Michigan Virtual Camp Meeting 2020: Forward to the Finish

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Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Restore

Dennis Page

01 Attention, Affections, and Affairs- First Comes the Covenant, then Comes the Marriage

02 Blind Man Sees in Color

03 What’s in a name? The Restoration of Integrity in the Christian Life

04 Restore- How to Live Free in a World of Entanglements

05 Promise Seeker- Honoring Authority in a Dysfunctional World

Good afternoon, everyone, and once again, welcome to Restore10.

As we opened up yesterday, I asked the question, why?

Well, many people, including Christians, have a wrong conception of the law of God.

We've taken many surveys among young people and older people, And we have found that a lot look at the law of God as restrictive they look at it in a negative way they think it's overbearing some think it's just a set of rules and Some people even look at it as a checklist of do's and don'ts as if they if they do it, right?

They'll make it into the kingdom of heaven.

You know, I believe that God wants to restore not 1, not 2, not 9, but he wants to restore all 10 in our lives.

You might say, well, I already know about the 10 Commandments, I'm already keeping them.

You know what, so did the rich young ruler.

But then he would ask, because he had a feeling that something was missing, what lack I?

We're gonna discover that today as we continue.

I read a quote from yesterday and I think it's good to repeat it again today.

It comes from the great controversy, 465.

The nature and the importance of the law of God have been to a great extent lost sight of.

A wrong conception of the character, the perpetuity, and the obligation of the divine law has led to errors in relation to conversion and sanctification.

And has resulted in lowering the standard of piety in the church.

So yes, there's many out there that claim they know about the commandments of God, But a misconception of what it means to keep them, a misconception of what it means to live them, has affected people's conversion and the transforming power of sanctification in their lives.

And because of that, we see a weakened Christian church today all over the world.

And the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not immune to it.

Friends, God created man for a relationship, and in every relationship, there's boundaries that are put in place if it's gonna be healthy, happy, and safe.

I read this yesterday and I just, these 2 quotes, I may read them every day because they are so meaningful and so powerful.

Thoughts on Mount and Blessing, page 52, I'm sorry.

There is not a commandment of the law that is not for the good and happiness of man.

Not 1 commandment is not for the good and happiness of man.

All of them are there for us, both in this life and the life to come.

In obedience to God's law, man is surrounded as with a hedge and kept from the evil, but he who breaks down the divine erected barrier at 1 point, in other words, if you disregard 1 commandment, if you try to insert your own theological understanding how something is to be done in that 1 commandment, You destroy its power.

At 1 point has destroyed its power to protect him.

When this happens, we open a way by which the enemy can enter in and waste and ruin.

And so it's important, every 1 of them are important.

You know, yesterday we looked at the first commandment.

Because he says, I created you, I redeemed you, I've been providing for you, I've gave the ultimate sacrifice for you, my son Jesus.

And so I've provided everything, and in my faithfulness, I've invited you into a covenant with me.

You see when we stepped into that baptismal tank back there or wherever it was when you stepped into the baptism, maybe in the river, in a lake, when you made that covenant promise with God, you had told the whole world that you're entering into a personal intimate relationship with him and that he would be first and foremost in your life.

That's what it meant to take that vow just like when a husband and wife things they stand before 1 another and they exchange those wedding vows They're committing to 1 another in an intimate deep personal relationship That is distinct and separate from any other relationship there to have That is what God called us into.

That is what we accepted when we stepped into that tank.

So today's topic, blind man sees in color.

I invite you to bow your head with me as we pray.

Gracious loving Father, we bow before you humbly in the name of Jesus.

Lord, thank you for the gift of salvation.

Thank you for being faithful and committed to us as we discussed yesterday.

And thank you for the beautiful opportunity to allow you to open our eyes once again that we may behold beautiful things out of your law.

Lord, May there be a revival in our lives of primitive faith and godliness As we Allow you to work in us to will and do of thy good pleasure Lord, may jesus be seen may he be heard May he be experienced in today's presentation.

In Jesus' name I ask, and I thank you for hearing me, Lord.

I invite you to open your Bibles with me to Exodus chapter 33.

It was after the law had been spoken by God audibly, after the children of Israel said, yes, all that you have said, we will do.

It wasn't long after that that they'd find themselves making a golden calf and behaving as the world would in a big party, worshiping that golden image, proclaiming that was their God that delivered them from Egypt, what that must have done to the heart of God.

But Moses would intercede in their behalf, And Moses would find himself up in the mountain, and he longed for something deeper than what God had already revealed through the deliverance of Israel, through the provision, through that time all the way up to this moment.

He would say to God in verse 13, now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way.

Now, that was, when I read that and I was thinking about it today, a thought came to my mind.

But Moses was so taken in by the beauty of God's character, he wanted something deeper.

He wanted to get as close to God as he possibly could.

He was concerned that God was gonna forsake his people because they were prone to wander.

And God would promise in verse 14, and he said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give you rest.

And we'll talk more about that rest on Thursday.

And he said unto him, if your presence will not go with me, carry us not up from here.

For wherein shall it be known, here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight?

Now, Knowing God the way He desires us to know Him has a result.

And Moses understood that and he would say this, so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

You see, in this covenant promise, in this covenant relationship, There was supposed to be a distinct separation from any other relationship that they were involved in as a nation with other nations.

Just like a man and woman, when they exchange those marriage vows and they come together, that's supposed to be unique.

No other relationship is to be like it in their life with any other human being.

And so they were to be distinct and separate.

God would tell them in Leviticus 11, 44 and 45, he would say, for I am the Lord your God, ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, in other words, you shall separate yourselves and be distinct, And you shall be holy, for I am the holy.

For I am the Lord that brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God.

In the second commandment, it would read, You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

For I, the Lord, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those that love me and keep my commandments.

Well, he would tell Moses you tell the whole congregation You shall be holy because I am holy you see God has never used an image created by man.

He's never used anything, a sculpture, anything to reveal holiness to us.

How would you describe holiness to a man that's been blind from birth?

Moses would tell God, look, You cannot see my face and live, right?

Series

Restore

02 Blind Man Sees in Color

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Blessed Assurance

Blessed Assurance: The Trend of the Life

44m

Plenary

Pentecost Repeated

55m

When the Dress Code Means Life or Death

26m

The Conflict

57m

Is Creation Important to SDA Doctrine

55m

Breakout Session B

The Last Attack

56m

Cosmic Conflict

Cosmic Conflict- Part 1

39m

Morning Devotional

Victory in Jesus: Living Victoriously

47m

Lost in Paradise

42m

Refuse Not Him

1h 1m

Secrets from the Ancient Sanctuary

04 Are You Ready for God’s Final Judgment?

51m

Our Picture of God

Our Picture of God- Part 2

23m

Sound Doctrine