Anil Kanda

Ceres SDA Church

Wise Men Still Seek Him

I'm so excited, although it's not the end of the world, it is the end of the year.

And God has brought us through so much...

And what's so exciting is this coming year.

Well, why don't we bow our heads first and let's ask Jesus to bless us with his Holy Spirit.

Let's make sure this mic needs to be up a little bit higher.

I can see Keith Mulligan going like this with his ear.

Dear Jesus, thank you so much again for the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for blessing us with the song of angels today.

And Lord, we come to worship you today because you are our God, our King, our Savior, our Redeemer.

But Lord, we don't want our worship just to be the worship of our lips, but the worship of our hearts.

Jesus, please bless us with the Holy Spirit and guide us.

Some of you guys are returning back after a long hiatus.

We are glad that you are in the house of God today.

God is doing some very special things here and it's exciting.

And every person, every believer should be a worker for God.

And we want to see God take it to the very next level.

Now we're going to be looking at something very interesting today.

So everybody take your Bible let's go to Matthew chapter 2.

You know not being raised a Christian part of my very first or primary introduction to Christianity was during Christmas time.

Although my dad was not a Christian, oftentimes he would have us, just because of the season, he would have us watch a movie about Jesus Christ.

And 1 of my very first introductions to Jesus was watching him on the big screen.

And this was when I was first introduced to Jesus and the nativity and the whole plan of redemption.

It was my very first just introduction to it.

So interesting I, as I was becoming a Christian my dad had a cabinet full of idols.

And I'd go into this, and I would see a Krishna idol, I would see a Ganesh idol, and it was so hilarious because my dad, he just wanted to make sure he had all the bases covered he also had a little statue of Mary and a little statue of Joseph but the baby Jesus was missing and it was still considered worship for my father in the best of knowledge that he had But this was my introduction to Christianity and God used those seeds and he began to just to water those seeds.

1 of my favorite stories in all the Bible is the story of the wise men.

So everybody let's go there Matthew chapter 2 starting with verse 1.

In Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.

When you go to the Gospel of Luke it also names 2 men.

Caesar Augustus and Quirinius who was in charge of Syria.

Now I said this before, but I want to reiterate this point.

The great thing about the Bible is that it's a real book that details real people who had Real experiences with a real God in real locations.

And that's what's so exciting about the scriptures, is that it's a powerful history book as well.

So you're not just looking at a cunningly devised fable, You are looking at something so special, and something more than just a simple textbook or religious writing.

You are looking at the Word of God Almighty.

Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the what?

Most scholars believe that they were from what is now known as the country of Iran.

Something interesting to note is that Jesus said, in talking 1 day to 1 of his disciples about a centurion, he said, many will come from the east and many will come from the west, and they will worship the Son of God.

What's interesting, in the very beginning of Christ's ministry, you have Magi that were from the East at the very end of Christ's ministry, right before He was about to die in John chapter 12, before He was going to the cross, you actually had Greeks who were from the West.

And so this was actually taking place during the time of Christ.

People from the East were coming, and people from the West were coming to worship God.

But we are introduced to something very interesting.

Now there's a lot of interesting interpretations about who the Magi were.

All she simply says is that these people were philosophers and, she says these words, they were not idolaters.

They were philosophers and they were not idolaters does anybody know what the word philosophy means or philosopher it's 2 different words philos and Sophia lover of knowledge lover of wisdom and so you have these philosophers the Bible just simply says that they went and they were following this star.

Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who was born king of the, what?

For we have seen his star in the east and have come to, what's that next word?

We need to stop right here, but I want you to pay attention to this okay the wise men were philosophers there were individuals who were taking into account the stars and we don't know how much paganism was mixed into their religion or their background but all we do know is that they were following a star The Bible says they saw the star where?

This was not Israel where that star appeared.

Because Israel was supposed to be the place where God's knowledge was the most clearest.

Yet you have a completely pagan area where God gives some type of symbol or sign that he exists, and all that the wise men have is simply this star.

It's very interesting, when you go into some of the history of the Magi and you do a little bit of study you find out that they also Had access to 1 particular book of the Old Testament.

It was the book of numbers The book of numbers.

Well, what happens in the book of numbers?

You actually have a false prophet by the name of Balaam.

What's also interesting is this, is that the Iranians still have many of the writings of Balaam to this day.

Eugene Prewitt

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Ellen White and New Believers

In our previous evangelistic series in Arkadelphia, I think that the hardest message for our visitors was the 1 in the Mark of the Beast.

Chad has a biblical approach to the issue of the mark of the beast that just strikes me as the most sensible I have seen in an evangelistic campaign.

That is, he doesn't even get to those quotes from the Romanist church until he's established very well the metaphor of the seal and the forehead and the hand and its connection with the law of God.

It's like a Bible study instead of a historical expose.

So it just went over almost without a blip in our meetings.

We didn't really lose people there, but we lost them 2 nights later.

Over the question of Ellen White, which was the same sermon as identifying the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

That was the approach that Chad took to Revelation 12, 17, that once you identify Ellen White in verse 17, then you've just identified the Remnant Church.

Well, Tim came to my house the Sabbath before last Sabbath.

He's been to the Adventist Church 2 weekends in a row now.

And when he came to, and I live right by the Adventist church, like an eighth of a mile walk.

When he came to my house, into my living room, he did what I do when I visit your house.

I go to your library and look at your books.

He went to my library and looked at my books, at least the ones in my living room.

In my living room, I just have 1 bookcase.

And the only books in it are a bird book and Ellen White.

And I think I either need to keep people like Tim away from that bookcase, or I need to do something different?

Because do you realize that the question of Ellen White is a very difficult pill to swallow for persons who are critical thinkers?

For the type of contact who has never really been studious, never really been inclined to study the Bible seriously and comes to an evangelistic campaign, that man, because you make friends with him and you're close to him, he loves you and he wants to be with you and he accepts the truths and he loves Jesus and he's baptized.

And for that man, Ellen White isn't a real, necessarily isn't a real roadblock.

But for the man who before you even meet him has been studying his Bible for many years, the man who's been careful in how he's evaluated various doctrinal issues that have confronted him in the past, that man has come across what Jesus said, and Jesus said, beware of false prophets.

That man is cautious, and when he comes to this issue of Ellen White, it is appropriate for him to treat this issue with a great deal of caution.

Do you follow what I'm trying to communicate to you?

I know that you do an evangelistic series here every year.

Do you do it every year or is it every other year?

So every year, let me just give you an idea about something.

In our church plant, Our church is already a church.

It's been that way for 3 years, but we call it a church plant still.

We never want to lose the church plant mentality.

And we say to our Sabbath school teachers, we don't want you quoting Ellen White as an authority in Sabbath school.

We say to our preachers, we don't want you quoting Ellen White as an authority in Sabbath school.

We say to our preachers, we don't want you quoting Ellen White as an authority during church.

If you want to do that, we have prayer meeting, we can have Vespers programs, we can have afternoon meetings, but we want to make Sapa School and Church a place where anyone can invite their neighbor or friend or relative for their very first ever visit to an Adventist church and that visit cannot have too many strange surprises.

Does that make any sense to you what I'm trying to say?

Your church should be a safe place for new believers.

Now I don't even know, there might even be 2 or 3 of you here that aren't Seventh-day Adventist.

And if so, well you're getting a very frank approach to how I feel about these things.

And if you are, you're getting a frank approach anyway.

What I'm trying to communicate to you is that since we found our beliefs on the Bible, we do not want to create confusion by the way we talk.

Last Sabbath, at our fellowship meal, we were sitting there eating, and I don't know how it came up, but somehow it came up the question of whether or not humans in the resurrection will have wings.

The Bible, just so you know, doesn't address that.

The Bible doesn't say anything about humans having wings in the resurrection.

And so when it came up, I was sitting right by Tim.

That was on purpose, right, not accident, because we need to surround these people when they're visiting our church.

We don't just let them go sit wherever they want to by themselves.

I was right with him, and this question came up, and I quickly replied that The Bible doesn't say anything about that.

But since it does indicate we'll be able to get along and get around quite well That I that we will be going to heaven, for example, that it won't surprise me if we have some means of quick locomotion.

What I was trying to show is that my view on this is founded on the Bible.

But A lady who was sitting right next to me, piped up.

But in Ellen White's writings, there's abundant evidence that there'll be wings.

Why, she even saw little children winging their way up.

Tim took it really well, but it wasn't the best.

And the first thing I'm trying to share with you right now is about making your church a safe place for new and not yet believers.

Even that little thing that a lot of people do, they say 1 of my favorite authors says such and such, and then we give a quote, a reference at the end that's like in code.

You know, people only need to hear that twice before they realize something's up.

Does that make any sense to you what I'm saying?

It really isn't so subtle as we think it is.

Brothers and sisters, the Bible is not deficient.

We really can make solid Sabbath school teaching by using it all by itself.

We really could preach the word and it would not be a loss.

So what do I expect Tim to accept before he can join the Seventh-day Adventist church?

I'll tell you, I don't think that I can demand that he accept that Ellen White is a prophet.

But turn with me in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.

The baptismal vows say something about that.

Ephesians chapter 4, and we're going to look at verse 11.

And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.

Pastors and teachers being 1 gift there as opposed to 2.

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

I expect him to accept what this passage says, that the gifts of the Spirit are present in the church until Christ's second coming.

Now I don't expect him to believe that every gift is always present.

Like you don't believe, for example, that there's a prophet right now.

But I don't think that even those of you who do believe that believe that there was 1 every moment for the last 160 years.

I mean, even Victor Hutef didn't get on the scene until like 18 years after Ellen White died.

That was just in case there's a Shepard Rods person here, I'm trying to show that they're not being consistent.

But what we believe from Ephesians 4, verses 11 through 14, what we believe from this passage is that when God gave the gifts to the church, he gave them for the purpose of building up the church, helping the church, keeping us from being easily deceived, the gifts were given for a purpose.

And 1 of the purposes was to bring us to the full measure of the stature of Christ, to bring us to a unity of the faith, that's the purpose.

And how long have the gifts been given until the purpose is achieved?

So I expect from this and several other passages that Tim will acknowledge that the gift of prophecy did not end in the first century.

I can prove that from the Bible, that the gift of prophecy is available if God chooses to give it.

In the Old Testament, were there prophets continuously or did prophets come and go in the history of the Old Testament?

You know in the Old Testament, the prophets came and went.

Sometimes there were multiple prophets, sometimes there was 1, sometimes there was 0.

And so when we say that the gift of prophecy is continuous through the ages, that doesn't mean that at any given year that there must necessarily be a prophet, but that the gift of prophecy is available that God can give it when he chooses to give it, how he chooses to give it.

And then I think you know Revelation 19, but I mean Revelation 12, let's look there first.

Revelation 12, in verse 17, some people here in California have opined that to claim to be the remnant is an arrogant, egotistical thing to do.

I think it proves they don't comprehend the word.

Building Bible Experts

This is from Daubigny, book 9, chapter 11.

If you've never heard of Daubigny before, it's okay.

But he wrote some beautiful materials about the 16th century reformation.

He says, opposed to the old champions of the hierarchy who had neglected the study of languages and the cultivation of literature were generous minded youth devoted to study, investigating scripture, and familiarizing themselves with the masterpieces of antiquity.

Possessing an active mind, an elevated soul, an intrepid heart, these young men soon acquired such knowledge that for a long period, none could compete with them.

Accordingly, when these useful defenders of the Reformation met the Romish doctors in any assembly, they attacked them with such ease and confidence that these ignorant men hesitated, became embarrassed, and fell into a contempt merited in the eyes of all." Now I know when Daubigny wrote that, You never thought anyone would read it in English in front of a group of people.

It's the kind of writing you need to have in front of your face so you can go slow enough through it.

But let me just translate it into like 21st century English.

In the days after Martin Luther and Zwingli and Farrell, 500 years ago, there were a group of young people raised up in Europe that were so thoroughly familiar with the Bible, so thoroughly familiar with the writings of the church fathers in apostolic ages, so familiar with the dead languages of Greek and Hebrew and even to quite an extent, Latin.

Men who were so studious and thoughtful that when they would end up in a public meeting discussing policy or truth related to the Bible, they would end up of course in conflict with the religious leaders of their time.

But those religious leaders, those leaders had their positions, they'd gotten those positions by some means other than careful, continuous study.

They had achieved those positions by hook or crook or inheritance or by in, being in with the right people.

The point is that they really didn't know their Bible so well at all.

And so The contrast was middle-aged church leaders discussing with young, bright, reformed-minded youth, these men came out on top.

And this was in an age when Often discussion of religious ideas was done in the form of debate.

And so in these kinds of situations, these young men were winning all the time.

When you have the truth, you can win a debate even if the guy that you're debating with is a little more skillful than you are.

Because debate lends itself, having the truth lends itself to winning a debate.

I don't know how to say that any other way.

The difference between truth and human error is that truth, the deeper you investigate it, the more true you can see it to be.

Whereas human theories and ideas that sound really good at the surface, as you begin to investigate them, the more you investigate, the more chaotic, inconsistent, and untenable you find them to be.

So if at the surface, both men look like that they know their stuff, yet the more you listen to them talk, the more you can see the conflict between them.

I've taught church history for a while, about 20 years, and I love that statement for what it says.

In the last few weeks of doing Bible work, I have experienced something that seems to me supernatural.

And that is that when I'm dealing with these souls who are finding their way to the 3 angels' messages, frequently they ask questions about the Bible that match my niche of knowledge.

Say that there are 100 ideas in here that you can know and say that I personally am quite familiar with 6 of them.

So now I'm studying with a group of 40 random people and as they bring up random questions, nearly every 1 of these questions ends up coming from the 6 instead of from the 94.

Do you understand kind of the illustration I'm giving you?

Almost as if God is utilizing me like a tool in his hands, but not me ambiguously, but particularly he's using the part of the Bible that he's managed to get into me.

What it tells me is that my investment in studying this book makes me a more polished instrument, something more useful to him, not just in some public speaking situation, but even in the delicate personal work of sitting with someone inside their own home and talking about spiritual things.

I'll give you an example of something that came up last week, maybe it's 2 weeks ago, time goes really quick.

A young man brought up the question about babies.

It was the man that I called Brody this morning.

You might remember about that man that his first baby died a few hours after birth.

And so his question was, or is, can babies go to heaven?

Can you see how that might be a real relevant question to his own walk with God and issues in his life?

And the Bible has quite a direct answer to that.

No, direct is the wrong word, but quite, it has an answer that satisfies me.

Jeremiah 31, where it speaks about Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted.

And if you find the verses, just tell me so I can just see it right there at the same time.

Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rahel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children because they were not.

Now you know from the gospels that this is a prophecy about the slaughter of the innocents, right?

And the slaughter of those when Jesus was just a child.

So Rachel is weeping because her children have been killed.

I think you understand the metaphor because if her husband, Israel, represents the faithful, then his wife, Rachel, would represent the faithful mothers.

Can you see the simplicity of that metaphor?

And here's Rachel weeping for her children.

You can't comfort her, she is grieving terribly.

Verse 16, thus says the Lord, refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the Enemy.

And the comfort that God offers to them, it's not that he doesn't say every baby is saved, but he says their what will be rewarded?

That's the work of faithful mothers under the figure of Rachel.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

Wise Men Still Seek Him

27m

Ellen White and New Believers

36m

Building Bible Experts

52m

Advertising for Evangelism

58m

Confronting Calvinism

1h

When the Door Stops Knocking

39m

A Leader You Can Trust

35m

Let’s Go Home

58m

The Beatitudes of Revelation- Welcome Home

29m

The Beatitudes of Revelation- What Left Behind Missed

29m

Questions and Answers- Part 2

20m

Overcoming Trials

54m

Sound Doctrine