GYC 2013: Before Men and Angels

An overview of the book The Great Controversy highlighting the major themes outlined in Mrs. White's classic, timeless book. Attention will be given to critical principles to know for end-time living with an emphasis on having personal application. Ellen White viewed the book The Great Controversy with high regard. She says, "The Great Controversy should be very widely circulated. It contains the story of the past, the present, and the future. In its outline of the closing scenes of this earth's history, it bears a powerful testimony in behalf of the truth. I am more anxious to see a wide circulation for this book than for any others I have written, for in The Great Controversy, the last message of warning to the world is given more distinctly than in any of my other books." (Letter 281, 1905)

GYC 2013 Seminar: The Most Important Book Outside of the Bible - A Deeper Look at The Great Controversy

<p>"Brian Hindman currently is serving as the pastor of the Greensboro Seventh-Day Adventist Church in North Carolina. He has been working in pastoral ministry for 9 years. Prior to this he taught History and Bible at two Adventist academies for 18 years. He and his wife Teresa have a son Jacob who works at Fountainview Academy in Canada. They enjoy sharing the gospel, traveling, hiking, meeting new people, and most recently birding."</p>

Brian Hindman

Little Creek Adventist Fellowship

Transformed by the Truth

And in Psalm 100 verse 5, we read, for the Lord is good.

His mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.

That means every generation that comes after the parents and the grandparents and the great-grandparents, his truth continues on and is valid and is just as effective and just as powerful for their lives as it was in the generation before them.

And I am thankful for that today, very much so.

Psalm 145, 17 tells us that the Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works.

I asked Brother Lee, when he communicated with me months ago, if I could even give a seminar in the afternoon and just have more time to talk.

And he was gracious enough to grant that, and I thank you for that.

This afternoon I'm gonna be addressing 7 different attacks that have come in and that are threatening, I believe, God's truth in these last days.

It will be based on the Scriptures and on the spirit of prophecy.

So I hope you will come and be a part of that this evening or later this afternoon.

Hopefully it won't be this evening by the time we're done today.

But our subject today is transformed by the truth.

And it's my privilege to share a large degree of my personal testimony with you.

And I just, I have to say, you know, God is so good that since I have surrendered my life to him, the opportunity to speak for him has come up more and more frequently.

This year, as Lee mentioned, I was given the opportunity to speak at GYC.

They had 5, 000 to 6, 000 young people there in Orlando, Florida.

2 weeks ago, I was the young adult speaker at the Potomac Camp Meeting up in Virginia.

Then, a couple of months ago, I was asked to speak for the 100-year anniversary of Mount Pisgah Academy.

We had over 1, 000 people there for that.

But, that does not compare to coming home to speak with you guys.

I grew up here in Raleigh for those of you that don't know me very well and this is a homecoming for sure for me.

And I just, I want to share with you, just before we get into the message today, a few of recollections of my time here in Raleigh.

We moved here, my dad was the pastor in 1982 to 1989 and there is on the left I don't know if you can see it that's Lee on the left side and me out in front of our the side of the school little grade school there on the bottom is a picture of the last day of school, 1988.

And I'm afraid to ask how many of you weren't born then, looking around and seeing so many young people.

But anyway, that was our valiant little school there.

And I had such a blessing growing up and Learning my times tables.

Griffin She taught me my times tables Thank you in second grade and she had such a good way with her and I just want to thank her and praise her for her patience with me as a rascal, as a stubborn and obstinate and well, difficult to deal with child.

My hat's off to those in elementary education.

I teach in high school and there at least you can reason with them most of the time but elementary school well anyway Mrs.

Simmering my piano teacher thank you for putting up with me I wish I would have stuck with it my son we have him playing the violin and I'm gonna ask him to come up in a few moments at the end as we close with a hymn and play his violin.

But I wish I would have stuck with piano.

She was patient with me, and even though I was not very good of a student, She still was positive and encouraged me and I thank you for that Mrs.

But 7 good years in the Raleigh area and thank you for allowing me to be here and share what what God has done in my life recently in fact.

Well I want to talk to you today, our subject is transformed by the truth about Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me, John 14 6.

And I don't know how many of you recognize this picture up here, but this is a picture.

Does anyone recognize this picture at all?

Ellen White said this looks the most like Jesus Christ of any picture that she ever saw.

And so we have this picture is hanging at the White Estate up in Washington, D.C.

And when I had the privilege, I've been there several times of visiting.

And my attention was, of course, direct to that picture.

A prophet who saw Jesus in vision said this looks the most like him.

And 1 of the things that really arrested my attention is how humble and lack of display and glory, you might say, how just plain Jesus looks.

And then my mind was turned immediately to the scriptures in Isaiah 53 which says and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him." Well, what is the real beauty of Christ?

He did not want to come with outward display because he did not want us to be attracted merely to external things.

He wanted us to be attracted to his inward character.

And so I submit to you today that it is character that we most need to concern ourselves with as we look at Jesus Christ.

And I wanna talk to you about how Jesus has transformed my life.

Some of you know that I'm adopted and I'm an accident.

When my mom was 15 years old, biological mom, I was born.

And most 15 year old girls aren't ready to be a mother, but my parents that adopted me, Charles and Linda, they had had several miscarriages, and so they didn't think they'd be able to have a child.

And so They adopted me, and I am very, very thankful for that.

My life could not be put on a more direct path towards the heavenly kingdom than to be adopted by Charles and Linda Heineman.

My mom from cancer 12 years ago and my dad 2 months ago from a sudden heart attack at the age of 71.

He was still pastoring here in the Carolina Conference, 2 churches up in Boone and Banner Elk.

And I fortunately had the privilege of speaking in 1 of his churches just a couple weeks before he passed away.

And I'm thankful the Lord worked out that privilege for me that we could share that extra time together.

But more on that later on in my testimony.

This is a picture of my dad and me as a youngster.

And do accidents happen in a person's life?

I am not here by the will of any human being.

But Jeremiah 1 verse 5 tells us, Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I chose you.

And I often feel as I have studied my scriptures and studied the word of God.

Did God have a plan for me even before I was even born?

Even though I was not born by the will of man, but hopefully by the will of God.

John 1 12 says being born not of the will of man or the will of the flesh but born of God.

Brian Hindman Weekend

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Give Glory to Him

And by the grace and gift of Jesus Christ and his blood, and by the word of their testimony.

And they love not their lives unto the death.

So we overcome by realizing what Jesus has done for us and how He is working in such a marked, incredible way in each of our lives.

So, I used to actually think that I did not have a testimony for a long time, actually.

But as I have grown in my connection with Jesus, I'm so excited that I can share what He's done for me.

And so I know on your screen there, it says, Transformed by the Truth, a Bible study.

My testimony, I weave in and out, Scripture after Scripture, Because that is what has changed me more than anything else.

The Word of God, as I have really thought and studied and prayerfully committed it to memory, it has changed me in an incredible way.

And I pray that What I share today will be a blessing to you as you see, if God can work through that guy, what can he do in your life?

So Anyway, there's a well-known verse there, John 8, 32, it says, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

But, and that's a powerful passage, but the context for that verse is verse 31, before that.

And that's the key to the whole passage here.

And in verse 31 it's speaking about the people that are listening to Jesus.

And He says, those that are listening to him, how does he say that?

These are, if you continue in my word, it says, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him.

If you continue in my word, what does the word continue mean?

That you've already started in following the word of God.

If you continue in my word, then are you what?

Jesus defines discipleship as beginning, and not only beginning, but continuing in his word.

And he says, then you really are true disciples and followers of me.

And then comes the promise, and you shall then know the truth.

And that truth will set you free from discouragement, despair, error, deception, darkness.

It will, Because you have begun and continue in the word of God, in listening and following to what God has said.

How many of you have seen this picture before?

It's hanging, there's a copy of this hanging in the White Estate there in Silver Spring, Maryland.

And when I first saw this a number of years ago I was just so captivated.

Ellen White comments that this picture of Jesus looks more nearly like him than anything else I have ever seen.

And of course, in vision we believe over 2, 000 visions that she had, she certainly would have seen Jesus, certainly for the desire of ages and writing those accounts many times.

And what strikes me about this is an engraving by an artist named John Sartain from 1866, an etching that he made.

But what really captures my interest is how ordinary and common Jesus looks here.

And then what comes to your mind, I don't know if it comes to your mind like my mind, Isaiah 53, that messianic passage that talks about how he was despised and rejected of men.

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And when we shall see him, there is no what?

There is no beauty on the outside that we should desire him.

That's what Isaiah 53 says in describing Jesus.

So very much that is what this conveys here.

But what made Jesus beautiful, because he was, was his character, the attributes, the qualities of who he is.

And that's what he wanted more than anything else to impress humanity.

Not that he was bigger and stronger and better looking than anyone else.

You know I wish I knew this Bible verse when I was a young person.

It's been in the Bible obviously for thousands of years in Jeremiah.

But it's a very powerful verse that maybe someone here today that's a lot younger than me can draw benefit from.

The Bible says, Oh Lord, I know, he's saying that for certain, I know that the way of man is where?

It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

It tells us that none of us inherently know what we should do, where we should go, how we should live, and careers, and marriage, and all those things.

There's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Apart from God knowing that I need an outside source to guide and direct me.

Can any of you think of very popular verses that give us that description, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6?

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all your ways, everything that you are doing, or that you are, you know, your entire life, acknowledge Him, and then He shall direct your paths.

It's a guarantee, it's a given, if we meet the conditions and submit everything to Him, and not lean on our own understanding.

Well, my story actually begins before I was even born.

Before I was even born, I am the result of a teenage pregnancy.

And 2 very nice teenagers made a mistake.

I'm told 1 mistake, and I then came about from that mistake.

So It's interesting, they were very young, I believe 15 years old, 15, 16.

That's probably too young when you're still in high school yourself to keep a baby and raise that baby as a really, you know, a good parent.

And so they made the difficult decision to put me up for adoption.

And I'm sure that was difficult and challenging, but they made the, clearly in hindsight, it was the correct decision to put me up for adoption.

And wouldn't you know it, there was a family that had had 2 miscarriages trying to have a child.

They couldn't have a child and so they were looking to adopt and somehow someone knew the family that of my biological mother and her condition that she was pregnant with a child.

And then they knew the condition of my, these other parents, people, I will go and say they're my adopted parents, that they were looking for a child and made that connection across several states.

And it just so happens though that, let me see here, as like I said, I have Bible verses for everything.

I've wondered, Does this verse apply to me?

I hope that all of you are born because your parents wanted you to be born.

I don't, you know, based on what God has done for me, I don't think so.

I have very unique circumstances for even coming into existence.

And yet my testimony is entitled, give glory to him.

As the first angels message says, give glory to him because I shouldn't be breathing, walking or talking, but since God and his mercy saw fit to allow me to exist, shouldn't I even more than maybe they're all the rest of you who come from hopefully comfortable, wonderful family homes where you were planned and you were wanted, shouldn't I be even more grateful in giving glory to God for how he has had mercy to allow me to even exist, to know him and to serve him and even be called to be his servant.

Jeremiah 1 verse 5, God says to the prophet Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

Before you were born, before you were even born and drew your first breath, I set you apart.

I am convinced today after 50 years of living on this earth that God did know me before I was born and he did set me apart to be a special person to give glory to him in whatever small ways this weak vessel jar of clay can possibly do so.

And it just so happens, do you think this is an accident that I was adopted by a Seventh Day Adventist pastor and his wife?

You know, they talk about the odds of winning the lottery and hitting the jackpot and having all this money.

What are the chances of getting such a lucky strike?

Well, what are the chances of being adopted into a family and having all the opportunities to grow up in a wonderful home to model and demonstrate and explain and send you to Adventist schools and all those things.

I'm gonna try to touch on some of those things and how big of an impact they've had on me to make me what I am today.

And so I'm eternally grateful for God's providence, the way that he works in incredible, amazing ways.

You know, Ministry of Healing says, our heavenly Father has how many ways to provide for us of which we know not of?

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

Well, this weekend, the theme that I have chosen are practical messages that I hope will help us grow closer to Jesus Christ.

And I mentioned last night as well that I love the deep theology and the deep study of prophecy, and that is all well and good.

But I also enjoy and appreciate things that are very useful and practical that I can apply to my life and that will really make a transformative difference.

So that's what I've chosen to present here this weekend.

Last night, convicted but not converted, the importance of true conversion.

Not my will, but God's will be done in every area of my life.

And then this morning, this is a message that I'm 50 years old and I should have understood this when I was 12, but I didn't really get it, so to speak.

And so it's my hope and prayer that all of you here will in some way learn and grow faster than I caught on to this very key essential piece of spiritual growth.

If we really want to grow, you know, Spirit of Prophecy says if we're not growing, then we're really dying.

So there is no such thing as a plateau or just sort of stationary spinning on a stationary bicycle.

So, we want to be growing active Christians.

So, let's just bow our heads for 1 more additional word of prayer and we'll dive into God's Word this morning.

My Father in heaven, it is such a great privilege to be here with so many talented and very intelligent people, both young and old.

Lord, The talent in this room is tremendous and Lord you want all of us to be closer to you and to have a closer walk With you and so I pray this morning that you would just certainly give a fresh Outpouring of your Holy Spirit on me and on each 1 of the people listening this morning, that we would be transformed by the message that you have for us.

May we hear you speaking to us personally this morning is my humble and earnest prayer in Jesus' name, amen.

Some of you have maybe heard of this person whose name is Simeon the Stylite.

Simeon the Stylite, let me go back, push the button too fast, was a monk, Catholic monk, who lived in the 4th and 5th century AD, and he wanted to be pure from the world.

And so his way of being pure from the world was to restrict and isolate himself by climbing up on a pillar, initially a 9 foot tall pillar, so that he could be away from people that just bothered him, or caused him any maybe consternation.

Well, his fame began to grow, and people began to want to see this monk who was so devoted in wanting to be a holy, godly person that he decided to get an even taller pillar.

Even taller, Reportedly as tall as 50 feet high Five-story building so that he could be separated from all the contaminating people in the world.

Sometimes people would come to talk to him and they would climb up a ladder to try to be able to have some communication.

Tell us, what is, what have you learned from being so holy and so separate from everyone else?

It's reported that his own mother came to see him and Simeon would not let her come up on the pillar with him.

Seems like, isn't there a commandment that says, honor your father and your mother?

Well, on 1 occasion, in fact, this is recorded by Edward Gibbon in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, 1 of the things he liked to do was bow down and touch his head down to his feet in kind of a spiritual exercise.

And someone came to watch and count how many times he did that.

And after 1, 244 times of counting, they gave up.

Because he kept on bowing and touching his head down to his feet and over and over and over again.

Well, after 37 years on the pillar, he died there.

Now, some of you might have questions like I do, like, what about other things that pertain to life?

You know, you'll have to do your own research.

But at any rate, 37 years of isolation and is that really the way that God has called us to live on earth?

I think the answer is probably pretty obvious.

Jesus says in Matthew 5, 14 through 16, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, He says, ye are the light of the world.

A city that is set upon a hill, on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.

And it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

And then here comes the charge, the sacred charge that Jesus gives to us.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see how isolated and separated you are from them, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Yes, Jesus says that he is the light of the world in John 8 verse 12.

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

If we follow him, if we're connected to him, we will have a light that comes from that connection that others will see and notice and will be by God's grace attracted to.

And then John 1, verse 9, the very beginning of the gospel of John, Jesus is described as the true light, which lighteth, how many people?

Says lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

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Presenter

Brian Hindman

52 Teachings

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Essential Brian Hindman

Transformed by the Truth

1h 4m

Recent

Give Glory to Him

1h 10m

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

46m

Convicted but Not Converted

42m

Most Listened

Transformed by the Truth

1h 4m

7 Attacks Against the Truth

1h 21m

The Blessing of Bible Memorization

1h

Series

Series

Brian Hindman Weekend

3 parts

Series

The Spiritual Connection Between Creation And Salvation

2 parts

Series

The Last Words Of Jesus

2 parts

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Conference

Jan 1 – 9, 2014

GYC 2013: Before Men and Angels

21 series

Sound Doctrine