and so when you talk about peace being a choice we act like like helpless victims and like you know it's up to god when he's going to decide to be nice to us but the reality is am i choosing to quit fighting the will of god because the the unrest as we talked about in the lesson this quarter many times comes from my own rebellion mercy instead of just yielding my will to god and i'll experience the peace that comes from not fighting against his will well thus for that second sub point the only impediment to our rest in christ and experience a peace he provides is our decision to follow him that's right so it's not like god was against this and jesus had to change his mind or whether there's some obstacle god has said here's everything you need come follow me that's right i'm thinking of philippians chapter four you want to look that one up real quick sure philippians 4 verses 4 through 6. and this was also listed as one of those key texts in the in the lesson this week galatians ephesians philippians page is just sticking here okay verse 4 philippians 4 4 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 supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus that was through verse 7. i love that but notice it's always not just to you know just be happy kind of rejoice right it's specific rejoice how in the lord let you know the lord is at hand verse five be anxious for nothing because we can take everything to god that yeah that that point there be anxious for not like we started off on that be anxious for nothing in other words there are things that would make a person anxious but the context says be anxious for nothing why because you can make your request known to god and you know god's not often a distant land somewhere he hears those requests he will answer we believe that he loves us and wants to do what's best for us and so we don't need the anxious attitude god's right at hand to call on and if you knew that you didn't have to be anxious anymore that guy's got your big picture best interest in mind is going to listen to your daily needs you can rejoice in all things right right and paul this is because the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart exactly so and mine it's beyond knowledge that we all understand he can't really explain it to people but this is a paul who'd been shipwrecked and beaten and abandoned and disheartened and imprisoned and he's able to say like yeah but in the end i got jesus so i got it all you know if you have that kind of mindset our mentality if you will is essentially bulletproof right and the quarterly brings this out uh and thursdays in paragraph three it says in this passage paul is not saying to rejoice always in all the trials that you are facing he is saying rejoice in the lord always so it's not the trial that's making it joyful but it's the fact that this isn't the end of it right no matter our present situation no matter what trials we are facing if we dwell on god on his goodness his love and on his sacrifice on the cross for us we can rejoice in him and have peace for our weary souls amen and friends that's what this entire lesson was trying to get to i think was the the reminder the necessary reminder that we are living in perilous times for sure and politically economically ecologically all kinds of things it's going downhill but we can nevertheless rejoice in christ and be at peace in all things because we have him and that is a blessed promise that's right on friday's lesson from gospel workers the first paragraph there halfway through that first paragraph it says because we can trust his wisdom and love we should not ask him to concede to our will but should seek to enter into accomplish his purpose into and accomplish his purpose our desires and interests should be lost in his will and that's kind of the point is that god's god's got this thing and he's got you and me if we choose to lay our lives in his hand and we can have peace that passes understanding i think there's an important point and i'm happy that we have concluded this study it's an important theme and as we close can you give us a word of prayer let's pray father in heaven we do thank you for the peace that is ours in jesus we pray for that the realization of that peace for every one of our our listeners and viewers as well lord as those who will benefit from the teaching of this sabbath school lesson of all times in earth's history we need that peace of christ now and we pray that that would be a witness that would move others to want to know more of the god that we love and serve thank you for hearing and answering for we pray these things in the name of jesus and for his sake amen [Music]

Channel: Emmanuel Institute of Evangelism

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Keywords: Bible, Christianity, God, Jesus, adult quarterly, adventist, apologetics, daniel, ellen white, emmanuel institute, hope, kameron devasher, law, mark howard, prophecy, revelation, sabbath, sabbath school, seventh-day adventist, talking points, truth

Id: qlCfTtZaQ-M

Length: 27min 57sec (1677 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021