<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Priscilla Santos

Do You Know God?

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord God, I want to thank you so very much for being a God who answers prayer.

For being a God who has brought us here today to fellowship.

And Father, I ask forgiveness for where we fall short.

I am but flesh and blood and Lord, If anything is bad in this message, it's from me, and anything good will be from you.

So I ask, Father, that you empty me of self, and that you speak to us today.

Lord, this message is just as for me as it is for anyone else here.

And I ask, Father, that you be with my family here, my friends, Lord, my spiritual family.

And that, Lord, you touch their lives as well.

May your Holy Spirit reign supreme here in this room.

So, The NCLEX is the nursing standardized test.

And if you are safe enough to be licensed to pass the NCLEX, then you can be a registered nurse.

And you have to go through X amount of schooling, of course, to be able to take this test, but this test is pretty hard.

In fact, it's known as 1 of the most hardest exams out there.

The thing with this test is it's individualized.

No person has the same questions and no person has it in the same exact order, Because if you get 1 wrong, it will take you to a whole different question, a whole different question set.

And the more that you get right, the harder the questions get.

And the more you get wrong, the easier they get.

There's this line of passing, and you have to get more questions right over this line of passing.

The thing is, all the questions over this line are super hard.

But that kind of gives you a little feel of how hard this test is.

And you have to do at least 75 questions.

Now, when I finished school in March, I was scheduled to take the NCLEX in May.

And I'm gonna be completely transparent, I was going crazy.

I began to become anxious and a depression came over me like never before.

And I began to doubt that God could even help me.

I'll come back to this, don't worry, it has a happy ending.

But turn with me please to the book of Jeremiah chapter 29.

Jeremiah 29, this is definitely 1 of my favorite books because I love when God picks ordinary people to reach out to those that do not know the love of God.

Even those that could be found in rebellious Israel.

If we're all there, if we could say amen.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, let not your prophets and your diviners that be in the midst of you to siege you, neither hearken to your dreams, which you cause to be dreamed.

They prophesy falsely unto you in my name.

For thus says the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you and perform my good word toward you and causing you to return to this place for I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end then shall you call upon me and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart." You shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

Heart also translating to mind and to understandings.

And we seek for God with all of our mind, all of our understanding.

Now, friends, the nation of Israel was busy.

They were dealing with past and present captivity, prospective ruin, dealing with a religious system that was turning away from God.

In fact, we see that in verse 8 and 9 where it says that people were sharing a false image of who God's character was.

And they went forth deceitfully in God's name, marring the character of God.

Now, my question is, What were they saying exactly?

What were those people thinking for God to have to tell them, I don't think evil towards you?

How did they picture God to the point where he had to tell them, I don't think evil, I think good things.

What picture of God's character did they have?

And yet despite all that, God comforts them with saying, if you seek me, you will find me.

It's as if God was trying to reintroduce himself to people that had a wrong idea of who he was.

In fact, that is what he was doing, reminding them of his character.

In fact, the Bible is a huge compilation of God reintroducing his character to people that do not know him very well.

And we're going to read verse 18 as well.

Beloved, let us love 1 another, for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God.

He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.

And this was manifested, the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten son into the world That we might live through him herein is love not that we loved God But that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear hath torment.

He that feareth is not made perfect in love." So knowing God means knowing love.

Then it makes sense, the more I know about God, the less fear I should have, right?

So the more he gives us examples of his love and his character the more I can know him and the less I have to fear.

It sounds logical, but what happens then when I don't know God?

If I know God and His love casts out fear, If I don't know him, what am I left with?

1 of the earliest examples of this we can find is in Genesis 3.

We're going to use our Bibles today, amen?

Now God had already given Adam and Eve work to do in keeping the garden.

And he gave them instructions to stay away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Let's go to Genesis 1, or 3, 1 through 6.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden.

And the woman said unto the serpent, you may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die.

For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make 1 wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." So God tells Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil.

Eve wanders off, meets a serpent, and Satan capitalizes on an opportunity.

He then tells Eve, you know, she can eat the fruit.

She misquotes scripture, and if you go back you can actually see she misquotes scripture.

And the serpent capitalizes again and puts God's character to the ground, and calls God a liar and a selfish 1 at that.

Back to Menu

Do You Know God?

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Wilderness Wandering

Into Canaan

36m

"Tell It Again"

What We Must Know: Prophecy Update

1h 6m

Plenary

When Missionaries Leave

46m

Back to the Mission

The Battle Cry of the Remnant

1h 1m

Unlock Revelation

16. US in Bible Prophecy

1h 14m

The Atheist Who Found God

1h 25m

Faith in Action

Making God’s Word Come Alive

49m

Walking With Jesus Through Final Events

47m

How To Study the Bible and Know God’s Will For Your Life

1h 25m

Encounters With Jesus

Jesus’ Encounter with the Disciples in the Storm

43m

Revelation Made Simple

18. Revelations Spiritual Revolution for a New Millennium

57m

Plenary

The One Thing Jesus Can’t Give You

55m

Sound Doctrine