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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Tiphaine Rosario

Between the Mountain and the Multitude

I think it's such an eloquent and fitting name, especially for the times that we're living in.

My name is Tiffany Rosario, or for those who can pronounce French, it's Tiffin.

This is my first time in Loma Linda, so it's lovely to be here.

I've been visiting, seeing a little bit of the area.

It's an honor and a privilege to be here this morning.

I've come from San Jose, so not too far away.

My husband passes there, and we've been married for just about a year now.

So since we got married, I've kind of been back and forth between England and here because I'm trying to sort out immigration issues and get my green card finalized and all the rest of it.

So just to give you a bit of background of myself, I come from Europe originally, and I'm actually half French, half Spanish by my parents, but I lived in England for a long time, which is why I have a British accent.

Apart from that, I studied in, I did my sort of, what you would call your high school, but we call it secondary school, and my A levels in Spain as an international college or an international school.

And then I went to Liverpool, where I studied for 3 years for my undergraduates and then spent a year in France as an exchange student in a city called Lyon, which is the second biggest city of France.

Then after that I went back to Liverpool, I finalized my undergraduate degree, and I moved down to London, went to Westminster University to do my masters in translation and interpreting.

So I'm well aware of the struggles that students go through.

I've been in academia for a while myself.

And in the middle of all the studies and everything that I was doing, I was always also able to be a part of a few ministries.

So I worked in student ministries in England.

We sort of set up the equivalent of campus ministries out here.

And I was also involved with youth ministry in France and also recently, in more recent years, with GYC Europe.

So As I say, I come to you with experience of being a student and knowing about the struggles, the blessings and everything that comes with it.

Today as I was thinking about it, I'm reminded of a time when I would be coming up to a deadline, I'd have an assignment to hand in And I'm sure you've all been there at some point.

And you're sat in front of your computer, and you're thinking to yourself, I have to hand this in within a few days.

And you've got all your books spread out around you, and you're thinking, where do I start?

And in front of you is just a blank page on a screen, and you're in despair, and you're thinking, where do I begin?

But sometimes you just have to pause a moment and you have to say, Lord, help me, and you have to just begin writing.

And as you begin writing, you find before you know it, you've got 200 words on your document.

And then before you know it, you're at 2, 000.

And then before you know it, you're at 2, 000, and then before you know it, you're in your concluding remarks.

And it's interesting because even in the midst of those most difficult moments when we despair as students, when we're stressed out and we're going through difficulties, I don't recall a time where I've ever got to the point where I would sweat blood.

And so as I think of Gethsemane, and I think of Christ before he encountered his challenges, and he was sweating blood, I'm reminded that nothing that I go through is ever as great as what Christ has already been through for me.

So please bow your heads with me as we pray this morning.

Heavenly Father we thank you so much that we can be here this morning.

We ask at this time that you would send your Holy Spirit to descend upon this place, that you would be with us Lord, that you would open our minds and touch our hearts and that you would cause our hearts to stir for you Lord.

May we be brought to a better understanding of you, a deeper understanding of you today and Lord when may we learn how to apply our trials and how to grow from them, how to live through them and how to be guided and steadfast and have peace of mind because we know that you are on our side.

We ask that you would hide me behind the cross this morning, Lord, and that you would deliver a message direct from your throne, and that you would be with us throughout the rest of this day.

We ask these things and pray for them in Jesus' name.

So the title of the message this morning is Between the Mountain and the Multitude.

And this is a quote taken direct from Steps to Christ, where she talks about how Jesus spent a lot of time with the needy multitudes, but he also spent a lot of time on his own in the mountains.

And the quote comes from Steps to Christ, page 101, where Ellen White writes, The life must be like Christ's life, between the mountain and the multitude.

So at first it may not be clear what our mountains are and what our multitudes are, but I'm just going to give you a few ideas to see if we can understand how Christ was balanced and how he lived between the mountain and the multitude, and how we can apply that also to ourselves.

So, a lot of the times, as students or even as working people, our multitudes can be deadlines, assignments we have to hand in, work demands, our responsibilities, our peers, the people that we're surrounded by, and even the service that we give.

So the time that we spend on other things, on others.

And our mountains are our quiet time, the time where we spend reflecting and self-assessment, when we retreat and we shut off the computer for, you know, an hour and we just spend time alone with God and we're connecting with spiritual things.

And so Christ was an expert when it came to the mountain and the multitude, and he lived a life that was perfectly balanced.

He spent just enough time in both, so he was fulfilling the needs of those around him, but he was also being filled up by God constantly.

So this morning, I want to look at how we can be balanced.

And in Psalm 46, verse 10, God calls us to have a mountain experience in order to get to know him.

And he says, be still and know that I am God.

And you can't really get to know God unless you take time to be still and to have the mountain experience.

So what we want to discover is how we can be equally balanced and how we can have a bit of these 2 aspects in our lives.

So there's a few Bible characters that have been through their challenges as Christians, trying to balance out their experience.

And the first 1 I want to look at is Daniel.

And if you'll turn with me to Daniel 2, verse 26 to 28.

And the reason I'm starting off with Daniel is because I believe that Daniel understands a lot of our difficulties and a lot of our complexities.

He was a student in the University of Babylon.

If you read chapter 1, he was part of Babylon State University, I guess you could say.

And he studied in a secular campus, in a secular area, and he was taught many things from the land, but he also tried to stay faithful to his identity and to who he knew he was and God.

So let's go ahead and read Daniel 2, verses 26 to 28.

And it says, the king declared to Daniel, whose name was Balthazar, Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?

Daniel answered the king and said no wise men Enchanters magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked But There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.

Your dream and the vision of your head as you lay in bed are these." Okay.

So Daniel went through intense social pressure And we see that as we read here.

He was being questioned by the king of the nation at that time.

And he was obviously battling with all of these things.

It's interesting, because you read here that he was given the name Balthasar.

It says, King declared to Daniel, who was named Balthasar.

And coming to this place, not only did he Encounter the social difficulties of dealing with Babylon, but they even try to change his name try to change his identity Making him into something else and that's very relevant for us because a lot of time when we go to different places Whether it be at work or university We will come in being 1 person and because of the social pressures around us, we will become changed and people try to influence us to become something else.

I recall numerous occasions when I was at university and my colleagues, my peers, my fellow students would say to me, oh, why don't you come out drinking with us this weekend?

We're going to go and do this, we're going to do that.

And you know, you always have that kind of like social pressure to kind of be a part of the group and to go out and to do these things.

And then, you know, remarks when I would have conversations with my peers.

Sometimes they'd ask me questions because they knew I was a Christian and they'd say, oh, so you really think that Jesus is coming again?

And they're like, do you think he's going to come down in the clouds.

But it's interesting, because I'm going to tell you a testimony a bit later on about how being honest and being sincere, even when we're under social pressure, and even though we may not come across as cool, can actually be 1 of the biggest testimonies that we give.

So turn with me to Daniel 5, and we're going to read verses 13 and 16.

We're looking here at Daniel's multitude experience.

So this is what Daniel faced as his multitudes.

Then Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king answered and said to Daniel, You are that Daniel, 1 of the exiles of Judah, whom the king, my father, brought from Judah.

I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, But they could not show the interpretation of the matter.

But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems.

Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." How interesting.

So here again we find Daniel dealing with huge responsibilities.

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Between the Mountain and the Multitude

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