Randy Skeete: Week of Prayer 2005

Randy Skeete

Upland Indonesian SDA Church

A Marriage Made in Heaven

Our Father in heaven, we are in your presence for the single purpose of hearing your word and interacting with you through that word.

I ask in the name of Jesus to remember the promise you made to Moses in Exodus chapter 4 verse 12, When you said to him, Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Father, in the name of Jesus, teach me what I should say, and open the eyes of those who are listening, that they may behold wondrous things out of thy word.

I pray with confidence from my heart in Jesus' name, Amen.

When I was counseling at the University of Michigan, and I was there for 15 years, 1 of the things that the students always desired very earnestly was the privilege of entering into a mentoring relationship with someone far advanced in the field that they desired to enter.

Particularly when I moved to the medical school to counsel there, many students from the very first year of medical school wanted to do research with some leading light in that particular area of interest that the student had.

Because they reasoned that it would only be advantageous to the applications to some residency program 3 or 4 years down the road.

And so they made earnest efforts and asked me for letters of recommendation so that they could work with these experts in their fields on mentoring relationship.

In the social sciences, we have a lot of emphasis placed on having young boys have a relationship with with mature men, men who are about something in their lives, men who have accumulated some degree of success, men who live lives that are upright and so that these young boys can see that kind of life and perhaps be influenced by that life to live similarly.

The experience of mentoring is regarded to be a very high high value indeed and so it is.

God is the originator of the mentoring relationship And I'll try to demonstrate that from scriptures 5 minutes to 8.

I'll keep you abreast of the time so you don't have to be worried at any time whatsoever.

God is the originator of the mentoring relationship in his own unique way because from creation it has always been God's desire that He and we would have a relationship that is ongoing and unbroken.

That was His original desire and it remains his desire despite the introduction of this catastrophe called sin.

I say again it has always been God's desire to have a mentoring relationship with his creation.

Now let's take a look at creation and learn something about God.

Please share your Bible with someone next to you who does not have 1.

Romans chapter 1 reading from verse 16 and I read from the King James Version.

Reading from verse 16 the Bible says, this is the Apostle Paul speaking, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power on Godhead so that they are without excuse.

Let us re-examine verse 20, for the invisible things of him, meaning the qualities of God, the traits of God, the personality of God, the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made.

The Bible tells us it is possible to learn something about God by observing what he has created.

In other words, let me put it this way, they are detectives, psychologists who work with the criminal society, the criminal society, by that I mean the FBI and all other agencies that work to solve crimes.

And they can learn about the mindset of a criminal by studying the details of that person's crime.

So that they on the basis of the crime committed can develop a profile of the criminal.

And what is amazing is that so often they are astonishingly correct.

Now God is no criminal, God is a creator of that which is good and he tells us examine what I have done and you will develop a profile of me of sufficient detail for you to make an intelligent decision regarding how you will relate to me.

And so the invisible things of him from the creation of the world, the Bible says, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead and the verse is so arrogant if I may say that it concludes by saying so that they are without excuse.

It is impossible to look around with an honest eye and a similarly honest heart and not conclude that there is a God so that who God is is somehow reflected in what God does let me repeat that Who God is may be detected in what God does because there is no line of demarcation between God who he is and God what he does.

Now keeping this principle in mind that God can be seen to some degree not completely no 1 can grasp God completely but God has made evidence of himself known in what he has created so that those who examine honestly may come in contact with this God.

This verse also bears out this proposition.

We have half an hour to go or 35 minutes.

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

Now here we have evidence again that by examining the creation of God we see evidence of God the heavens you look up in the sky they declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork the detail that went into creation the sense of artistry the sense of beauty the predilection for symmetry and proportion All of this can be seen by an honest, and I must stress the word honest, examination of the heavens and of course the earth.

The title of this evening's message, by the way, is A Marriage Made in Heaven.

According to Adventist beliefs, who wrote the book of Job?

And the book of Job is supposed to express some of the oldest events next to creation in Scripture.

We know Job lost all his children, 10 in 1 day, all his possessions in 1 day, and yet he remained faithful to God.

Read Job sometime and see that in the life of Job we have an example of a man who clearly in his life lived by this principle, I don't care what I lose, I don't care who I lose, I will not lose God.

That's a principle by which we must live.

And so no matter what the devil did, Job remained faithful, and God was able to lift Job up to the universe and brag on Job.

Isn't it a beautiful thing when God can brag on you and me, instead of turn away in shame and tears?

Job 12 verses 6 and 7, But ask now the beasts, and they shall do what?

Teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee, or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee, and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

You want to understand something about the omnipotence of God?

Now he doesn't expect you to talk to a cow, but study the lives of animals, study the fishes, look at a bird flying through the heavens, and if you look honestly, Job says, you will see something of the grandeur and the greatness of God.

God I say is expressed in his creation sufficient for us to know that there is a God.

As we continue, a marriage made in heaven.

Quickest book to find Genesis or Revelation.

Genesis 2 verse 7 read with me, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

When we think of the heaven where do we point?

Now in other words in the beginning God created the heavens up there and the earth down here look at the creation of Adam again in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.

Man, a living being, as Genesis 2, 7 expresses it, to be a living being you need something from beneath and something from above.

And the combination is put together not by someone from beneath, but by someone from above.

Stephen Bohr: Ready for His Appearing

Stephen Bohr

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Reflections on Daniel 11

Well, it's not so much because of what I might say, but because of your capacity to assimilate after lunch.

But we will try and keep you awake, Lord willing.

It's wonderful that so many of you came out this afternoon.

No better place to be at Loma Linda University than here to study the Word of God.

Father in heaven we thank you for the awesome privilege of being here this afternoon once again to open your word And Father we ask that as we open up the pages of your holy book that your spirit will be with us.

Help us to have clear minds that we might be able to think the thoughts of God.

We ask Lord that you will bless those who are on the way, bring them here safely.

And we ask that as we study about the great events soon to break forth in this world, that you will teach us how we can be better prepared for these things which are going to overtake the world as an overwhelming surprise.

We thank you, Father, for the privilege of approaching your throne in prayer.

And we thank you especially because we know that you hear us, that you will answer this prayer for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus.

White, as far as I've been able to determine, in the 100, 000 plus pages that she wrote has only 3 primary references to Daniel 11.

In actual fact the first statement which I'm going to read as we begin our study this afternoon, does not even mention Daniel 11 by name, but we know that she's alluding to Daniel 11.

The second quotation, she actually mentions something about the prophecy of Daniel 11, but it's just a general statement.

In the third statement, Ellen White actually quotes some verses from Daniel 11.

There's only 1 quotation in all of the writings of Ellen White where she actually quotes verses from Daniel 11.

Now what I'd like to do is read these 3 statements.

The first of them, as I mentioned, does not directly mention Daniel 11, although we know that she is talking about Daniel 11 because of the content of the quotation.

I know it's difficult to calibrate a wireless microphone particularly when I'm the speaker.

We're deadly enemies, wireless mics and I.

The first quotation is in Testimonies to Ministers page 112.

This is the very general statement where she doesn't mention Daniel 11 directly.

She says this, the light that Daniel received from God was given especially for these last days.

The visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai, which vision of Daniel 8 was given by the river Ulai?

So she says, the visions he saw by the banks of the Ulai, that's Daniel 8, and the Haidakel.

And the Heidekkel, see she's indirectly referring to Daniel 11 here, the great rivers of Shinar are now in the process of fulfillment.

Which prophecies are in the process of fulfillment?

She says are now in the process of fulfillment and then she says and all the events foretold will soon come to pass.

As I mentioned she doesn't mention Daniel 11 directly here, but she speaks about the vision next to the Heidekel.

And we know that the vision next to the Heidekel was the vision that includes primarily Daniel 11.

Now she doesn't say in this statement where we are in the process of fulfillment.

She simply says that all of the events foretold in this chapter will soon come to pass, but we don't know where we are in the process of the chapter.

So now we need our second statement which is a little more specific.

It's found in volume 9 of the Testimonies, page 14.

And this is going to add something to the first statement.

She says, the world is stirred with the spirit of war.

The prophecy of the 11th chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment.

First statement where it's in the process.

The prophecy of Daniel 11 is a process of fulfillment.

But where are we in the process first statement where it's in the process of the prophecy that you love is a process of fulfillment but where are we in the process in daniel 11 he doesn't say in the first statement but in the second statement she says the prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment, which means that we must beware in Daniel 11, at the very end of Daniel 11.

And then she completes the statement by saying, soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.

Now the third statement is the only statement in her writings that I've been able to find at least in all of what I was able to find on the CD-ROM.

It's the only statement where Ellen White actually quotes verses from Daniel 11.

And I want you to notice what she says about verses 30 to 36.

This is Manuscript Releases, Volume 13, page 394.

Manuscript releases, volume 13, page 394.

I tried to find it in 1 of the published books but I haven't been able to find it in any of the published books.

So it is, manuscript releases is, you know, There are several volumes that were published of previously unreleased Ellen White material, so they are published but not like the regular red books.

The world is stirred with the spirit of war.

Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.

The prophecy in the 11th of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment.

Now we saw that's in the previous statement, but now notice what she adds.

Much of the history that has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be repeated.

I'll wait just a moment so we can digest that.

Is she saying that Daniel 11 has a dual fulfillment?

She's saying that much of the history that fulfilled Daniel 11 will be repeated.

In a moment I'm going to explain what she means.

Daniel 11 does not have a dual fulfillment.

Daniel 11, true to historicist mold, begins with Persia and it develops, we're going to notice this, it develops without interruption chronologically, ending with the close of probation and ultimately the resurrection, the special resurrection.

So in other words it is like Daniel 2, Daniel 7.

It is a sequence of events in chronological order without parentheses or interruptions.

So it's impossible that that part of Daniel 11 was fulfilled in the past and then that part of Daniel 11 is going to be fulfilled in the future as well.

It doesn't fit the mold of the prophecies of Daniel.

But you're saying Pastor Bohr, Ellen White clearly says here that much of the history that has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be repeated.

Notice she's not saying that that Daniel 11 is going to be repeated.

She says much of the history that took place in fulfillment of Daniel 11 will be repeated.

There's a very important distinction here.

Now the question is which history of Daniel 11?

Which portion of Daniel 11 is going to, the history is going to be repeated again?

GYC 2007: Be

Mark Finley - The Shaking and the Sifting: A Biblical Approach

Mark Finley

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

True and False Revivals, Part 1

I would not open the word of God and would not go into class without prayer.

We're on class number 3 in your booklet and Shaken or Sealed, 1 of the more powerful classes, a class that we need to do some praying before we get into.

Father in heaven, I want to thank you for the opportunity of coming and studying your Word.

We could be any 1 of a hundred places today, but here we are here.

As a group of youth and adults to pour over the Scripture, to fix our minds on your word.

May your eternal truths fill our hearts now and forever and prepare us for end time to know Jesus and to live with him forever in Christ's name.

What if you're traveling on a train, and your train's going from Minneapolis to Anchorage, Alaska?

And you got on the train at night, and it's been pretty dark, and you haven't been able to guide yourself at all by the scenery as you've traveled.

And the further you travel, the more doubtful you become.

You wonder, am I on the right train after all?

Will in 03:00 in the morning, we be going over a bridge and will we tumble down?

Will this train meet another train head on on a track, and will it crash?

And really, will this train ever get to the destination?

Maybe it's going to stop 20 miles, 30 miles, 40 miles from the destination, maybe I'll have to get out of the train and walk.

See, if all these kind of things going through your head, will your knowledge of the train's safe arrival at the final destination affect what you do?

If you know that that train is going off a bridge, you're going to get off at the stop before, right?

If you know that the train's going to get hit head on and crash, you're going to get off at the stop before.

If you know that the train's never going to make it to the destination, but you could stop at a station, get off at that station, get on another train and go to your destination, you would do that.

Your knowledge of whether the train makes it through to the end will determine whether you stay aboard the train.

He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The train may have a lot of ice on the windows so you can't see clearly.

The train may have an old grouchy engineer.

The train may have a few people in the...

There may even be somebody that smokes ham in that train.

And you say, I don't like these people on this train.

They shouldn't be eating that old ham over there.

The train may even have a car that plays some music there may even be religious music played in a certain way in 1 car I'm getting off this train that's offensive to me The train may even have some people who wear certain things in dress that you wouldn't wear.

But it's cold off the train, and it's icy off the train.

There may be people on the train that have jealousy and envy and criticism.

But if you know that ultimately the train is going through to the end and it's not going to crash and it's not going to stop before it gets to the final destination, you are going to stay aboard the train.

And that's what I want to study with you today.

Will the Seventh-day Adventist Church survive?

Will God call out a few from Adventism to form a separate body?

Does the Bible teach a remnant within the remnant?

Will the church split up into small groups and will that ultimately happen where are we headed well if you take your material please enter to session 3 page 3 session 3 page 3 you'll notice that god has 2 methods of purifying his church And what we're going to share in this session is that God is going to use a method different than he's ever used before, and a method rather different than he's ever used before, to purify his church at end time.

Throughout history, God has always purified his church by calling out a faithful few.

Let's go back, for example, to the days of Abraham.

And God said, Abraham, it's time to move.

Next, Abraham became the father of a nation.

Abraham had sons, and Isaac and Esau, and then he had, and Isaac had sons.

Jacob and Jacob had 12 sons and they became the 12 tribes of what?

If some of you don't have material, you can look on with somebody that does.

And so God called, you're writing in the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

So there's been this calling out, this calling out and throughout history, God called out Abraham throughout history.

But then as Israel apostatized, what was God's next move?

So God calls out New Testament believers from Judaism.

So first he calls out Abraham, then God calls out the nation of Israel, they are his chosen people, his select few.

Then God calls out New Testament believers from when Israel apothetizes.

But then after the New Testament, church continues for a while, and you have the union of church and state, you have the days of Constantine, you have the great apostasy, and what does God do when there's the great apostasy in the dark ages, God calls out the what?

And so God calls out the reformers out of the papacy.

So God is always calling out, God is always calling out, God is always going out.

Calls out Abraham, calls out the nation of Israel, calls out New Testament believers, calls out reformers.

God's method of purifying his church throughout the ages has been, rather than leave in the body those who are loyal and faithful, When the larger body apostatizes, what has God done?

And in fact, if you look at Protestantism, and there is a Reformation, and in that Reformation, the Reformation ultimately needs a Reformation.

And so god calls out a faithful group of bible students and they become the seventh-day adventist church and adventists believe that they've gathered up the gems of the teachings of the reformers and that these gems have formed a last day advent movement but here's the question will God call out a small group out of the Adventist church?

Will the Adventist church ultimately apostatize?

Now as you think about it logically, if God's method were this calling out, and suppose God would call a group out of the Adventist church, and that's what Offshoots do.

So offshoots leave the main body and they say here are the errors in the main body, here's the heresies in the main body, Here's the liberalism in the main body.

But if time would last, the same thing would happen to them.

And they would become apostates and there would be a small group that did what?

And if time would last, what would happen?

That group would be apostate, and there would be a group that would be caught out of them.

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