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GYC Southwest

Power of the Hour

Anil Kanda

Mountain Climbing with Jesus

Why don't we bow our heads for a word of prayer and let's get started with this message Father in heaven, we just thank you again for Sabbath evenings Thank you again for bringing us here together And Lord, thank you for the promise when 2 or 3 are gathered together there you are amongst us and Lord, we just praise you for what you're going to say to us tonight and this whole Sabbath in Jesus name, Amen.

So be here at Sabbath School at 925 AM sharp.

Some of you will be showing up at 10 AM in the back.

I'm going to call you out if you show up late.

So again, I'm really excited about the message.

We're going to be taking a good look at the Mount of Transfiguration, okay?

We're going to be seeing what the Bible has for us.

You know, it's really exciting as we open up God's Word because we're going to discover the things that God wants us to understand, especially for people who are living in this hour, right?

It's extremely important that we understand what God is trying to communicate to his end time people.

A very important time because things that are happening in our world around us are indicating to us the time is very near.

So we need to understand what are the tools that God is giving to us especially in these end times.

So during this weekend we're going to be taking a good look at various things that God wants us to participate in, things he wants us to exercise and just experience.

Everybody take your Bible, let's go to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 17.

We're gonna be taking a good look at a very interesting story in the gospel and it's a story regarding Peter what name did I say?

We're gonna be taking a good look at an experience that Peter had with Jesus.

Matthew chapter 17, if you're there, go ahead and say amen.

Now Matthew 17 is a very interesting chapter.

This story that we're going to be looking at appears in 3 other gospels.

And it appears very consistently with some of the other events.

Now what happens before Matthew chapter 17 is very, very important.

Peter, who has been following Jesus for a long time We're getting close to Calvary and it's been some time several months since Peter has been following Jesus And he's starting to really wrap his dreams his futures his ambition around this Jesus And all of this comes crashing down in Matthew chapter 16 when Jesus reveals to Peter, I'm gonna die.

And at this time, Peter's mind just begins to be very confused.

Anytime they talk to you, they're rebuking you?

I have friends, even in their prayers, are rebuking me.

And by the way, help him with that 1 problem he has.

He tells Jesus, you are not going to die on the cross.

You are not going to sacrifice your life.

But all of a sudden, Jesus reveals to him, guess what?

All of this is not according to your planning, your will, your desires.

You know what's so amazing is the context of Matthew chapter 17 is Peter is discouraged about the future.

In fact, it tells us in Matthew 16, from the time that Jesus rebuked him all the way to the Mount of Transfiguration, there's silence, nothing is mentioned.

The last words of Peter is his response when Jesus says to him, get behind me, Satan.

Here's Jesus saying to you, get behind me, Satan.

Obviously we understand he wasn't rebuking Peter personally, but rather the devil had gotten a hold of Peter's perspectives of God.

So this is where the story begins Discouragement Uncertainty about the future Trouble anxious thoughts You're worried about what's gonna happen next.

Or perhaps you're utterly confused and numb by recent events in your life and you're wondering what else could go wrong.

Friends, what's so beautiful about this chapter in Matthew chapter 17 is that it describes a very interesting experience that Jesus led Peter into shortly after his time of discouragement.

You know, I love the stories of Jesus climbing mountains.

In fact, when you study out the Gospels, he is climbing mountains several different times.

Early in the morning, he's climbing a mountain.

Hey, let's talk about end time events on top of the mountain.

Anytime Jesus is talking about very sensitive things, he's on top of a mountain.

How many people here have ever climbed a mountain before?

Okay, I grew up in Orange County, and there are no mountains in Orange County.

The biggest animals we have are pigeons and chihuahuas.

When I moved up to Northern California, went to school at Weimar College, all of a sudden it was like mountains and hills and the country and I was exposed to the outdoors started going camping and four-wheeling every other weekend and it was such an amazing thing because I was encountering nature right Jesus was somebody who loved nature It was his sanctuary the place in which he could be that was closest to the heavenly father In fact, what is so interesting?

Have you ever seen has anybody here ever seen the Himalayas?

What is the highest mountain in the world?

What's the highest mountain in the world?

See, I knew it was in there, but you were afraid, right?

There was a time in my life in which I was just obsessed with Mount Everest documentaries.

I've watched so many documentaries of people climbing Mount Everest.

And before the year 1980, it was about 80 to 90% certain that if you climbed that mountain, you were going to lose several appendages.

In fact did you know there are over 200 bodies still on top of Mount Everest?

In fact, 1 day I watched this story about a group of mountaineers who were climbing Mount Everest and they get to this period called the death zone.

Do you know why they call it the death zone?

Wedding Disasters

Bow our heads for a word of prayer and ask God to bless us father in heaven.

Thank you again for Sabbath school Thank you for this time of discussion and Lord as we dig deep into the scriptures, may you speak to us that is our prayer in Jesus name.

Amen All right, everybody take your Bibles.

Let's go to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 24.

Who knows what Matthew chapter 24 is before we get to Matthew 24?

When you go to Matthew 24, what do you find?

A litany of end time events that are going to happen.

Let's start with Matthew 24 and let's start with verse 3.

What time does Sabbath school end, by the way?

We are going to the book, I thought you said 1025, but I was like, we are now done, everyone.

So let's go to the book of Matthew, And we are going to Matthew chapter 24.

I need somebody with a loud Evangelistic voice to read Matthew chapter 24 verse 3.

I Will call you out if you don't read so who's going to read who's going to be very bold and very David Thank you for raising your hand right now, David Could you stand up so everyone can see you and read Matthew 24 really loud verse 3 Could you speak a little louder?

Thank you so much David By the way, okay, so this is very interesting.

They're on top of another mountain, aren't they, right?

And what is the question that the disciples asked to Jesus?

Somebody please tell me, raise your hand.

What is the question that the disciples asked Jesus?

I want you to interpret what the verse just said.

Okay, could you reiterate that in your own words?

Like what's it gonna look like when you come back, right?

In fact, if you dissect this a little bit further, they essentially ask 3 different questions, right?

We find a grocery list of end time events.

You know when you get to the end of Matthew 24, many times we stop and we say, uh-huh, that's what it looks like at the end of time.

However, Jesus wasn't done with the sermon.

You see, Matthew 25, Jesus begins to talk more.

So what is the difference between Matthew 24 and 25?

Matthew 24 is what God is doing in the world at the end of time.

Matthew 25 is what God is doing in his people at the end of time.

We spend so much time in Matthew 24 that we oftentimes neglect what it says in 25, and that should be more of a focus for us.

And we are going to be taking a good look at a very special parable that Jesus gave at the end of time.

Okay, somebody tell me real quickly, what is the purpose of a parable?

Raise your hand, I can't, I'm deaf and blind when I get up here.

A real life experience with the spiritual truth, right?

Some of what you guys had said before right?

Jesus essentially gave parables for 2 reasons number 1 to reveal truth and number 2 to conceal truth To reveal truth to those who were searching and were hungry for the truth and to hide it for those that had no interest.

Did you guys know that parables can reveal truth in a special way that ordinary narrative language cannot?

Did you know it's in symbolic language that God communicates some powerful truths?

The book of Daniel and Revelation, are they books of symbols?

Here's 1 that's oftentimes neglected, the Song of Solomon.

Some people think it shouldn't even be in there.

Sometimes when you read the Song of Solomon, you're like, why is this in here, right?

But it's actually a symbolic book that is helping us to understand something deep.

So let's understand this parable in Matthew 24, or Matthew 25, starting with verse 1.

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to what?

10 virgins who took their lamps went out to meet the who?

How many people here have been to a wedding?

Raise your hand if you've been to a wedding.

How many people here have been to at least 10 weddings?

Anybody here, 10 weddings, raise your hand.

Okay, how many people here have been to at least 15 weddings?

Could you raise a little higher so everyone can see it?

Eternity Future Love?

Well, I'm going to be sharing a very special message, something that God was really leading me to last year, and I really hope and pray that it's a blessing to you.

Also for Sabbath afternoon, I'm gonna be talking about a very special topic.

I'm gonna be talking about our church history and sort of the development of the health message and its downfall.

We're gonna be taking a good look at the history of J.

Harvey Kellogg and why that is so relevant to us today.

So If you have some time, please come on out for that.

If you were an employer or you claim to be an employer and you had no employees, would you actually be an employer?

If you had no kids, would you actually be a parent?

If you had no church members, would you actually be a pastor?

Jesus would not have said, I am the Lord of the Sabbath if the Sabbath was not existing anymore.

Because He is not the God of the dead, He is the God of the living, friends.

That's why He is the Lord of the Sabbath.

You see, friends, the Sabbath is meant to be a day of life.

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer and let's jump into this message.

Father in heaven, we just thank you again for the beautiful Sabbath, the music, Lord for bringing us here, for whatever purposes you have for us, we pray and ask that our hearts would be open to receive the present blessing.

That is our prayer in the name of Jesus we pray amen.

All right I want to share something with you.

I don't see anybody here who's a call porter.

No I know Souls West is over here but I used to canvas and you know a little bit I'd go door to door and you know when I was a pastor I'd go door door and we do surveys and many people did not like that.

You knock at people's door and they would say things like, hey I'm not interested.

Or sometimes people would say things like, I'm a pagan.

Or my favorite was this, yeah I'm an atheist.

As if I'm supposed to be scared, ooh an atheist.

You know, I'm an atheist, run for your life, right?

You know, and so when I was a call porter and when I was going door to door, I would come across people with a variety of beliefs, a variety of beliefs.

And in a world today that is growing increasingly secular and got various aberrations of religion, there is a lot of people today who are claiming to be atheists or people who are claiming to be non-theist.

Individuals who say, I don't believe in God or I don't believe in that concept of God or I'm not a religious person.

In fact, 1 day I was doing some research on atheism for a seminar I was doing and I came across an atheist blogger.

Thank you for the Webster's Dictionary definition.

It's someone who writes blogs online or just, or sort of, sort of, you could say like a daily journal entry of their life, right?

And so this atheist blogger was writing about things that would convince her to believe in God.

She says, look, I'm an atheist, but if I was to be a believer in God, there would have to be several criteria that would have to be met in order for me to believe there is a God.

Number 1, I'd have to see accurate prophecies in sacred text.

Number 2, I would have to see accurate science in religious texts.

Number 3, I would have to find a successful religion.

And by the way, you know how she defines successful religion?

The adherents of the religion are healthy and happy.

Number 4, inexplicably accurate information gained during near death.

In other words, she wants to know what happens when you die.

Now let's just think about this, friends.

She is looking for somebody or something that apparently can explain to her accurate prophecies.

She's looking for sort of a message that harmonizes with the data that is found in the world around us.

She is looking for a religion in which the inheritance would be happy and healthy.

And she is looking for information about what happens to people when they die.

Let me ask you a question, where might she find something like this?

I remember when I was reading this I thought to myself, you know it's like she's an unbaptized Adventist.

She's looking for a religion that helps us, you know, harmonizes with the data that's found in the world.

She's looking for a religion in which the adherents are supposed to be healthy and happy, right?

She's looking for something that explains what happens after death, and she's looking for a clear message.

When I read that I thought to myself, she's looking for Adventist.

And I was so blown away when I learned about this and I thought to myself, man, if I could only talk to this person or give her a glow pamphlet or something.

But anyways I thought to myself there are a lot of people today who claim to be atheists.

Did you know there are various kinds of atheists that exist in our world today?

It's not just people who say you know what I do not believe in God's existence.

For example there are those who say we don't need God's existence like Stephen Hawking says that right?

You have other individuals who say, you know what, there is no such thing as love in this world.

And so you have various forms of atheism that exist.

Do you know the Bible tells us at the very end of time the love of many would what?

So what is happening at the very end of time?

This image or picture of God is being wiped out right at the very end of time.

The time when Earth's sort of narrative is in the darkest part of history.

Friends, This is super important because what this world is really craving for is biblical love.

By the way, if you ever read the book Acts of the Apostles, the very first chapter Ellen White makes this comment, very interesting, very intriguing.

She says, eventually will be made manifest in the church the full display of the love of God.

In other words, she is saying that God will take the church and he will use it as a place, an environment, an atmosphere, an arena to display his love to the entire universe.

It's a powerful thing when we begin to understand this.

The book Education tells us that Satan himself is seeking to disprove the very concept of love in this universe.

She says these words, unselfishness, the principle of God's kingdom is the principle that Satan what?

Deadly Wound of the Health Message

Alright, since I just showed you the slides, who is this individual by the way?

Does anybody know What John Harvey Kellogg is responsible for?

We could say, oh yeah, this is a blessing to this world.

Okay, he along with some others really promoted hydrotherapy.

Are they any, what's, is there anything special about them?

I've never known that before, I will remember that though, alright.

He said that the land in which Cal Poly Pomona is on was donated by him, right?

The Arabian horse farm which was from his time, okay, wow Interesting.

All right, so it's so interesting this individual.

Positive things we're still looking at right now.

Yeah, the development of various kinds of grains, right?

Things that have just become commonplace in our world today, right?

This actually came from the Oxford Companion to the American Food and Drink Encyclopedia.

And essentially it says this about this individual.

It says, no single individual influenced American eating habits during the early 20th century this is very interesting more than Dr.

Now this is amazing friends because when you take a good look in American history and specifically in regards to food Dr.

John Harvey Kellogg has made a significant contribution to this world.

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Series

Power of the Hour

Mountain Climbing with Jesus

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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