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february 6, 2021 adult bible study church saturday winter blind camp
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this is for february 6, 2021 adult bible study church saturday winter blind camp
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Transcript
Introduction and Partnerships
00:00:19
Speaker
Mic on. Greetings, folks. Thank you for tuning in. Now I present Mic on. Mic on. This is about a little two hour presentation of the Bible Adult Bible Study Church aired February 6, 2021 winter blind camp meeting. Enjoy. Mic on.
00:01:22
Speaker
Audio will commence now. We'd like to welcome you to a partnership between the Holly Saba School and the 2021 Winter Camp for the Blind Saba School. We'd like to welcome you here. We're going to have a few songs to begin with, but before that, we'd like to have Pam welcome you too.
00:01:50
Speaker
Welcome to the Holly Seventh Adventist Church. And this is our Sabbath school for February 6. And we'd like to welcome everyone here and all those that are streaming online. I hope you gain a blessing from everything. And like Larry said, this is a partnership. And we really, really want to welcome our blind friends and our physically challenged
00:02:16
Speaker
We hope that everyone gets a blessing from our Sabbath school this morning. Thank you. And at this time, David, we'll have a couple of songs. And we're honored to be here at your church for your Sabbath school and your concern today.
Congregational Hymns and Spiritual Songs
00:02:39
Speaker
Let's turn in our hymn books to page 318, Whiter Than Snow.
00:02:57
Speaker
Lord Jesus I long to be perfectly whole I want thee forever to live in my soul Break down every idol cast out every foe Now watch me and I shall be whiter than snow
00:03:27
Speaker
wider than snow yes wider than snow i'll wash me and i shall be wider than snow
00:03:41
Speaker
For Jesus looked down from thy throne in the skies And helped me to make a complete sacrifice I give up myself and whatever I know Now watch me and I shall be wider than snow
00:04:10
Speaker
Wider than snow, yes, wider than snow. Now wash me and I shall be wider than snow.
00:04:25
Speaker
Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat. I wait, blessed Lord, at thy crucified feet. I fade for my cleansing. I see thy blood flow. Though wash me and I shall be lighter than snow.
00:04:54
Speaker
Wider than snow, yes, wider than snow. Now watch me and I shall be wider than snow. Lord Jesus, thou seest I patiently wait.
00:05:16
Speaker
Come now and within me a new heart create To those who all sought me love never says no Now watch me and I shall be wider than snow, wider than snow
00:05:55
Speaker
Let's turn to the next page, 319. Lord, I want to be a Christian.
00:06:10
Speaker
you
00:06:26
Speaker
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart. Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart.
00:06:47
Speaker
In my heart, in my heart Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart Lord, I want to be more loving Heart, in my heart
00:07:15
Speaker
Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart. In my heart. In my heart. Lord, I want to be more loving in my heart.
00:07:44
Speaker
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart, in my heart Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart In my heart, in my heart
00:08:13
Speaker
Lord, I want to be more holy in my heart. Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart, in my heart. Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart.
00:08:43
Speaker
In my heart. In my heart. Lord, I want to be like Jesus in my heart. Okay, let's turn to our theme song, page 412, covered with his life.
Lessons and Teachings with Dr. Alan Patterson
00:09:27
Speaker
Look upon Jesus, sinless is he. Father impute his life unto me. My life of scarlet, my sin and woe, covered with his life, lighter than snow.
00:09:53
Speaker
Covered with his life, wider than snow Fullness of his life, then shall I know My life of scarlet, my sin and mold Covered with his life, wider than snow
00:10:24
Speaker
At this time we will turn the Sabbath school lesson over to Dr. Alan Patterson for as long as he wants this day. Well, are we alive now? And it sounds like the volume's okay. All right. It was interesting when you say as long as I want, I was talking to Pam on the way in and I said,
00:10:51
Speaker
I'm not quite sure how the lesson is going to go today when I was studying and preparing. It's an interesting lesson. And like Pam said, we'll see where God takes us. And that's the important thing. And yeah, if you want to. Yeah. So we do have a special Sabbath this week.
00:11:20
Speaker
with the blind campers. I've been with them since Monday. I've had a talk each day with them. And so this is our sixth day in a row. They're probably getting tired of me, but that's okay. I try and keep them involved most of the time. So as we sang
00:11:49
Speaker
What was the last song we sang? Not the one before that, the second one. I want to be a Christian. Lord, I want to be a Christian. I really, really appreciate songs, hymns. And so often they truly are a prayer. And as we sang that song, and as I thought of the lesson,
00:12:15
Speaker
and how it brought out the proud kings, the proud rulers, and that is so un-Christ-like. As we look at Christ, not as our Redeemer, not as our brother, but as our king, what a wonderful thought that he is not like a human king. Remember
00:12:44
Speaker
Christ told the disciples if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven you have to be the least and Let's even define least that's exactly the word he used but even to expand on it a little bit it means that I have to be a servant to those here not just that I'm the least and and nobody bothers me because I'm not important, but because I'm coming up to you and
00:13:14
Speaker
Wherever I am and I do it in a heartfelt way that what can I do for you? I don't like Walmart and Those big box stores Because number one you can never find somebody to help you When you're looking for something and then you see an employee
00:13:38
Speaker
You're running after them. Hey, help, I need help. And they go faster, it seems like to me. Oh, somebody's chuckling. Maybe they have this similar experience I have. But when you're in a mom and pop shop, when you're in a mom and pop shop, I own the place. I want to make you happy. I want you to get what you need in my store.
00:14:06
Speaker
And that's how we are as Christians. What can I do for you? Did you find what you needed? Can I help you with something? Let me do this. Let me help you with this. That's how the least is in the kingdom of heaven. That's how God is to me.
00:14:25
Speaker
God's not looking down from his big throne, and Alan, oh yeah, I see you down, yeah, yeah, yeah, I see you there in Holly's Seventh-day Adventist Church today. That's not God. God got up before I did this morning and said, Alan, I'm gonna make sure your furnace is working. Alan, I'm gonna make sure your water heater's working. Yep.
00:14:55
Speaker
I love that prayer. Lord, so far I'm doing okay today. I haven't said anything bad. I haven't done anything bad, but I'm getting ready to get out of bed. I'm getting ready to get out of bed now. So you better get on your game, God. No, truly humbly. And I liked it from my heart, from my heart. I'm in the medical profession and I've seen different medical people
00:15:26
Speaker
doing their job, and doing it good, but not doing it from their heart. Not doing it from their heart. There's a big difference. Am I a Christian because God told me to go to church on Saturday? Because God told me not to steal? Because God told me not to covet? Or do I do it because I love it?
00:15:54
Speaker
Do I love being a Christian? Do I love following my master? You can tell the difference. You can tell it very quickly. As we look at our lesson from Isaiah, as we look at our lesson from Isaiah, I don't know if I agree with the title playing God. I'm not going to argue with the author.
00:16:23
Speaker
As I studied it and as I thought about it, I thought about it as the great controversy in seven days. In Isaiah 13, we'll be looking at Isaiah 13, 14, and then 24 through 27. But in Isaiah 13, God through Isaiah is telling us about a doom on the nations.
00:16:53
Speaker
versus Isaiah 13 verses six and seven. Isaiah 13, six and seven. If somebody has that and they can read for us, please. Okay. I can't remember your name. Rich. Okay. Thank you, Rich. Yep. Six and seven. Please. Thank you. Whale for the day of the Lord is at hand. It will come as destruction from the almighty.
00:17:21
Speaker
Therefore, all hands will be limp. Every man's heart will melt. My Bible says howl, but howl or wail. That's a pretty descriptive word, right? Okay. And Isaiah, God through Isaiah is saying the day of the Lord is coming, wail, howl. This isn't just, oh yeah, okay. I heard somebody say earlier, it's cold out today.
00:17:49
Speaker
Didn't say it's cool. They didn't say that's a little chilly. They said it's cold out, and that's what God is saying here whale howl Something is coming that is going to catch your attention Hands will be limp. They'll be faint men's hearts will melt something terrible is coming is
00:18:19
Speaker
What do you think about God when you hear or read these texts and texts like these? What do you think about God? Any thoughts? Yes. I was going to say that anybody's thoughts about God, when you read things like this, you will line up with your view of God. Some people will see God is warning us to get ready so that we are OK.
00:18:52
Speaker
character of love, so it depends on one's view of God. So if I view God as a God of love, how does this fit into the God of love? He said by his warning us. But if he's really a God of love, why does he have to warn us that he's going to be mean to us? Rich has a comment over here. We've got two riches. Well, Rick, I'm sorry, yes. Yeah.
00:19:22
Speaker
Number one, I don't think God is ever mean to us. But God meets us where we are. These type of verses used to really bother me, knowing that God is love. But I've come to know that as a parent, when our children are younger, we have to meet them and treat them differently than they do when they're older.
00:19:51
Speaker
Sometimes we have to say things harshly in order to get their attention. I see God here as speaking to those who don't have a proper reverence of him and are speaking to him. He's speaking to them harshly to get their attention. Yeah, Randy. It says a man that loves
00:20:21
Speaker
and by times, that means twice as much. That don't mean be your children, but when they need corrected, you need to hold them accountable for their actions. Okay. Good points. And I agree just before Jessica comments real quick, but I agree totally that as we look at how God is, do I view God as an exacting taskmaster looking to see who he can punish?
00:20:49
Speaker
Or do I look at God as a loving, benevolent God, seeing who he can extend mercy to? Yes, Jessica. I was just going to say, my students think I mean all the time.
00:21:02
Speaker
And the reason, like, you know, I do have to get after them. That's my job. But it's not because I don't like them. I love all my students. I do it to keep them safe. I get after them to make sure that they're doing what they're supposed to, that they're learning, that they're nurturing, that they're being nurtured, that they're growing, and that they stay safe.
Discipline and Decisions in Faith
00:21:21
Speaker
They, of course, don't see it that way. And trust me, wailing and gnashing of teeth does happen. You know, it's interesting.
00:21:32
Speaker
Jessica that you mentioned that because even at my age I can still recall some of my educational years and looking back looking back a lot most of the teachers that I hold in high respect now are the teachers that held me to a measure to a rule the ones that were cushy and easy and would
00:22:00
Speaker
give us another day on our assignment and stuff like that, I don't have the respect for. So some of your students, and I'm sure even now, some of them have come back maybe a year or two later and said, you know, Ms. Goodrich, I really appreciated you holding us to the rules. Rich.
00:22:22
Speaker
I love the analogy of students and our kids, because in this example that the Lord has, I'm reminded of a story of a guy, he was standing by the road, they had a terrible rainstorm that came, and a river came up and it washed out the bridge.
00:22:38
Speaker
And this guy was standing alongside the road and the cars would come by and he would wave trying to stop him. And three cars went into the river and they died. Finally said, I can't stand here and watch this anymore. So the next car that came by, he threw himself on the hood.
00:22:53
Speaker
and they stopped, but he saved them. So this is what God is doing. God tells us what to do and what not to do, not because he's trying to control us, but he knows what's best for us. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and sometimes it's better for us to throw ourselves on the hood of the car, so to speak, to try to check something, and this is what God is doing to his people. There are stiff-necked people, they won't listen, and he's saying, what more could I have done than what I have done? Then Debbie and then Larry,
00:23:23
Speaker
And I like that I was afraid he was gonna say I can't stand watching So I'm gonna leave and just let him go off by themselves, and I won't see it, so I won't notice it, but excellent. Yes, Debbie Pain is summed up in verse 12 when God says I will make a man more precious than fine gold Teachers and parents love their children, so they try to instill in them to make them a better person God is doing the same for us and
00:23:53
Speaker
Yes, okay. Larry? As you were talking about teachers and discipline, it made me think of something that happened at the Delphine Academy, and I don't remember what my discipline was. I don't remember what it was, but I don't know why it was. I can't remember that part of it. But I remember the blessing that was with the discipline.
00:24:17
Speaker
RW Pratt made me learn some lines and one of the lines that he made me learn was this Let's see if I had my eye on it a minute ago. Now. Let me see if I can find it again. It's in Hebrews 11 and Says by faith Moses when he was come to you to age and
00:24:40
Speaker
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked for the reward. So this is part of what he, but this has been a blessing to me. I go over it and over it and over it in my mind.
00:25:11
Speaker
Larry, I didn't know you had a streak of you that required disciplining in your younger years. It's in the past. It's buried. When he started speaking, it reminds me of, I believe, it's Hebrews 1211. Now, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful.
00:25:36
Speaker
Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Amen. So I'm going to kind of pause here and step back, because in the excellent points that have been brought out, what happens to every person that has lived, is living, or will live?
00:26:07
Speaker
happens to every one of us, no matter who we are, where we are, or what we do. What one thing happens to us? We die, but judgment. We have to make a decision. That's Alan Patterson, who grew up in the Holly Seventh Adventist Church, went eight years at the Holly SDA Elementary, went four years at Adolphian Academy, graduated from, notice I didn't say how many years,
00:26:35
Speaker
graduated from Andrews University, okay? I'm a Jew of the Jews. I'm a Seventh-day Adventist Paul. I have to make a decision for or against Christ. The person in the Amazon jungle that has never seen a printed page doesn't know the word the Bible, has to make a decision for God. We all have this decision to make
00:27:04
Speaker
And this is not the same decision my wife and I made back in 2003 when we bought a house, and I think we looked at 40 houses or something before we picked one out. Because once we purchased that house, we were not stuck with that forever and ever and ever in eternity. Now we're still in it, but we've done some remodeling to it and stuff. But the point is, the decision that we make with God is for eternity.
00:27:34
Speaker
is for eternity. Back in 1985, I graduated from Andrews University with a degree in medical technology. I worked in the lab for 20 years. And then I went to medical school. My decision to be a medical technologist was not a permanent decision. But our decision for or against Christ is permanent. God recognizes this.
00:28:04
Speaker
And he wants us to have the education, the information needed to make an appropriate decision. Have you ever been presented with a choice and said, I want you to make a decision. And you say, well, okay, I'm going to pick this. Well, now just a second, before you give me your final answer, let me let you know this or that. Maybe you've gone to a restaurant back before COVID.
00:28:31
Speaker
You looked at the rest of the menu and you said hey this looks pretty good and when the server came by you might have asked them hey How is this how is your lasagna is it good? You know yeah, I see somebody nodding. They've done that God is saying Alan Pam Walt Kim I want you to have all the information and
00:29:00
Speaker
I don't want you on judgment day to say, well, Lord, if you had told me this was going to happen, I would have made a different decision. Randy.
00:29:12
Speaker
I remember in Acts 17 verse 11, the Bereans were found more faithful than the Thessalonica. In that, they received all the word with readiness of mind, but searched the scripture daily to find out if it was true. They were searching out Paul, and if it was necessary to search out Paul back then,
00:29:36
Speaker
who wrote quite a bit of the New Testament, who should we be checking out? Especially that bald guy sitting there next to you. Amen. And there's two reasons we need to search out what we hear quotes from the pulpit. Number one, everyone in the pulpit is human. Amen. And number two, no one is going to get into heaven because they say,
00:30:06
Speaker
Oh, well, my pastor told me this, so that's why I believe in it. I have a real good brother at church, and one day in Sabbath school, he said such and such, and that's why I believe it. Can you imagine going to a potluck and sitting down at the table, not going through the line, sitting down at the table and saying, Mike, how are the mashed potatoes? Well, they're good? They're good? Oh, great. That's awesome.
00:30:33
Speaker
Larry, how are the chocolates? Are they good? They're good? Oh, great, great. And I'm still sitting there. And I say, Pam, how's the green bean casserole?
00:30:49
Speaker
Awesome. Oh, that's great. And I just sit there. How long before somebody comes up and says, Alan, aren't you going to get a plate full of food? Oh, no, no, no. I'm just enjoying everyone else eating. And I've asked people and they've told me how good the food is. I don't need to eat. That's ridiculous. Why would we do that with the scripture?
00:31:10
Speaker
I might throw this out there is once you are given the knowledge, you are responsible for it. It is your responsibility to take it forward and read it and chew it up and digest it. We are held responsible for the things that we are given. And once we are given the knowledge, we're held responsible for it.
00:31:41
Speaker
responsible. Is that a good word or a bad word? Can be. If someone rejects the Bible without reading it, just rejects it, they're fully responsible for everything that's in it. I don't remember where it is in the scripture where it talks about for those who have had the old wine
00:32:10
Speaker
because many have, they don't immediately desire the new because they say the old is better. And so that's where two, working with each other, I love that quote, you know, Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed his sympathy for them, ministered to their needs,
00:32:36
Speaker
And won their confidence, then he bade them follow me. When people see the love of Christ in us, they'll want to taste and see, who is this God you serve? I want to know that God. You know, when Pam talked about responsibility, I learned a procedure in medical school that's very simple that cures benign positional vertigo.
00:33:05
Speaker
dizziness from your otolens the tiny bones in your inner ear being out of sync and I've had opportunity to use that on some patients now what would you think of me as a physician if I you came to me you told me about your dizziness and I talked to you and said I believe it's this BPV and I can cure it right here but I don't want to do it yeah because if anybody's been dizzy
00:33:34
Speaker
It's amazing. That's a simple little word, but it is so incapacitating. Here, God gives us information, gives us directions on how to save people for eternity. And how can we keep silent when we have that? How can we keep silent? Larry.
00:33:59
Speaker
I just want to remind our blind campers that each one of you have a mic up there. If you have a question or a comment, please raise your hand and pick up your mic. Because I am watching for you to see if anyone wants to talk. Jamie, just to your, there you go. I often wonder how fast God will
00:34:24
Speaker
Respond to our prayers. I mean because I've asked for God to help me with things Or if it's foolish to ask God for the things that we want Need has a lot to do with it, but I read in scripture that King David prayed and before he was finished praying the answer was there and
00:34:54
Speaker
We had a children's story last Sabbath here, wasn't it? No, no, no, no, I'm sorry. It was at another church my wife and I were watching. But the children's story was about a doctor that was in Africa, and this was years ago, in the middle of Africa, very primitive mission. And they would use hot water bottles to keep the babies warm at night.
00:35:25
Speaker
And a baby was born premature, so they really needed the hot water bottle. And when they went to fill it up, it broke, and it was the last one they had. And they went to the orphanage after the mom had delivered. Well, the mom actually passed away. That's what happened, too. So anyway, bottom line, they went to an orphanage, and one of the children at the orphanage prayed that God would send a hot water bottle
00:35:53
Speaker
And as a child can and does say, and Lord, it has to come tomorrow because otherwise it'll be too late. And of course the adults, the wise adults, us said, how's that going to happen? You know, they didn't have overnight express back then. Well, guess what? The next day the doctor found on her step a package that was delivered.
00:36:16
Speaker
How fast does God answer our prayer? That package had been mailed out five months before. Five months before and been traveling to Africa. So God knows what we need before we ask. Now, that doesn't mean that every prayer is answered before we open our eyes or get up off our knees. Because sometimes Alan Patterson is asking for something
00:36:47
Speaker
that God says, Alan, that's not good for you. Or not now. Correct. So sometimes I have to pray to get my heart in tune with God's will. And sometimes God's waiting for his timing. Pam and then Mike and Rodney. OK. So Pam, Mike, and then Rodney. So Jamie, just to let you know that we are all humans.
00:37:14
Speaker
And when we start our journey with Jesus, we start out selfish. We always, all of us, ask for selfish things. We ask for our wants. That's how we are. We're human. But as we journey with Jesus, we learn that
00:37:34
Speaker
praying for others and the things that we need, take precedence over the things that we want. And all of a sudden, we're not nearly as selfish as we were. And when we look back on our prayers, our prayers have changed. And so it's never wrong to pray for the things that we want. But as you journey, you will find that your prayers change. Amen. Mike and then Rodney.
00:38:08
Speaker
Jamie, that's an outstanding question. I know that many of us have asked that within ourselves, you know, the whys and why don't I see maybe God working now. It's very common in the Christian walk. Any one of us could probably sit here and tell you, you know, prayers that we have lifted up and they haven't been fulfilled in our lives. And there's good reasons. God knows everything. I don't know everything about you, Jamie. I just met you last week.
00:38:36
Speaker
but I know God loves you dearly. And as I think about your question, I thought about a prayer that I started praying 40 years ago. And I think 40 years, Lord, why haven't you heard my prayer? And oftentimes, it's in God's time. It's not our time. And if we just trust Him and say it's your time, but 40 years ago, I began praying for my sister, my oldest sister, praying that she would open her heart up to God and open up her heart to spend time in the Word with me
Testimonies and God's Timing
00:39:06
Speaker
with my wife and I. Well, that prayer was answered four months ago. And we've been studying every Thursday night for two hours each night. And I see how God is changing her life. So I believe God knows exactly what you need. He knows what you want. And in his time, you will see the fulfillment of those prayers according to his will. Amen. Amen. Rodney.
00:39:37
Speaker
Mike's not there. There it is. OK, well, like Mike said, you know, I think it's based on need. OK, because, you know, like what Dave, he lost his wallet. OK, and he really needs that for his, you know, medical cards, whatnot and stuff like this. So I think it's based on need. It isn't because with me, I was praying for years. Lord, help me find us a spouse. You know, it took over 10 years.
00:40:06
Speaker
So, I think, and plus it's also where you're at in your life too. Because if you're a busybody who's always working, you're not gonna have time for that. You know? Because me, I was always working. It seemed like better going to church. So, I think it's also based on need. Randy. I had a situation that I was praying for this guy for four years.
00:40:38
Speaker
Just happenstance, he had a grandson that was stillborn. And after that four years, I was at the hospital when my grandson was born in 07. I was driving a tanker semi, and I seen him on Sunday, and I seen him on Monday. And I left for California.
00:41:07
Speaker
I got out there to California, and a friend of mine I was staying with, set me up with a Bible study. I went to the park with this guy, and we were doing the Bible study. And right in the middle of the Bible study, my daughter, two weeks, says, Dad, he's not breathing.
00:41:39
Speaker
I was doing God's will, but he used that situation. At my grandson's funeral, the guy that I was praying for, I walk out of the sanctuary into the foyer and he comes up to me and I say, you know, our grandsons will be playing together in heaven.
00:42:09
Speaker
I seen the Holy Ghost at that time hit him. It's not a thing I wanted to happen, but God's will be done. And I figured out my grandson is the only one of my grandchildren that I do not have to worry about. He can't be tempted, can't be abused, nothing.
00:42:38
Speaker
God answers prayers in his good timing, and it might not be the way you want him to, but it's always just. God knows the end from the beginning. Dave and then Larry. Sometimes you pray for something and it don't happen right away. You keep praying for it, so then you leave it in God's hands, and if it says will, it will happen. Yup, yup. Again,
00:43:08
Speaker
We have assurance that at some point in the future we may be able to sit down with God and ask him. Ask God why this happened or why this didn't happen and he'll show us the DVD or tell us the story and we will look at God and say you did the perfect thing.
00:43:36
Speaker
That all things work together for good to those that love the Lord so even when we go through heartache and trial Temptation anything if we just trust in him we know that he's got our back Not only does he tell us that all things work together But he also said I personally have learned to be satisfied with a little or a lot so he's not saying do as I say he's saying do as I have learned to do and
00:44:06
Speaker
When I pray and ask God to do something I Usually ask him if it will bring honor and glory to your his name may this happen Amen Amen So as we've looked at Sunday's lesson talking about doom on the nations that God is proclaiming through Isaiah Letting us know that there is a consequence to sinful behavior
00:44:37
Speaker
to simple actions, letting us know that we have a decision to make for good or bad, right or wrong. And in the shaded box on Sunday's lesson, it talks about why does a loving God do this? It's because he loves us that he wants us to be prepared to make that decision. He wants us to recognize that what Satan has said is lies.
00:45:04
Speaker
Remember King David, I can't remember the text exactly, but basically King David says to God, what is going on here? Look at the Philistines, these heathen people. They battle us, they torture us, and they defy you, but yet they have wonderful crops. You give them bountiful harvest. What is up with that? And what does our loving God say to King David?
00:45:34
Speaker
Don't worry about it. I have my plan. I have my schedule. I give rain to the just and to the unjust. Did you have a comment? Okay. Did you have a comment? Right. Right. So again, it's not instant reward. The first time somebody smokes a cigarette, they don't get lung cancer.
00:46:04
Speaker
They don't get COPD. The first time, sometimes maybe, but the first time somebody breaks the speed limiter or runs a stop sign, they don't get killed in a car crash. Satan is allowed to have some freedoms, if you will, and some liberties. But God, like in Isaiah 13 and 14, is telling us
00:46:31
Speaker
Yes, you may look at Satan, you may look at sin and think that there are no consequences to it. There will be a day of judgment. There will be a day of the Lord, Randy. I've read in Job chapter 1, and this is a challenge for everyone in here, to read Job chapter 1 and time yourself.
00:46:54
Speaker
What it says in there is while this servant was yet speaking, the next one came. The servant was not yet done speaking, the next one came. It was happening just as fast as you can read it. And he lost, he was the richest of the East, and he lost everything, his livelihood right down to his 10 children.
00:47:19
Speaker
If you read that, it will say, God speaking here, have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man, when it fears God and eschews evil? What's the criteria? Fearing God, having reverence for and eschewing evil, just avoiding it. How hard is that? Humanly, it's impossible. Amen. Amen.
00:47:48
Speaker
Monday's lesson talks about the destruction of the great city of Babylon. And it's interesting because at that time, Babylon really wasn't a thorn in the flesh of the children of Israel. It was Assyria. But in Isaiah 13, verses 19 and 20, it talks about what's going to happen to Babylon. Does someone have Isaiah 13, 19 and 20? Rich?
00:48:16
Speaker
Babylon the glory of kingdoms the beauty of the Calvians pride will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah It will never be inhabited nor will it be settled from generation to generation Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there nor will the shepherds make their sheep folds there I think one reason that God focused on Babylon more than Assyria in Daniel's dream of the image What was Babylon represented by?
00:48:47
Speaker
What part of the image the head of gold? The most valuable precious metal and it was the head Babylon was the kingdom of kingdoms. It was the golden kingdom To me as I read this God saying if I can bring down the greatest of the great What do you think number two number three number four number eight will be to me?
00:49:16
Speaker
If I can tackle the worst illnesses, someone that comes to me with the common cold has complete confidence in me because Dr. Patterson cured cancer. The cold would be a piece of cake to him. So I really think that's where God is focusing. Nothing on this earth is more powerful than I am, rich.
00:49:38
Speaker
that we need to think about and consider is why was Babylon, why did they become the leader of the world? It was because God's people chose to sin against him and not follow his ways. So because God promised, he said, if you will obey me, you'll be the head and not the tail. And that's how the prophecies all came about. And this is a lot of times why prayer is not answered is because there's secret sin, there's known sin, there may be blatant sin in our lives that
00:50:08
Speaker
that it wouldn't be in my best interest or God's if he were to answer my prayers the way that he does. That doesn't mean that it always works that way, but too often it's easy for us to overlook, well, you know, leave my pet alone. You know, this is my little darling. And that's extremely limiting in God's people. It always has been and it always will be.
00:50:35
Speaker
And that being said, in ourselves, do we become an enabler by not letting like someone hit rock bottom on their own or are we catching them with a net? Well, where is rock bottom? Where is rock bottom? My rock bottom may not be the same place someone else's is. And I think as a Christian,
00:51:06
Speaker
I need to be ready to help anyone wherever they're at. And if it's not God's timing yet, he'll work with me. But I'm sure not going to tell somebody, I'm not going to reach out to you yet. I don't think you've hit rock bottom. But I get your point. Because we don't turn around until we hit rock bottom. Rick and then Pam. I just wanted to briefly say, to give us an appreciation of Bible prophecy, this prophecy here was written on
00:51:34
Speaker
about 150 years before Babylon became prominent and took Israel into captivity. And I appreciate Rich and Rick both because I think that was another point. The Assyrians were pastoring and hounding the children of Israel, but Babylon took Judah into captivity.
00:52:00
Speaker
And to me it just it reminds me The passage in Daniel where God Says I lift up kingdoms and I tear down kingdoms we have to remember that it's always in God's hands and that he is always in control and By saying that you know like 200 years before this that they were going to
00:52:29
Speaker
a great nation and then torn down, he knew he was always in control. And I think that's a very good thing about prophecies, whether it's in Isaiah, whether it's in Daniel, whether it's in Revelation, or wherever the prophecy is, recognizing God knows the end from the beginning and is tracking things. And that gives us a peace. That should give us a peace.
00:52:55
Speaker
Recognizing that things are not happening without God's knowledge Did God know that coronavirus was going to hit in 2019? Absolutely, he knew it before the worlds were created So for me as a Christian to say oh my goodness. What's going on? How is this happening? I Don't have my feet on Christ Christ knew this was going to happen and knew you and I were going to be in this church on this date and
00:53:24
Speaker
So absolutely these prophecies give us a comfort that God holds the future in his hands. Yes.
00:53:33
Speaker
thoughts that came to mind as you were speaking about it is that when people want the destruction of certain ones many times too, God's people don't always have the right spirit about them. And God will many times not let it be as hard as he otherwise would because of people wanting bad things to happen to other people. Amen.
00:54:01
Speaker
And we spoke a little bit about that in yesterday afternoon's meeting that as we, okay, Rodney, I see you, we've got Mike and then Rodney up here. As we see or encounter things that we may not agree with, how do we deal with that from a Christian perspective? Do I study to prove myself right?
00:54:29
Speaker
or do I study to learn the truth? When I look at someone and say that they should be punished by God, do I pray that God punish them because I have passed judgment on them? Or do I pray that God open my heart to pray for their healing, not for their punishment? Would I rather see a sinner punished, or would I rather see him redeemed?
00:54:57
Speaker
Amen. Amen. Mike and then Rodney. So many thoughts came to me as we had these discussions, but I'll go back to my original thought. And when I think of rock bottom, there's almost like you look at two bookends and I see one is pride and one is dependence.
00:55:16
Speaker
And when you think of the study of Pharaoh and going through those 10 plagues, the lice, the water turning the blood, the death of the firstborn child, and I think, you know, here's a leader that could have hit rock bottom, but he was dependent upon himself. But through the trials in life, I see where God brings him into our life, where he allows him to come in at times, or we bring him upon ourself, it's for us to draw closer to him and depend on him.
00:55:46
Speaker
And throughout this lesson, I just see a group, a nation of people that would not depend on him. And he so much wanted their dependence so they could see who God was and experience that love. And it's always through love that God allows these things to happen, so we do not become prideful because the Pharaoh, he grieved away the Holy Spirit, and we can fall in that same danger. But at the other end of the bookend,
00:56:13
Speaker
If we totally submit ourselves to Him, we will see His plan clearly. Amen. Pride, oh man. That is amazing. Rodney? Well, I'm glad God gave me patience.
00:56:28
Speaker
Because, I mean, it's a learning tool. Because as my mom used to say, you live and learn. And with that patience, it gives us the chance to, you know, like you said, you don't answer that prayer right away. But in the meantime, while you're learning through that, and he gave you, like I said, just time so you can learn it. So I'm thankful for that. Amen. Yes.
00:56:57
Speaker
How often do we, as Christians, we call ourselves Christians, we say we love Jesus, how many of us would want to take a dagger and rip our Savior's heart out? Why I say this is our worst enemy. If they're not making it to heaven, that's one dagger in their heart, in His heart. I don't want that to happen. I want my Savior to be
00:57:26
Speaker
pain-free, suffer-free. He wants us to be suffer-free. The only way that's going to happen is we get him here and reflect his character, which is he loved the Father so much that he kept all the commandments out of love. He didn't do it because he had to, but he did it because he loved the Father and he loved all of us. You know, to go back to pride,
00:57:57
Speaker
I remember I had an opportunity to hear Muhammad Ali speak. And I remember one thing that he said in his talk. And that was, I, like Moses, am a great man that's humble. No. And pride is so
00:58:27
Speaker
varied and so insidious. If I've been bailing hay with my dad in the summertime, I know I need a shower. I know I need to clean up. There's no doubt in my mind. However,
00:58:52
Speaker
Sometimes I do things and I don't realize that I may have gotten dirty or sweaty so much. And that's where pride is. Pride is Laodicean. I am rich. I am increasing goods. I don't need anything. I don't need a shower. I'm fine. And that makes pride a challenge to work with. Did we have a comment?
00:59:22
Speaker
Dave, go ahead. I'm glad that God's helped me with my temper, because when the blindness started getting worse, I had quite a temper about it. And I'm learning that God's got my back, and I still have a little bit of trouble with that. I was at Camp Asavo, and my vision was pretty good, but just starting to get worse. And I was leading my friend Fred from Canada,
00:59:52
Speaker
One of the people there that was working there that Larry knows, she walked by and she asked us, I was going off the path a little bit, and she says, where are you guys headed? And I says, nowhere. And she goes, well, you're heading in the right direction then. And she went on her way. So we had to try to figure out the right direction to where we needed to go.
01:00:19
Speaker
Well, there's a few minutes, but I realize, hmm, she told me, right, Freddie boy? And unfortunately, sometimes we may not realize our vision is getting worse, if you will. Do I need help? Do I need God's healing touch to bring me back to vision or to give me vision?
01:00:50
Speaker
Sometimes the Lord puts things in your path to prepare you. The year before Adrian's accident, a friend of ours, their son committed suicide. And I was in their house for two months. And then right before Adrian's accident, we were studying Job. How providential is that?
01:01:16
Speaker
And I could go on and on about the miracles or surrounding his accident and death that God gave us. Just the amazing thing that I took away from this and I've learned is that God, even though pain happens, God
01:01:42
Speaker
prepares you and you don't normally see it until you go through pain and you understand that he was there all the time and that you just, your eyes are open more and it gives you a depth of understanding that God really does love us and he is there and that he never abandons us no matter what we face.
01:02:11
Speaker
Amen. God doesn't usually prepare us or sometimes prepares us. He always prepares us.
Prophetic Guidance and Triumph
01:02:18
Speaker
Whether we accept or see that preparation, that's our decisions. But again, a text that comes to mind over and over today, and for some reason God has brought it really to my memory, probably the last six months, give or take,
01:02:41
Speaker
God will do nothing except he reveal his secrets to the prophets and that isn't just a prophecy that isn't just some major event in the world everything in my life God is working to prepare me for and Am I looking to learn from Christ or am I looking to teach Christ and as ridiculous as that sounds?
01:03:06
Speaker
That is a common thing. Remember the Pharisees and Sadducees were all about teaching Christ when He was on this earth the first time. We have a comment here and then Deb.
01:03:16
Speaker
I actually wanted to have, um, to ask a question because when she was speaking and I, I've never had children. I just have heard from people, you know, very difficult to lose a child. And then I thought of with Ellen white, didn't one of the children die? And she was shown, well, the one that died so that they wouldn't go to war, they wouldn't be in the war. And then the young one,
01:03:44
Speaker
where you know she struggled with that but she told how then they were more fervent in the work was that how it went where we have struggles and I don't like it when I struggle but when I look in my life I can see God has always been there.
01:04:09
Speaker
You know, it's interesting and I've said in class before how goofy people are because you hear about people climbing Mount Everest. You hear about people striving to win the Super Bowl or to win the World Series or do some great event. And they will talk about the sacrifice. They will talk about the struggle to achieve this earthly crown, if you will.
01:04:37
Speaker
But yet when it comes to Christianity, whoa, I don't want any struggles. Whoa, I don't want any hardship, Lord. No, no, no, I want easy street. And then the story of the butterfly. When the butterfly is coming out of the cocoon, it has to struggle so that it will survive. We have to see in this world, do I want to stay in this world with Lot's wife?
01:05:04
Speaker
Is there enough ugliness? Is there enough pain? Is there enough struggle in this world that Alan Patterson says, I want to get out of here. I do not want to stay. These struggles, again, it's the great controversy. Do you want to stay in this world that Satan's in charge of? To a degree, God still has his finger there. But do I want to stay in this world with sin and Satan?
01:05:29
Speaker
Or do I want to go to heaven? We've got Deb, we've got Sean, and then we've got, oh, and then we've got Jamie. Okay.
01:05:35
Speaker
You know, you had mentioned about the prophets and rich, I believe. You talked about, you know, God sent Jeremiah Ezekiel to warn his people and they didn't heed that warning. So it all comes down to choice. We can choose. And if we choose wrong, we're going to suffer. He's warned them. So I praise the Lord for our prophets that they do tell us and we just need to heed and listen.
01:06:02
Speaker
I think one thing real quick Sean I think had a comment and then Jamie but I think it's important to remember did you have a comment to Larry okay it's important to remember just because the Holly Seventh-day Adventist Church doesn't agree with the Prophet Ezekiel or the Prophet Jeremiah or Isaiah or Joel or whoever I still have my choice so we need to not be a lemming and follow along with a bunch
01:06:31
Speaker
We need to stand up and make our choice. And that may help someone else stand up too. Shauna. I was just going to say, before Adrian's accident, I struggled with my faith. Like, I've had a lot of issues with my faith. And talking, everybody talking, I just realized I had my Jonah moment Tuesday when Adrian was in the hospital.
01:07:00
Speaker
I told God that it wasn't going to change my faith, that he wasn't going to strengthen my faith. And I was arguing with him for quite a long time. And I realized coming out of this that, yeah, he did exactly what I told him he wasn't going to do. But I let him do it because I knew on the flip side of this that if I don't strengthen my faith,
01:07:31
Speaker
If I don't grow spiritually, I am not gonna see my son again. And that has turned my life around, and it is the only goal I have, is to see my son. Amen. Amen. Jamie? Why hasn't God put a stop to the things that Lucifer is doing?
01:07:58
Speaker
Jamie you should ask that question 35 minutes ago Debbie did you want to answer that okay?
01:08:10
Speaker
Lucifer accused God of being unjust and unfair. God has got to let everything play out. If he would have zapped Lucifer right at the beginning, then his faithful angels would have served him out of fear. They would have questioned, was Lucifer telling the truth or not?
01:08:30
Speaker
God out of love has had to let the whole plan run so that we could see that Lucifer was a liar and the father of lies. And he's a deceiver. And so God is a God of love and mercy and patience and kindness. So he had to let things go so that we could truly see that his character is not what Lucifer claimed it would be. That's the great controversy. Randy and then
01:09:01
Speaker
Dave, and then... Jamie, can I porch you to love me? I can't porch you to love me, but this is what I say to everybody all the time. You're my friend whether you like it or not, right? You have a choice whether I'm your friend, but you don't have a choice whether you're my friend. That's my choice. And God wants us to have that choice.
01:09:30
Speaker
And just because Lucifer says something bad, Job was faithful even to the end. And at the end of Job chapter one, he bowed down and worshiped. Dave. Sometimes you worry about things.
01:09:53
Speaker
And you pray about it and leave it in God's hands and it'll help take the worry away and he'll answer what you're worried about. Like yesterday when I got, or last night when I got baptized, I was worried that Dr. Patterson was going to bring in a truckload of ice and throw it in there. And he didn't, so I want to thank God for answering my prayers and he didn't do that to me.
01:10:24
Speaker
Was it at the cross when the faithful angels, it wasn't till the cross was it when they were fully convicted of the character of the father? You're right, I think you're right. And then when you look and see they were convicted so there was rejoicing. They could see and then all this stuff playing out and
01:10:48
Speaker
Jamie, all I know and for people who struggle, cause many times I would struggle this love hate relationship with God. What is this? But the more I get to know him and the more I see him in my life because God's people, they overcame the enemy and we overcome the enemy enemy.
01:11:10
Speaker
by the word of the Lord and by our testimony. How does it say? And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death. And so as this all is going on, like that is an Ezekiel, the wheel within a wheel. I mean, it looks all confusing, but God sees it all. And he is orchestrating things so that people will be able to make
01:11:41
Speaker
decision an educated decision and relying on their own experience with God as it lines up with the Word of God Debbie has a comment so ultimately with Satan's false accusations because God is a God of love His love had to allow this opposing view to be expressed and to be exposed
01:12:12
Speaker
He could not in his infinite love simply squelch it, recognizing that there would be more doubts and more thoughts of
01:12:22
Speaker
Was there some validity to Satan's statements, his accusations? Jamie, also, when you think about it, you're asking the question, why didn't God stop Satan? He did something that was even more self-sacrificing. He gave his son. He gave a part of his son. And I would like to add to what she was sharing. You know, the faithful angels in heaven,
01:12:49
Speaker
They saw his son take off his priestly robes and leave a perfect world to come down here to prove that his father is loving, kind, and just, and to redeem us back to him.
01:13:04
Speaker
That took more for God to give than to just zap Satan. He could have just created this world and left us all here to fend for ourselves, but he didn't. He gave a part of himself. He gave his son to come down here to save us. That's great love. Amen. Yeah, Randy.
01:13:24
Speaker
Yeah, I was helping out with pathfinders. They did a skit. And the skit was on the song, Watch the Lamb. And I happened to be the thief on the cross that was arrogant and loud. I'm loud. Not arrogant anymore, but that took a lot of surrendering.
01:13:51
Speaker
But while I was up there, I was on my cross, and they had ropes so I could keep my arms up there, because holding your arms up for a long time is difficult. But the young man that was supposed to have been Jesus backed out. So we didn't have anybody to play Jesus, except for,
01:14:18
Speaker
a young lady named Amber Marie Nysonger. She was 14, she's 33 now. I was on that cross and as she was coming up the aisle way, I was getting a glimpse what the father was seeing with all of us as he was watching
01:14:49
Speaker
his son come to die and the people that was leading him there was the one he was dying for. Real eye opener. Think of your own child being Christ as he's going to die for you. Amen. We've basically come to the end of our class and real quick I want us to
01:15:15
Speaker
Remember Thursday's lesson. It's the final triumph of Zion. I don't want you to be left in suspense I don't want you to be left without hope because Isaiah 26 the 26th chapter talks about God and His victory not over Babylon not over meet of Persia But over sin in this world forever and ever Satan and his final destruction the the final
01:15:45
Speaker
and complete victory in the great controversy. God is the victor. God has the victory now. And if we claim that victory, we have it in our life. I'd like to thank everybody for their participation in the Sabbath School lesson. I really appreciated the discussion. Let's bow our heads and we'll have a word of prayer.
01:16:15
Speaker
Our most kind and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this Sabbath day. And even though it's cold outside, we thank you for the snow that reminds us of you covering our sinful lives with your perfect righteousness. Thank you for this week that the blind campers have had to come together and come to you and learn more about you. Thank you especially for the baptism last night with Dave.
01:16:40
Speaker
And Lord, we pray that you will continue to be with us as we go into the after service, that our hearts and minds will be opened and prepared to receive the Holy Spirit and the message that you've prepared for us to receive on your Sabbath day, Lord. These things we pray, if be thy will, in thy name, amen.
01:17:22
Speaker
. .
01:18:20
Speaker
. . .
01:18:24
Speaker
Yeah.
01:18:58
Speaker
. . .
01:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, you're okay.
01:19:59
Speaker
Okay.
01:20:48
Speaker
Good morning and welcome to the Holly Seventh-day Adventist Church. Let's turn in our hymnals to page 503, A Quiet Place.
01:21:10
Speaker
There is a quiet place Far from the rapid pace Where God can soothe my troubled mind Sheltered by the tree and flower There in my quiet place
01:21:39
Speaker
With him my cares are left behind. Whether a garden's small or on a mountain-tall new spring, and courage there I
01:22:11
Speaker
I go prepared to face a new day with love for all mankind. Our next hymn will be page 507, moment by moment.
01:22:45
Speaker
Dying with Jesus, my death reckoned mine Living with Jesus, a new life divine Looking to Jesus, till glory does shine
01:23:03
Speaker
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine. Moment by moment, I'm kept in His love. Moment by moment, I've lied from above. Looking to Jesus till glory does shine.
01:23:32
Speaker
Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine. Never a trial that he is not there. Never a burden that he doth not share. Never a sorrow that he doth not bear.
01:24:00
Speaker
Moment by moment I'm under his care. Moment by moment I'm kept in his love. Moment by moment I've lied from above.
01:24:20
Speaker
Looking to Jesus till glory does shine Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine Never a heartache and never a groan Never a tear up and never a moan
01:24:48
Speaker
Never a danger but there on the throne. Moment by moment he thinks of his own. Moment by moment I'm left from his love. Moment by moment I fly from above.
01:25:15
Speaker
Looking to Jesus till glory does shine. Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine. Never a weakness that he doth not feel. Never a sickness that he doth not heal.
01:25:44
Speaker
moment by moment in floor and wheel. Jesus, the Savior, abides with me still. Moment by moment I'm kept in his love. Moment by moment I fly from above.
01:26:31
Speaker
Let's turn across the page to 508, Anywhere with Jesus.
01:26:47
Speaker
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go Anywhere he leaves me in this world below Anywhere without him here his toys would fade
01:27:02
Speaker
Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid Anywhere, anywhere where I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone
01:27:26
Speaker
Other friends may fail me as still my own Though His hand may lead me over weary ways Anywhere with Jesus is out some praise Anywhere, anywhere, here I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
01:27:56
Speaker
Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep When the gloomy shadows ground about me
01:28:07
Speaker
Knowing I shall wake and never more to roam Anywhere with Jesus will be home sweet home Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely
01:28:38
Speaker
Let's turn on our hymnal to page 512.
01:28:56
Speaker
Just when I need him, Jesus is near. Just when I falter, just when I fear. Ready to help me, ready to cheer.
01:29:13
Speaker
Just when I need him most Just when I need him most Just when I need him most Jesus is near to comfort and cheer Just when I need him most Just when I need him Jesus is true
01:29:41
Speaker
Never more sinking all the way through. Give me for burdens, pleasures anew. Just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most. Just when I need Him most. Jesus is near to comfort and cheer.
01:30:09
Speaker
Just when I need him most Just when I need him Jesus is strong Bearing my burdens all the day long For all thy sorrow giving us all Just when I need him most
01:30:36
Speaker
Just when I need Him most Just when I need Him most Jesus is near to comfort and cheer Just when I need Him most
01:30:54
Speaker
Just when I need him, he is my all. Answering when upon him I call. Tenderly watching lest I should call. Just when I need him most.
01:31:17
Speaker
Just when I need him most. Just when I need him most. Jesus is near to comfort and cheer. Just when I need him most. Good morning, church family.
01:31:46
Speaker
Hello to everyone live streaming. Happy Sabbath to you as well. I have our welcome and announcements. And for announcements, if you're looking to the middle of our bulletin, we have a very busy week coming up. We have our elders meeting today, AJA work meeting tomorrow. Monday we got our building committee, church, finance committee, church, board meeting tomorrow. And we also have volleyball going on.
01:32:15
Speaker
Yeah, for Monday. Yes, for Monday for all of this. It's in the bulletin in the middle if I messed up. And then Wednesday, there's things going on Tuesday and Thursday. So pay attention to what's in the bulletin and keep up to date with everything that's going on. I have our call to worship today. I'm going to take it from Psalm 57, verse 1. Psalm 57.
01:32:46
Speaker
And verse one. It says, be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. I've been making that my verse to memorize this week because I think it's a good one that we should have in the back of our mind for when the calamities start coming. Amen.
01:33:17
Speaker
All right. Oh, one last announcement. Then there's more behind me coming up. I want to remind you all that it is Anna Dean's 100th birthday coming up on February 13th.
01:33:34
Speaker
They want you to, if you're able to, send a video to the email that's on the flyer right here. If you're at home, I'll read it off. It's K-L-B-G-A-R-C-I-A at A-O-K dot com. Or you can write a letter to her or make a phone call. I'm sure she'd greatly appreciate it. It's not every day that somebody lives to be 100 years old.
01:34:02
Speaker
This side of eternity at least right all right we have more announcements Okay, I'm going to be passing around a clipboard and it has some paper on it if you'd like to write a note to Anna to my mother and
01:34:27
Speaker
Next Sabbath, it's turned out kind of nice because it's her 120 and it's going to be on Sabbath. So if you'd like to write her a little note, so I can take them up there next Sabbath. I'll be passing these around. Thank you.
01:34:51
Speaker
I just wanted to mention that there is a fellowship meal today for those that want to stay in fellowship with our blind campers and others. Also this afternoon at three o'clock, Mike Ficcik is going to give a presentation on healthy living.
01:35:12
Speaker
And then we will have also a part of our Bible lesson tonight at 7 o'clock on Hebrews 11, the chapter of faith.
01:35:24
Speaker
And then tomorrow morning, at seven o'clock in the morning, we will continue to the conclusion of our series on faith. So we'd like to invite you all to come to each one of those, if you would like to, or tune in online. I believe that's all of our announcements. Let's bow our heads for prayer.
01:35:52
Speaker
Father in heaven, Lord, what a privilege and an honor it is to come to your house to worship you today on your Sabbath day. Father, may you draw us all closer to you today, give us listening ears today, and may you bless us, Father, as we come before you. In Jesus' name, amen.
01:36:30
Speaker
If you could stand and open your hymnals to 371, our opening song is Lift Him Up. My friend Cheryl and I are gonna go ahead and lead you in that.
01:36:59
Speaker
I will give to all very thirsty sinners living water I will give. And the blood so meek and lonely with the prince of heaven was he. And the fly who carried darkness through the blood
01:37:28
Speaker
Left him up with his Savior, I am in the place of. Left him up to see the Savior, now they've made him fall from home. Left him up with his precious Savior, and the mountain to behold.
01:38:12
Speaker
They shall bear the pulse of Jesus and shall find salvation sweet. Lift him up, O risen Saviour, I am in the windfall. Lift him up, O sweet and sweet,
01:38:41
Speaker
Lift it up in all its glory. Tis the sound of good and high. Lift it up, his love shall draw him. In the care this shall draw nigh.
01:39:10
Speaker
You turn your reading, mighty throne shall bless his name. Lift him up, O risen Savior, higher in the windfall. Lift him up, his feet as he can
01:39:45
Speaker
We, the glorious Redeemer, call this day a mended prayer, as the Lord shall come before us.
01:40:30
Speaker
You may be seated.
01:40:46
Speaker
Worship and giving, and today's offering is for our church, for the programs, ministries, and needs of the congregation. Let us rejoice that we are a part of this congregation and that we have the opportunity to help support it with our financial gifts. So our new thing is we have our offering plate is in the back and you're also able to give online. So if you're able, let's borrow heads and we'll have a prayer for the offering.
01:41:15
Speaker
Father in heaven, where truly you are, the giver of all good gifts. Father, the scripture is clear, Lord, that it is you who gives us power to get wealth. It is not in our own strength, Father. And as we return our tithe and return our offerings, I pray, Father, that you would bless these offerings.
01:41:38
Speaker
Lord, that you would cause them to further your work, to further your kingdom here, and to hasten your coming. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
01:42:12
Speaker
So.
01:42:53
Speaker
ล ล
01:43:49
Speaker
It is now your turn to help us with the Lamb's offering. And the Lamb's offering will be going for the worthy student fund. And then after that, I think we're having a children's story. Yes, we are. Dave Sischke will be doing the children's story. So boys and girls, come up and grab a basket and help collect the Lamb's offering.
01:44:27
Speaker
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01:45:26
Speaker
All right, is my mic on? Yes, it is. All right, as the last kids are running up here, I will start my story. This story takes place
01:45:39
Speaker
in a place very far away called Georgia. So this story comes to you from Georgia, when I was somewhere between 12 and 13 years old. My folks decided that they wanted to leave Michigan and go down the first to Tennessee for six months and then to Georgia. And when we lived in Georgia, we're already in the mountains, and they moved us onto a big hill in the mountains.
01:46:09
Speaker
And the road that went up was so steep that if it was like the first rain in a long time, cars couldn't make it up until it rained for a while because all the leaky oil out of the cars
01:46:24
Speaker
The road became slippery and you basically, you just couldn't get up the hill. It was that steep. When my uncle was moving up next door to us, he couldn't even make it up. He had to wait for the rain to wash everything down. The moving truck wouldn't make it up the driveway or the road. So it was a big one-way road all the way up to a loop and then straight down. And when I was living there, I discovered that we had scorpions in the yard. We had snakes in the yard.
01:46:51
Speaker
We had nasty things and critters. The neat thing was, though, because we were on a mountain, we were able to get cardboard and even our snow sleds and slide down the leaves and the hill in the summertime. So we didn't have to get warm or anything with jackets and gloves. We could just get a sled and go down in the summertime, right down the leaves. And since we're on a mountain,
01:47:13
Speaker
the backyard was kind of more like a back cliff. You'd basically take like two steps and it was almost straight down, almost. And one day while my family and I were cooking dinner on the back porch, do you guys have a barbecue on your back porch?
01:47:31
Speaker
We have a barbecuer. We were barbecuing on the back porch. From our back porch, it was basically a straight drop-off. At the far end of the porch, it was a good 15 feet. Next to the house, it was about 12 feet straight down. I was only 12 or 13 years old, about this tall, and Steve was about 10. He was taller than me already.
01:47:58
Speaker
And I had younger siblings, my brothers Don and Rob. They were, Donnie was probably about three. I had a little brother Robbie. He was only one and a half, he stood about this tall. You guys remember being one and a half? Do we have anyone one and a half here? Nice one. One and a half year olds are only about yea big. They can walk a little bit. I decided I would take my little brother Robbie.
01:48:27
Speaker
onto the back porch where we were barbecuing. I carried him out there, and I sat down on the bench that went on both sides of this porch. Why not, right? Who wouldn't want to take their little brother out on the back porch with them while they were barbecuing? I sat down on the porch, sat my brother Robbie down right next to me, and I turned to say something to my dad
01:48:57
Speaker
And then when I turned back, my brother Robbie was gone. G-O-N-E, gone. Where's Robbie? Where'd he go? What could have happened? Where'd he go? I didn't see him anywhere. I looked over the porch. My brother Robbie had fallen off of the benches that round this porch. Nowadays, I'm sure they don't make porches like this, but it had a seat. There was a big gap.
01:49:29
Speaker
And then the backrest was there. He fell in between the seat and the backrest, straight down, straight down, 12 feet to the ground, hit his chin on the air conditioner unit right here. My mom, paralyzed by fear, was like, Robbie, Robbie. She was like paralyzed. She couldn't move. My dad and brother, Steve, they were running through the house to run all the way around to get them.
01:49:59
Speaker
And me, 12 feet, I just kind of like jumped onto the ground on the other side of the porch because it was less far down there. Ran over and picked him up. And I'm picking him up. And all he kept saying was, I hurt.
01:50:16
Speaker
I hurt, sat him in my lap back before car seats were necessary. We drove all the way to the hospital and I was holding him and all that he said all the way there was, I hurt, I hurt. The only kept saying was I hurt. I still hear it in my head. I hurt and I felt like it was my fault because I brought him out there and I sat him next to me and I turned away.
01:50:41
Speaker
It wasn't holding him close to me. I didn't even think that he could fall through and fall down. We go to the hospital. The doctors look him over. Because when you fall 12 feet on the ground, if you or I would have fallen 12 feet, we probably would have broke our neck, broken arm, broken knee, broke all of them.
01:50:59
Speaker
The doctor tells us he's completely and totally okay. No broken neck, no broken arms, no broken fingers. He didn't even have signs of bruises. He only had a little tiny cut under his chin that they were able to just put like a butterfly bandage. And that was it. And the doctor warned us and said, look, he's probably gonna be afraid of heights and won't wanna be climbing anything ever again. Oh boy.
01:51:29
Speaker
That's not very fun. The next morning we wake up, he is healed. He's climbing up on top of the couches, on the back of the couches. He's climbing everywhere. It's like it didn't even face him. And this story is like a miracle of all miracles. It's not very common that somebody can fall 12 feet, especially a little baby, and be fine. And what I thought about this story, the moral of this story is this porch reminds me of the devil.
01:51:59
Speaker
And the devil wants to push us off the porch. He wants to get us to fall off and get hurt because the devil's out to push us and to kill us and to destroy us. And what I learned from this, kids, do you love your parents? Cling to your parents. Hold onto them tight. Hold them close. Cling them. Cling to them. Parents, do you love your children?
01:52:28
Speaker
Cling to them. Hold them close. Most importantly, we should cling to Jesus.
01:52:40
Speaker
Hold Jesus close. Hold him tight and never let him go. Because the Bible says that he is the only one that is able to keep us from falling. Nobody wants to fall. Do you guys want to fall? The devil wants us all to fall. The Bible says that he can keep us from falling. Let me read you the Bible verse. It comes from Jude. Jude chapter 14 verse 24. Listen, they're talking about Jesus here.
01:53:10
Speaker
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you fallest before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Jesus can keep us from falling. Who wants to cling to Jesus so he will keep us from falling? Amen. Do we have anyone who wants to pray? All right, I will pray. Father in heaven,
01:53:39
Speaker
Lord, firstly, I want to thank you that you kept my brother safe when I dropped him, when he fell off the porch. And Father, I want to thank you too that if we cling to you, Lord, you can help us. You can keep us from falling. So we ask that today in Jesus' name, amen. All right, you can go back to your seats.
01:54:25
Speaker
Happy Sabbath. I'm going to read the scripture reading. It's found in Isaiah 35 verses 3 through 6 and 10. I will be reading out of the King James Version.
01:54:40
Speaker
Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are fearful of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with recompense, he will come and save you.
01:55:04
Speaker
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and the streams in the desert." In verse 10,
01:55:28
Speaker
and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. In the center of your bulletin you'll find our prayer requests. Quite a lengthy list we have.
01:55:58
Speaker
We want to pray for God's guidance in all of our lives, for our ministry here in the church, the outreach to our community and friends. And as you know, we've been sending out the great controversy to everyone in Holly. We pray for that. We want to pray for our schools, AJA and GLAW.
01:56:18
Speaker
and for our students in public schools and in home schools. And I also want to add here, it's not in the bulletin, but we want to pray for all those that have taken part in the blind camp this week that they will continue to walk close to the Lord. We want to pray for the COVID-19 pandemic, the leaders, frontline workers, and those affected.
01:56:42
Speaker
And then for health concerns and special prayer requests, Ivan and Barbara Lovelace, Shawna Charles, Petra Perez, Kathy Danley, Martha Gillis, Chuck Grieve, Martha Denu's family, Sherry Lindstad, Kathy Kerrigan, Scott Robinson, Barb Johnson, Brenda and Bob Bakke and family, Lori Campbell and Jen Hunter,
01:57:07
Speaker
Melissa Jamison, Dee Dee Bishop, Irvin Worden, Duane Baldwin, Chris Cott, Maria Schiske, Sally Ferez, Karen Berger, Joseph Perry, Alan Kowalski, Leisha Prashet.
01:57:29
Speaker
gratitude and continued prayer, Art Vanus, David Shin, Doris Stevenson, Anna Dean, Kathy Martinez, and Elaine Sears. And for those that have lost loved ones, Don and Judy Stewart, for the loss of Judy's mother, Maddie McVetti, and the Wurt family for the loss of Brad's uncle, Tom Healy. As far as possible, I invite you now to kneel with us as we have prayer.
01:58:03
Speaker
or rise upon Jesus. Look, fallen and wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely near. In the light of his glory,
01:58:37
Speaker
Father in heaven, we hallow your name. We praise you, Father, for being here and being with us as we worship this morning. Please accept our worship.
01:58:52
Speaker
We pray, Father, for all those in that list that we just read that need you in some way. Please draw close to them as your will allows. And please give them comfort and strength in this time of their need. We pray for this church and for all that are here, for all those that are watching on live stream. Please be with each one and give them a blessing this morning for being here. We pray for our school.
01:59:22
Speaker
the teachers thereof and the kids that are there, please draw close to them and help them to draw closer to you each day.
Love, Community, and Joyful Engagement
01:59:33
Speaker
And Father, we know that time is short here. Please be with us and help us that we will get ready for your coming. Be with the pastor this morning as he delivers the message to us.
01:59:49
Speaker
Please help it to touch our hearts. We pray, Father, we ask that you will be with all those that have been attending the blind camp this week. Please draw close to each one of the campers and help them to see that you are the way and that someday, if they live the way they should, that they will see your face. Guide over us now.
02:00:16
Speaker
Draw close to us and keep us to the point that we will help share this message with others and that we will help others to find their way to heaven. Draw us closer to Christ, our Savior, and we pray this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen.
02:01:27
Speaker
In this season of Valentine's that's coming up, we always think about love and the love for our spouses, the love of our children, the love of our families and friends. And I'm so thankful that we have most importantly the love of God that never fails. So our song today is Love Never Fails.
02:01:59
Speaker
Love is not proud. Love does not boast. Love after all matters the most. Love does not run. Love does not hide.
02:02:19
Speaker
Love does not keep locked inside Love is a river that flows through Love never fails you Love will sustain
02:02:49
Speaker
Love will provide. Love will not cease at the end of time. Love will protect.
02:03:03
Speaker
Love always hopes Love still believes when you don't Love is the arms that are holding you Love never fails you When my heart won't make a sound
02:03:34
Speaker
When I can't turn back around When the sky is falling down Nothing is greater than this, greater than this Love is right here, love is alive
02:03:59
Speaker
Love is the way, the truth of life. Love is the river that flows through. Love is the arms that are holding you. And love is the place you will fly to. Love never fails you.
02:04:48
Speaker
Thank you so much, Andrew and Rebecca. That was beautiful. And you know, it's a beautiful thing to see you and be here.
02:05:01
Speaker
And how are you doing, Holy Church family? Kind of quarter are doing okay. Well, how about the blind campers? How are you doing?
02:05:17
Speaker
Hey, now we're talking. Look at that. You can always bet you will get a great response from these people. I remember going and having... I've had winter camp with them. I've had summer camp. I've been on the bikes with them. It's such a joy to see them here in my church and I'm so glad that Larry and Myrna and all the rest of the team thanks Mike and
02:05:41
Speaker
and Dr. Patterson and all the rest you've been helping here. Dave has been the song leader. We love him so much. And it's been so much fun to watch. I haven't been able to watch everything, but I have watched quite a few. How many of you saw the baptism last night? How many saw Dave getting baptized? Now, how come the blind folk got their hands up too?
02:06:11
Speaker
See, this is why I love these folk. They are so great. You can have a laugh with them. I watched it. You need to watch it. You need to watch Dave getting baptized. Oh, look at it. Love it. Just keep on talking. Because blind people don't see with their eyes, they see with their heart.
02:06:35
Speaker
Yeah. You know what? I never saw anybody fall like a brick into that water splash so fast in all my life. Like he meant it. He just fell dead. I'm just glad he pulled me back up. I know. I saw him dragging you up.
02:06:55
Speaker
That was such an event. You have to watch it, folks. You have to watch it. I have never seen anybody fall like a rock like David just went... There he was. And pastor was there to bring him back up. Praise the Lord. What an exciting thing. How many more you folk want to be baptized? They haven't been baptized. Well, I'll be thinking about it.
02:07:22
Speaker
You know, I've got a quiz for the blind campers. And hopefully we'll have a video at some point, but wait for the queue. So the book of Isaiah is the one that we've been going through for Sabbath school, right? Yeah, excellent book. Excellent. So I've got a quiz for the blind campers only. See, the blind campers were going to be up here on the tables. That's what I was told. So I was going to do a quiz for them. But you're in the pews, so you're still going to have
02:07:52
Speaker
A quiz, okay? This is just for the blind camp folk, all right? So, in the book of Isaiah, how many chapters are there? Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't answer, don't answer yet. If you want to answer, you have to go, eh. All right? The sermon hasn't started, by the way. So, if you know the answer, you have to go, eh. All right? How many chapters in the book of Isaiah?
02:08:22
Speaker
I knew somebody would do it. Dave, how many? Correct. All right. Question number two for blank campers only. And you know that we're all blind until we see God's amazing grace, right? So you can all join in if you want. Isaiah is, or Isaiah is often called, and I'm going to miss out a word and then I'll say prophet. So Isaiah is often called the blank prophet.
02:08:51
Speaker
On your buzzers. Yes. Where was your buzzer? All right. Question number three. What does the name of the prophet Isaiah actually mean? On your buzzers. It kind of goes with the gospel prophet.
02:09:18
Speaker
I'll repeat the question. Yep. What does the name Isaiah actually mean? That's it. I heard somebody going, eh. All right. You give up. Has something to do with God and it is Isaiah, Yahweh is salvation. God is salvation. That's what Isaiah means.
02:09:47
Speaker
God is salvation. Wow. Powerful. Okay, now I want you to name that tune, so we got to set that tune up.
Isaiah's Prophecies and Salvation
02:10:00
Speaker
Listen carefully. Listen carefully. On your buzzers, we're going to listen to about 30 seconds of it.
02:10:14
Speaker
It's got a load up. That's okay. Oh, you guys get off the internet.
02:10:47
Speaker
Name that tune. On your buzzers. I heard somebody over here. Handel's Messiah. That's right. Awesome.
02:11:07
Speaker
And I could give some bonus points, but let me just ask you the last quiz question. Which book of the Old Testament did Handel get most or much of his text for his Handel's Messiah? Which book of the Old Testament did Handel get much of his oratorio, the text for this beautiful work of Handel's Messiah? Okay, did I hear Buzzer? You got it, Dave.
02:11:37
Speaker
Correct. The winner is Dave because he got the most buzzers. All right. Didn't you like that? I liked that. I enjoyed that. I think I had a whole ton of fun. Okay, it's time to go home now. I rejoiced when they said, I'm going to the house of the Lord because salvation is there.
02:12:06
Speaker
Salvation is in the presence of God. What did you say, friends? Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, you are our God. You are our Savior. You are our soon coming King. O God, we worship you in spirit and in truth with all our might, with all our soul.
02:12:36
Speaker
We praise you and thank you for your salvation in Jesus' name. Amen. Did you know that most of some of the promises that people know, most of those promises come from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. God, Yahweh is salvation.
02:12:59
Speaker
You know one of the things I noticed about all those promises and I kind of jotted a few down. I mean you can't go through these 66 chapters without finding Jesus. You find Him at every turn of the page and you'll be surprised because Isaiah is written over a large period of time and
02:13:21
Speaker
He's dealing with the Assyrian power, the world power at that time, and then the Babylonian power. And Isaiah is actually around as a prophet for about 60 years. And if you go to the beginning, you will see that it will tell you that prophet Isaiah is being given visions. And he's the son of Amos.
02:13:52
Speaker
which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Mostly he prophesies for Judah and Jerusalem because Israel is kind of dead meat. But it says that he is in Jerusalem in the days of the kings of Judah, Isaiah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, these kings of Judah.
02:14:15
Speaker
Now, so he's dealing with real history. He's dealing with real time trouble with God's people and the surrounding nations. He's right there where the battles are being fought against God's people. And so in all of that, you find visions of glory.
02:14:39
Speaker
Like in Isaiah chapter 6, when he sees the Lord high and lifted up. I mean, you just go through it. I mean, you could spend the whole Sabbath just going through it. I mean, look, we're snow now. We're in the snow. And what does it say in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18? Isaiah 1 verse 18. Come on, call it out, anybody.
02:15:12
Speaker
Yes, says the Lord, though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Yahweh is salvation. And these wonderful promises, okay, we'll just take a quick look. So I'll be doing promises, somebody divided up into two here, promises and the deliverance story of God's people. These first promises,
02:15:40
Speaker
Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. Just a real quick there. Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel. God with us.
02:16:03
Speaker
Now, if you think about when Isaiah is being written, this is around like 700 before Christ. 700 years. It's a long time to wait for the Messiah, wouldn't you say? I praise God He's already come, don't you? I praise God He's already come and He's coming again. He came as a baby and now He's coming as an invincible.
02:16:30
Speaker
glorious King of the universe that He is. Would you say hallelujah, friends? We better start worshiping God for the God that He truly is. He is an awesome God. He is the Creator of everything, and He did it all through His mighty Son, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
02:16:56
Speaker
He did it through the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah is the one that uses this phrase the most. Did you know folks, how many times blind, the blind are mentioned in the book of Isaiah? Nine times. And it says that the blind shall what? The blind shall see.
02:17:19
Speaker
and the deaf shall hear and the lame shall walk. This is the God that we worship. This is the salvation of our God. Oh boy, I get so excited. I don't even get through what I want to do.
02:17:31
Speaker
9, chapter 9, 6 and 7, those words that are forever etched in our minds for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And please note this, please do not miss this next phrase. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. Oh, you should have said amen there, folks.
02:17:59
Speaker
Because there is only one government that is righteous, that is true, that is holy, that is just, and that is the government that will be upon the shoulder of my Savior, King Jesus, and your Savior, King Jesus. I don't look for government anywhere else except for Him.
02:18:19
Speaker
And the government shall be upon His shoulder. He's the only one that is worthy to govern. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of His government and peace
02:18:37
Speaker
There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon the kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." Isn't it? It just is. Hallelujah. Let's jump to Isaiah 26 verse 3.
02:19:09
Speaker
Boy, is my sermon time already finished? Give me a break. 20... 26.3. Yes. How many of you got a Braille Bible here? Braille Bible. Do you have your Braille Bibles with you? Some of them do.
02:19:38
Speaker
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon thee because he trusts in thee." And then there's Isaiah 40 verse 31. You know that one.
02:20:01
Speaker
31, and I mean, talk about Handel's Messiah, Isaiah 40 is all of it, isn't it? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God, speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, et cetera. And verse 31, but they that wait upon the Lord shall do what? Renew their strength. Do you need your strength renewed, my friends?
02:20:30
Speaker
We're here to have it renewed right now. What do you say? They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. And then, Dave, Isaiah, are you there? Yes, he is. Sorry, I'm picking on you. Oh, there's a couple of Daves here.
02:20:57
Speaker
How many days? Put your hand up if you're a dave. Oh dear, we've got a ton of daves. We've got four of them right off the bat. Yeah, there we go. Praise God. Isaiah 41 verse 10. Isaiah 41 verse 10. Do you know that during 2020, this was one of the most quoted verses? Isaiah 41 verse 10.
02:21:26
Speaker
Somebody want to call it out? Or read it if you want. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yet I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Who is talking?
02:21:55
Speaker
Our God, the God whom we worship. Friends, we could go on. I'll just pick one more. Well, you know, there's Isaiah 53, who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. You know how that one goes, yeah? He was wounded for our transgressions. The chastisement that brought us peace was upon him.
02:22:23
Speaker
And by His stripes we are healed." Beautiful. Then there's Isaiah 55, which is one of my favorites. As the heavens are high above the earth, so are your ways higher than my ways and your words than my words. And the Bible says in Isaiah 55 verse 11, that God's word will accomplish that which He purposed. What does God achieve through His word?
02:22:52
Speaker
Isaiah means it. God is salvation. God achieves salvation through His Word. It will not come back to Him void. It will accomplish that which He purposes. Amen? And those of you that are praying for your children, I'll just jump back to Isaiah 49 verse 25. Have you ever seen a lion with its prey in its teeth?
02:23:23
Speaker
Not a pretty sight. God says, shall the prey be taken? So Isaiah 49 verse 24 and 25, shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive delivered? But thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered.
02:23:48
Speaker
For I will contend with him that contends with thee, and I will save your children." Amen. Amen. Now I'm coming back to the story of deliverance of God's people. You know when you read Isaiah 35, you get the impression that the prophet is seeing a vision of heaven, and you'll often see that.
02:24:19
Speaker
You go right to the end of the chapter, the book in Isaiah 66, and it will say that everyone, when the Lord will have made the new heavens and the new earth, everyone's gonna come and worship Him every Sabbath. So we're getting used to that now, right? We're gonna do that one day, face to face.
02:24:46
Speaker
with a whole ton of people that have been before us, that we're waiting for Jesus to come and resurrect. We're going to do that with all of our loved ones. Those that have been snatched away from us by the devil, they're going to be by our side. But we're still here. And Isaiah is such a gospel prophet. He's such a real prophet. He's in the midst of the trials of his people, just like Daniel.
02:25:16
Speaker
Just like God has always sent a prophet to draw his people back to him, to remind them of his great words, of his great love, of his great promises, of his great truth. And so I was reading, I read and reread Isaiah 35. It is so beautiful. It's so beautiful. You know, we got to keep our eyes heavenward.
02:25:44
Speaker
Because when we keep our eyes heavenward, we see Jesus. And when we see Jesus, nothing else matters. And it's like, he's all I want. He's all I'm looking forward to. He says, he tells me, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Isn't that a God worth worshiping every second of every day?
02:26:15
Speaker
And so when I read Isaiah 35, I'm transported. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it.
02:26:41
Speaker
the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, and they shall see the glory of the Lord." Oh, I love that part in Handel's Messiah. And the excellency of our God. You see, don't forget Isaiah is a prophet of history as well. We're going to get to Sennacherib in chapter 36, just 10 verses away.
02:27:10
Speaker
Sennacherib, you know who that guy was? The king of Assyria. And here is Isaiah, he's wanting to put God's people and their eyes where they need to be focused. Not on Sennacherib, not on any earthly government,
02:27:32
Speaker
but on the Prince of Peace who has the government on his shoulder. You know that the Bible tells us that the kingdoms of this earth will come and go. They will come and they will go until there will be a last kingdom that will be gone. There will be no more human rulership on this earth and it is Jesus, the rock and his kingdom that will be established after this earth is made new.
02:28:09
Speaker
Verse 3, strengthen ye the weak hands. Confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with recompense, He will come and save you.
02:28:31
Speaker
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. And the lame man shall leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert." It says that there will be a highway there. It's a highway of righteousness.
02:29:01
Speaker
and verse 10, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return. Let me ask you, how many ransomed of the Lord are there that will return? It's a numberless multitude. Read the book of Revelation. The ransomed of the Lord from every age, from Adam and Eve to today.
02:29:35
Speaker
shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy." You ever been happy? I forgot to mention something to begin with, which was I love birthdays. So I love Anna Deen's birthday coming up next Sabbath, don't you?
02:30:02
Speaker
But I also love the birthdays of those that haven't been born yet. And you know that Andrew and Stephanie Loughlin are expecting a little baby around about August 18. Just thought you might like to know that. I just thought of that because when I see newborn babies, it's like that's the epitome of joy.
02:30:31
Speaker
Come on, somebody give me an amen. It's the epitome of joy. You know, God has given us such an amazing experience as being created in His image, male and female He created them. He created man, male and female He created them.
02:30:53
Speaker
And we by His ordained wisdom have the power to bring new life into this world. Isn't God great? And everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
02:31:22
Speaker
You know what it's like to be healthy when you've been sick. You know what it's like to be found when you've been lost. You know what it's like to be happy when you've been sad. You know that we as God's creatures are going to experience such joy when our Redeemer comes to take us home.
02:31:51
Speaker
We won't even remember all of this. It would not be possible because the joy is so overwhelming. But I told you that Isaiah was a prophet, a real prophet in real history in the children of Israel, in the children of Judah, of God's people.
Historical Context and Deliverance
02:32:15
Speaker
And you know the very next verse after verse 10 of Isaiah 35, now it came to pass in the 14th year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib, king of Assyria. You've got to look up in the history annals what King of Assyria did, how feared he was in the then known world.
02:32:42
Speaker
And the Bible says, recorded by prophet Isaiah, whose name means Yahweh is salvation, the enemy of God's people is coming against God's people. Don't you think God is going to have something to say about that? Amen indeed to that. But look how this Sennacherib sends one of his
02:33:09
Speaker
media, military man. And I use those terms on purpose, media, military man. The king of Assyria sent Rab Shekeh. That is an official term given to a military media man. And he comes with a message for God's people. Basically
02:33:36
Speaker
I'll summarize it. Basically, the message is, you guys, you're listening to Hezekiah saying, trust in the Lord, you're all dead meat. Which of the nations before, I mean, they've already taken the defended cities of Judah before they get to Jerusalem. And in fact, Sennacherib is in Lachish, which is probably not more than about 50, 60 miles away from Jerusalem, southwest of Jerusalem.
02:34:07
Speaker
And so he's there and he's saying, what are you trusting in Hezekiah's weak and wimpy words? Now he's right up against the wall in Jerusalem. He's on the pathway that is called the Fuller's Highway. There's a highway where water would come into the city and under the walls. And he's right there with his feet on that spot. And he's telling them how Sennacherib is going to make mincemeat of them all.
02:34:36
Speaker
And they better just hurry up and surrender and stop trying to think that listening to the God of Hezekiah is going to be any good. Basically, Rav Shekhar comes and says, King of Sennacherib says thus and so. And you better bow and obey.
02:35:05
Speaker
The Bible tells us that there was a few scribes and spokespeople for God's people right there listening. And you know what they said? They said, shh, stop saying all of this in the Hebrew tongue. And he says, you bet I'm telling you in the Hebrew tongue because I want all you guys to hear.
02:35:37
Speaker
We know the Syrian language. Talk to us in the Syrian." Basically, that's when the media man let rip. And he just bombarded in the Hebrew language. It says in verse 13, Rapshekah stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language.
02:36:09
Speaker
And what he said was, hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Really. He actually put it in writing as well, gave him a PDF copy. And you read it, you read, go through it, and I love the way
02:36:40
Speaker
That it says in verse 20, who are the gods and who are they among the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? Then I love verse 21, I've got it underlined. But they held their peace and answered him not a word. For the king's commandment was saying, don't answer him.
02:37:11
Speaker
I like King Hezekiah. Don't argue with your enemy. Whose fight is it? Whose word is against whose word? So these three describes and the guys that were on the wall took the PDF and they take it to Hezekiah.
02:37:38
Speaker
Chapter 37 verse 1, and it came to pass when the king Hezekiah heard it that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth. And what did he do? He went to prayer meeting. There's a man that knows where to get real power from. He went to the house of the Lord.
02:38:14
Speaker
And verse 3 says, and they said unto him, thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy, for the children are common. It goes on to say a few interesting things there and it says,
02:38:37
Speaker
And it may be that the glory of God will hear the words of Rab Shekhar, whom the king of Assyria, his master has sent to reproach the living God and will reprove the words which the Lord or will reprove the words which the Lord thy God has heard. Therefore, lift up thy prayer or lift up prayer for the remnant that is left. So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
02:39:06
Speaker
And Isaiah says in verse 6, he says unto them, thus shall you say to your master, thus says the Lord, be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. And later on, it's saying don't be afraid of the media giants
02:39:37
Speaker
Don't be afraid of how they're challenging truth and righteousness with their lies. And even Hezekiah took the PDF and he laid it before the Lord. Verse 14, and Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it.
02:40:07
Speaker
before the Lord. This is what Sennacherib is saying to challenge you, O God. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel. I love this, verse 16, that dwells between the cherubim. I think it's Psalm 80, around Psalm 80 that talks about
02:40:36
Speaker
The Lord that dwells between the cherubim. Do you know what that is saying? There is no higher, no higher throne than right there. Right there. Where God dwells between the cherubim. There is no power in all the universe that is superior. When Jesus says, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth. He's talking about between the cherubim.
02:41:09
Speaker
One day, we will go there. O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwell between the cherubim, thou art God, even thou alone. Of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear
02:41:39
Speaker
Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which are sent to reproach the living God." And you know, I'm not going to say that he was telling the truth, he was just accurate, because there's only one that holds all truth, and that is God.
02:42:01
Speaker
He says of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste. All the nations and their countries, what's he doing? What's he doing? He says we're no match. We know God. We are no match for this enemy. You know, Satan has his armies. He's always had those that he has used against God's people on this earth.
02:42:31
Speaker
And they are formidable enemies and enemies that we cannot resist in our own strength. Only Yahweh, who is God, can save us. But what deliverance God sent against the armies of Sennacherib. Verse 20, now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand. Do God's people have any enemies today?
02:43:01
Speaker
We've got no enemies, right? Devils asleep, got nothing to do, got no God's people nowhere to hassle and harass. This is for us today. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only. What a great prayer.
02:43:30
Speaker
Then Isaiah comes along, the son of Amos sent to Hezekiah saying, thus says the Lord God of Israel, whereas you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him. Basically, it goes on to say, call God's people the virgin, the daughter of Zion,
02:44:01
Speaker
has despised you, even O king of Syria. And to cut a long story short, you can read it. Basically, Isaiah says Sennacherib and his armies are going back home. Well, he is anyway, and he's going to die.
02:44:26
Speaker
Verse 35 says, for God Himself will defend this city and save it, this is God speaking now, and save it for my own sake. Are we God's city? Yes or no? Do you want to be a part of God's city? Yes or no? I want to be a part of God's city because we are the apple of His eye and He will come and defend His people.
02:44:53
Speaker
Verse 36, then the angel of the Lord went forth and smoke in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men. You know, as we read in Isaiah 35,
02:45:15
Speaker
Strengthen, verse 3, ye the weak hands confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that our fearful heart be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come. He will come with vengeance. Is there evil in this world? Are there enemies of God roaming around free? Are there demons that hate you and me that are free to roam on this earth right now?
02:45:44
Speaker
There are, but don't be afraid of them because God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, He will come and save you. And then it says, the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. And then shall the lame man leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams
02:46:14
Speaker
in the desert and the ransom verse 10 of the Lord shall return and come to Zion. Lift your hand up if you have a lost loved one that is waiting in the grave and you want to see that lost loved one come up. You want to see that person come up out of the grave never to descend there again.
02:46:40
Speaker
We have these promises. These are the promises of God's deliverance. Can you keep quiet about this? No way. Go back and read some of these promises. Claim them as your own. God's word cannot be broken. These are not fairy tales. It's going to happen soon.
02:47:04
Speaker
How soon is soon? It's quickly, in fact. The book of Revelation says, behold, I come quickly, quickly. He's tired of this more than you and I are. So this rap check here with this high ranking military media official is doomed. We don't need any mouthpiece of unrighteousness anymore.
02:47:29
Speaker
Because he who is almighty in righteousness will not be mocked. He will not be silenced, cancelled or blasphemed. His day is coming. It is called the day of the Lord in case somebody didn't know.
02:47:50
Speaker
who can stand against him in that day oh it won't be long my friends say it with me it won't be long there's a song that goes that way it won't be long we will see him you will see him dave
02:48:06
Speaker
All of those that cannot see with their physical eyes will see Jesus face to face. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. The Holy One of Israel is about to step in and finish the fight he has ignited in the hearts of his truth and freedom loving redeemed of all the ages over this globe.
02:48:32
Speaker
He is about to resurrect all the saints that were martyred throughout the centuries, that stood in defense of freedom, that burned in their hearts because of their Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, who laid down His life that we may live free and worship our Creator and Redeemer for all eternity.
02:49:02
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I love God's Word. Because it is true. It cannot be broken. God cannot lie. Aren't you so glad for that? He cannot lie. He is the way, the truth, and the life. One day, we're going to see Him with our own eyes.
02:49:31
Speaker
and the dead in Christ shall rise first. God has the last word in this fight against good and evil. He has the last word.
Conclusion: Sovereignty and Restoration
02:49:45
Speaker
He is the one that will parade all of his trophies, the martyrs down through the ages and you and I that have been through the time of trouble such as never was because of his strength. Don't be afraid.
02:50:00
Speaker
Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are fearful of heart, be strong. Fear not. Why should we be afraid when we have such an awesome God who is for us? Amen. He has the last word. He will defend his people. He will defend his truth. He is well able to do it.
02:50:31
Speaker
Oh, my friends, the final government on this earth is going to be the government that Jesus Christ, the rock of all ages, is about to establish. Because when He takes us off this earth, it will be a little while. We'll have a little wait, but the earth will be made new.
02:51:00
Speaker
He will get back to what He intended. He will bring it back. He will make it new. It will be restored to its original sinless beauty. And the government will be upon His shoulder. Can you pull up?
02:51:30
Speaker
Can you pull that up again? Is that something that's possible? You know what I'm talking about, don't you, Harleen? Yeah? We got four minutes left? We got four minutes?
02:52:02
Speaker
You know, the blind camp can have their camp here any time they want. Okay, hit play.
02:52:34
Speaker
For the sunshine is born
02:52:48
Speaker
The sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving, oh, the sun is giving,
02:53:19
Speaker
God, the Lord shall be the Lord, The shoulder of His name shall be called, God the Lord, God the Lord!
02:53:30
Speaker
The mighty God, the everlasting God, the face of peace. As the child is born, as the child is given to us. As the son is given to us. As the child is born, and as the son is given to us.
02:53:53
Speaker
and the government shall be the one we show. And his name and his name shall be followed, wonderful counselor. The mighty God, who gathered us in power, a prince of peace unto us, a Chinese foe.
02:54:31
Speaker
The government shall be, shall be upon His shoulder. The government shall be, shall be upon His shoulder. The government shall be, shall be upon His shoulder.
02:54:59
Speaker
to us a child is born.
02:55:09
Speaker
The son is given unto us. The son is given unto us. The son is given unto us. The son is given unto us.
02:55:34
Speaker
He never lost him for the Prince of Peace. He never lost him for the Prince of Peace.
02:56:13
Speaker
Okay, let's closing him. Which is 428. Let's all stand. Thank you, Dave.
02:56:50
Speaker
There's a land that is fairer than day And by faith we can see it afar For the Father waits over the way To prepare us a dwelling place there
02:57:24
Speaker
We shall sing on that beautiful shore. A melodious source of the blast. And our spirit shall sorrow no more.
02:57:45
Speaker
on a side for the passing of breath. In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
02:58:11
Speaker
to our bountiful Father of all. We will offer a tribute of praise, O the glorious gift of his home, and the blessings that follow our days. In the swing, I advise,
02:58:58
Speaker
We all better be there with such an awesome God. How can we not be there?
02:59:06
Speaker
Just do what He requires of you, my friend. Surrender your life to Him. You will remain in His hands. Nothing, no one, not even death, can snatch you out of His hands. Let's pray. Father in heaven, O Lord, we have come to worship You today. We have given You our heart. We have given You our all.
02:59:35
Speaker
It's nothing worth holding on to, Lord. We don't even know how to surrender ourselves to you. But when we look at Jesus, we don't want to do anything else. So, dear Father, I pray for your people, not just here in this church, not just listening online, but around this globe. I pray for all of those that are asleep in the graves.
03:00:03
Speaker
that with the shout of the voice of the archangel and the shout of God will be called up out of the graves. Your word is so powerful that death cannot stop it. Father we pray that your powerful word would accomplish what you purpose. Your word is living. It is powerful.
03:00:29
Speaker
It is sharper than any two-edged sword. Praise God for Jesus. Praise God for His salvation. Lord, we just want to praise You today because we have assurance of salvation through the grace and the blood and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So Father in heaven, we bow before You.
03:01:18
Speaker
We thank you for helping us worship you in spirit and in truth.