3ABN Australia Homecoming

Knowing God As The Creator

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: HCAU

Program Code: HCAU180010A


00:05 And this is eternal life that they may know you,
00:10 the only true God
00:12 and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
00:20 Welcome to 3ABN Australia Homecoming.
00:28 Well, Tim, this is the last program
00:30 for Friday night.
00:31 Right. And it has been a full day.
00:33 We have been here since like...
00:36 This morning. Early in the morning.
00:37 So but it's been a wonderful day.
00:39 Yes, it has.
00:40 Spending the day in the Word of God
00:42 is never wasted, right?
00:43 Oh, no, it's very good. And we've had...
00:44 Who's enjoyed the messages that we've had so far?
00:47 I have.
00:48 I see hands going up, but not a lot of amens
00:50 or praise the Lord.
00:52 They're silent amens.
00:53 Do you know that opening, I really enjoyed that
00:55 because there's a section
00:58 where John is with our grandson,
01:00 reading him the story of Zacchaeus
01:05 and when Diane's there and she's praying,
01:07 that pelican flew across just to shoot his head up
01:12 and so it was unplanned.
01:13 So that wasn't planned?
01:15 No. Unplanned.
01:16 Not at all. Oh, that's for the bird.
01:17 I'm sorry, it was a just... God just...
01:19 That was for the birds.
01:21 So God was really good.
01:23 It's was just exciting to have that happen,
01:26 but right now we have someone who's going to play the piano.
01:30 Right. Do you remember who that is?
01:31 That is Henry Higgins.
01:33 Henry Higgins.
01:34 Henry Higgins, yes.
01:36 Wonderful piano player and pan flutist.
01:38 Yes. And he plays the double bass.
01:41 Really?
01:42 And I think the cello, and he's a great musician.
01:46 Awesome. Yes.
01:47 And he will be followed by our speaker this evening.
01:50 Who is...
01:51 Pastor Gary Kent from the Incredible Journey.
01:54 And do you know what he's speaking on?
01:55 He's preaching on God, the Creator,
01:57 knowing God as God, the Creator.
02:00 That's right.
02:01 And Henry is going to play for us a beautiful song,
02:06 a hymn that you'll all know in the garden.
02:09 So, Henry, I really look forward to this
02:11 'cause I love your piano play.
02:13 Thank you. God bless you.
06:46 Well, Henry, thank you so much.
06:50 Friends, hasn't that music been heavenly this evening?
06:54 It's a privilege to worship with you
06:59 this Sabbath evening.
07:01 Robin and I left Sydney early.
07:04 We wanted to be here in good time to hear the music
07:07 and sharing the fellowship.
07:09 But have you noticed,
07:11 there seems to be
07:12 so many more cars on the road these days
07:15 between Sydney and Newcastle?
07:17 You know, we left just after 3 o'clock,
07:20 thinking that we'd have plenty of time.
07:22 We were in a traffic jam literally over half the way
07:28 but you know, we didn't waste the time.
07:31 We got our phones out
07:34 and we were able to speak to our daughter in Brisbane,
07:40 a son in Singapore,
07:43 another daughter in London,
07:46 and a sister in America
07:48 who's just welcoming her granddaughter
07:52 who was born today.
07:54 All while we were stuck in the traffic
07:56 on the way up here.
08:00 It's a reminder that we live
08:02 in an age
08:04 of tremendous technology and knowledge.
08:07 Isn't that right?
08:08 Think of the knowledge that makes it possible for us
08:11 to speak to family members all over the world
08:14 and to know what's happening there.
08:18 We're also able to check out some details
08:22 about some information we wanted to find out.
08:28 We were able to tap into the net.
08:33 And, again, a reminder that we live in an age,
08:39 in an era of knowledge.
08:42 We want to know everything today.
08:44 We want to know exactly the moment that happens.
08:49 That's our age.
08:51 Do you know, friends, how important
08:54 in this age of knowledge and knowing everything
08:59 that we don't forget
09:01 the importance of knowing God
09:06 and keeping our relationship strong,
09:09 and vibrant, and vital.
09:15 Let's bow our heads in prayer.
09:19 Dear heavenly Father, this Sabbath evening,
09:24 we bow before You,
09:26 acknowledging You as the Master of the Universe,
09:32 Creator of heaven and earth.
09:37 And, Father, we thank You that You love us,
09:43 and care for each one of us,
09:46 and are interested in everything about us.
09:49 We are so grateful that You want to know us.
09:54 And so, Father, as we worship You this evening,
09:59 we invite Your presence and ask for Your blessing,
10:04 in Jesus' name, amen.
10:10 Over the centuries,
10:12 the world's great men and women
10:15 have tried to alter the course of history,
10:20 and their actions and achievements
10:24 have influenced millions
10:29 and are still doing so today.
10:34 Some have tried to rule by might and power
10:37 and we know their names off by heart today.
10:41 Some of them we even call great,
10:44 Cyrus the Great,
10:46 Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan,
10:52 Charlemagne, Napoleon, Hitler.
10:56 Yes, they have tried to rule by might,
11:04 but their empires have disappeared
11:08 because you see, friends, any ruler,
11:11 no matter how numerous their weapons
11:16 must ultimately rule by means other than might and power,
11:22 by means other than force if they are to retain power,
11:27 authority and influence.
11:33 If they are to retain that influence,
11:38 they must rule by persuasion.
11:43 And that is why those who have made
11:46 the greatest impact on our world are individuals
11:50 who have introduced concepts and ideas
11:55 that have persuaded that is, that have influenced
11:59 millions of earth's inhabitants.
12:03 And through their ideas,
12:05 their concepts, their philosophies,
12:08 they have reached into the minds of the masses.
12:11 They've reached
12:13 into the minds of millions of people
12:16 in their own generation and in future generations.
12:20 And, friends, by influencing and controlling
12:23 people's minds in a sense, they have ruled the world.
12:32 It's a reminder that the pen
12:37 is mightier than the sword.
12:40 Words, ideas, concepts, philosophies
12:45 can change the world.
12:48 And we know people who've done that,
12:51 Buddha, Aristotle, Plato, Jesus Christ, Mohammed,
12:56 Galileo, Newton, Copernicus.
13:02 All have made an impact on the world
13:06 and changed history by introducing new ideas,
13:10 concepts and philosophies.
13:13 These great ideas people, these thought makers
13:20 have influenced the minds of the masses.
13:24 And so in their own ways, they have conquered the world.
13:28 The last two centuries
13:31 have seen some of the most
13:33 influential thought makers of all time.
13:38 Charles Darwin, Karl Marx,
13:44 Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Mahatma Gandhi.
13:49 Tonight, we are going to consider
13:54 one of these great thought makers,
13:57 arguably the most influential of them all.
14:04 He pinned the most influential book
14:07 written in the last two centuries.
14:10 Now, friends, you think about it,
14:12 think about the amount of words
14:14 that has been, have been written,
14:16 the number of books that have been written
14:18 in the last 200 years, which one of them
14:20 was the most influential of all.
14:24 Well, friends, the most influential book
14:27 written in the last two centuries
14:30 was written by this man,
14:33 Charles Robert Darwin.
14:38 Charles Robert Darwin, his book
14:45 "The Origin of Species," the most influential book
14:49 written in the last two centuries.
14:52 This book has done more than any other
14:55 to shape modern thought.
14:57 This book has changed the way you and I live today.
15:01 It's changed the trend of religion.
15:03 It's changed theology, politics, philosophy.
15:08 It's changed the teaching of history,
15:10 biology, literature, and even morality.
15:17 This book, "The Origin of Species,"
15:23 brought about a complete change in our modern world.
15:30 Charles Darwin came from a wealthy family.
15:35 His father was the physician to the king
15:37 to the royal household.
15:39 And Charles Darwin decided
15:41 that he was going to follow in the footsteps
15:43 of his father and grandfather.
15:46 And so he traveled to Edinburgh
15:48 and he enrolled in the University there
15:50 to study medicine.
15:52 He was going to be a doctor, but something happened.
15:56 He couldn't stand the sight of blood.
15:59 Not good for a doctor.
16:03 And so he had to change his plans.
16:06 He left Edinburgh
16:08 and he traveled down to Cambridge.
16:11 And he decided that now he was going to be
16:15 a church minister.
16:18 And so he enrolled in the theology program.
16:21 And he graduated from Cambridge from that theology program
16:25 in the year 1831.
16:27 And at the age of 22,
16:29 Charles Darwin was going to become the Reverend Darwin
16:34 in a small Anglican country church.
16:40 But then something happened
16:44 that changed the course of history.
16:49 He was invited to join the Beagle on a trip,
16:55 a sailing trip around the world.
17:01 He was a naturalist.
17:02 He was interested in the things of nature.
17:05 And so, rather than becoming a preacher of the Bible,
17:10 Charles Darwin instead accepted this invitation
17:13 and became a naturalist aboard HMS Beagle.
17:19 They sailed the world, circumnavigated the world.
17:24 But of all the wonderful places that they visited,
17:30 the one of supreme importance to Charles Darwin
17:35 was the Galapagos Islands.
17:38 Now, the Galapagos Islands
17:40 are situated about 1000 kilometers
17:43 west of Ecuador in South America.
17:47 It consists of 13 main islands
17:49 and a number of smaller islands.
17:52 And so as he made that trip
17:54 and saw all these wonderful places,
17:57 it was the Galapagos Island
17:59 that made the greatest impression on him.
18:02 And, friends, on the day that Charles Darwin
18:05 step to shore on the Galapagos Islands,
18:08 a new epoch of world history began
18:13 because, you see, Darwin
18:15 was immediately struck
18:16 by the number of unique plants and animals
18:19 in this one place.
18:21 And he wondered,
18:22 how can all this variety be here?
18:25 How did all this variety
18:27 come about in this isolated place
18:30 so far from everywhere else?
18:34 He was particularly fascinated
18:38 by the little finches,
18:42 the different kinds of finches
18:44 that lived on the various islands.
18:48 Although the birds,
18:49 these little birds all looked similar,
18:54 their beaks were different.
18:57 Their beaks were different, a different shape
18:59 on each of the islands.
19:01 And the shape of their beaks
19:05 depended on the type of fruit available.
19:09 On one island,
19:11 the finches had very thick beaks
19:14 because they lived on nuts,
19:16 they had to crack the nutshells.
19:19 But on other islands,
19:20 they needed different beaks to eat the fruit.
19:22 And so they had thin, narrow beaks,
19:25 so that they could easily feed on these fruit.
19:29 Darwin was very excited by his discovery
19:34 and as he documented
19:36 the various finches in these islands
19:39 with their funny shape beaks, he began to develop
19:45 the theory of evolution.
19:50 He realized that they had adapted
19:52 to their environment.
19:55 Oh, thank you very much, Aiden.
19:56 Thank you.
20:01 One of winter's gifts.
20:04 A cold.
20:07 So as he looked
20:11 at these funny shaped beaks on these little birds
20:17 and saw how they had developed different shaped beaks
20:23 according to their environment,
20:26 he began to develop the theory of evolution.
20:31 And little did anyone realize
20:33 that the seed sown in Darwin's mind
20:37 on the Galapagos Islands would divide history in half?
20:43 You see, friends, before Darwin belief in God, the Creator
20:50 had been almost,
20:52 well, believed by almost everybody in the Western world
20:56 before Darwin.
20:59 After Darwin,
21:01 faith in a Creator God would become impossible,
21:06 even irrelevant
21:09 for most people in the Western world.
21:15 And so when Charles Darwin returned to England,
21:20 they spend a little time in London,
21:23 and then he moved his family to the little town of Down
21:30 in the county of Kent.
21:33 What a good name.
21:38 And there he began to further develop this theory
21:44 that he was cooking up in his mind.
21:47 This theory that he was developing
21:49 that he was building.
21:52 And then in a letter to his friend Joseph Hooker,
21:57 written on the 11th of January 1844.
22:02 Darwin first expressed his theory of natural selection
22:08 as a driver of evolution.
22:12 It was all beginning to fall into place.
22:16 And then in the spring of 1844, Darwin wrote a 200 page essay
22:21 with nine chapters that outlined very clearly
22:24 and more carefully his theory of evolution.
22:28 It became known as the essay of 1844.
22:34 And was the first relatively complete outline
22:39 of Darwin's theory of evolution.
22:43 That same year, on the 5th of July, 1844,
22:47 Darwin wrote a letter to his wife
22:49 and in this letter he said,
22:51 "I have just finished my sketch
22:56 of my theory on the species,
23:00 the Origin of the Species."
23:04 But he didn't publish it.
23:06 He didn't publish it that year,
23:09 because he was afraid of the controversy
23:13 that these radical new ideas would create.
23:18 And so instead, he spent the next 15 years
23:23 collecting the evidence to support his new idea.
23:30 And then in the year 1859,
23:33 he pinned and published his book,
23:39 "The Origin of Species,"
23:41 the most influential book in modern history,
23:45 "The Origin of Species,"
23:48 and on the first page of that book,
23:51 it says, "It was in the year 1844
23:58 that I first made a sketch of my conclusions
24:02 regarding the origin of species."
24:09 In his book, Darwin's theory of evolution,
24:14 suggested that life on planet earth,
24:17 all plant and animal species evolved gradually over millions
24:22 and perhaps even billions of years
24:25 through a series of changes.
24:29 Behind the theory of evolution
24:35 lay a challenge.
24:37 A challenge to what the Bible said
24:43 about how the earth was created
24:47 in six days.
24:50 You see, there were now two views,
24:53 two views on how the earth was made
24:57 and how humans fitted into it.
24:59 There was the Bible's view and there was Darwin's view.
25:06 Now, before long, the scientific community
25:09 largely accepted Darwin's theory,
25:12 Darwin's view of the origin of species.
25:14 And then it was accepted by the wider scholarly world.
25:19 Today, my friends, almost every school,
25:24 college and university in the world
25:29 teaches the theory of evolution
25:31 as if it was an established fact.
25:35 The theory of evolution
25:39 has influenced millions around the world
25:43 to reject the idea
25:46 of a Creator God and to believe rather that
25:53 man evolved over millions of years
25:59 because of Darwin we live in a different era.
26:07 We live in a different world.
26:09 You see, friends, before Darwin,
26:12 God was the answer to life's big questions.
26:17 After Darwin,
26:20 most people today
26:22 look to evolution for the answer
26:24 to life's big questions.
26:26 Where did we come from?
26:28 Why are we here? Where are we going?
26:31 They look to Darwin and the theory of evolution
26:34 for their answers.
26:37 Now, my friends, the two positions,
26:41 the Bible's position and Darwin's position
26:45 are radically different.
26:48 Evolution and Bible creation are incompatible.
26:55 Evolution and Bible creation
26:57 are diametrically opposed to each other.
27:03 I want you to notice with me the progression
27:07 when the theory of evolution
27:08 is carried to its logical conclusion,
27:11 follow me.
27:13 Once the theory of evolution is accepted,
27:17 the first three chapters of the Bible
27:21 that tell us about creation
27:25 become nothing but a series of myths.
27:29 Follow the conclusion with me,
27:31 the logical conclusion regarding evolution.
27:35 Evolution says there is no God.
27:39 Certainly not the God of Genesis.
27:42 If there is no God, there is no creator.
27:48 If there is no creator, there is no Adam.
27:53 If there is no Adam, there is no Eve.
27:57 And my friends, if there is no Eve,
27:58 there is no fall into sin.
28:04 If there is no sin, there's no need of a Savior.
28:10 If there is no Savior, there is no gospel.
28:12 If there is no gospel, there is no divine law.
28:18 Darwin's theory of evolution
28:23 has influenced millions of earth's inhabitants
28:27 and is dramatically changed the thinking of our society.
28:32 The theory of evolution has largely been responsible
28:35 for the decline of Christianity in recent years.
28:42 In England where the theory was launched,
28:48 less than 7% of the population attend church today.
28:54 Here in Australia, it's virtually no different.
28:59 Only 7.8% of our population
29:03 attend church regularly each weekend.
29:06 And so, as the theory of evolution
29:10 has been accepted, and as grown,
29:12 and become more popular and accepted,
29:15 there has been a simultaneous decline
29:19 in the number of people
29:21 who believe the Bible who worship God,
29:25 and attend church regularly.
29:30 Darwin's theory of evolution has been accepted by the masses
29:36 and is played a leading role in people
29:39 no longer believing in God or worshiping God.
29:46 So, friends, how does God
29:50 respond to this devastating attack?
29:54 What is He to do?
29:56 What is God's answer to evolution?
30:06 In the Book of Revelation, Bible's, the Bible's last book,
30:12 God has a special message.
30:15 A message that is to go to all the world,
30:20 and that is to prepare men and women
30:22 for the soon coming of Jesus.
30:25 I want to read it to you. Revelation Chapter 14.
30:28 Notice with me if you have your Bibles
30:30 or follow with me on the screen.
30:32 Revelation 14:6.
30:35 Here it says, "Then I saw another angel
30:38 flying in the midst of heaven,
30:41 having the everlasting gospel to preach to them
30:44 that dwell on the earth to every nation, tribe,
30:47 tongue and people,"
30:48 he has God's message,
30:52 "Fear God, and give glory to Him,
30:54 for the hour of His judgment has come,
30:57 and worship Him who made heaven, and earth,
31:01 the sea and springs of waters."
31:05 And it continues saying with a loud voice,"
31:09 you notice,
31:12 "Fear God give glory to Him,
31:17 the hour of his judgment has come,
31:20 worship, worship Him who made heaven and earth,
31:27 the sea and the springs of waters."
31:31 All my friends, in our modern age,
31:34 in the age of evolution that has led millions of people
31:38 lead the masses to believe that there is no Creator,
31:43 God sends a message,
31:49 He sends a message urging all people
31:53 to return to Creator worship.
32:00 But how does He do it?
32:02 How does He get the message out there?
32:04 How does God send his end time message
32:07 to all the world?
32:11 Well, my friends, in the year 1844,
32:16 the very year that Charles Darwin influenced
32:19 and launched the concept, the idea of evolution,
32:26 God raised up a movement.
32:28 A group of people
32:30 to proclaim the everlasting gospel
32:33 and to call people to worship the Creator.
32:40 My friends, in an age
32:42 when the theory of evolution has taken the scientific world
32:46 by storm
32:48 and it's been accepted by the masses.
32:52 God has a people, that people who know him.
33:01 God has a people
33:02 who are to proclaim this message,
33:07 His message,
33:09 calling people to worship the Creator.
33:16 How can we acknowledge God as our Creator?
33:20 How can we worship Him,
33:23 Who made the heavens and the earth,
33:24 the sea and the fountains?
33:26 How do we do that?
33:29 Well, friends, let the Bible answer.
33:31 It's found in the very heart of God's law,
33:34 the Ten Commandments given at Sinai.
33:37 Notice what it says here in Exodus Chapter 20.
33:41 And I'm going to start reading at verse 8.
33:43 Exodus Chapter 20.
33:46 Notice with me verse 8, it says, "Remember,
33:51 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,
33:55 six days you shall labor and do all your work,
33:58 but the seventh day
34:00 is the Sabbath of the Lord your God,
34:02 in it you shall do no work,
34:04 you nor your son, your daughter,
34:08 nor your manservent, nor your maidservant,
34:10 nor your cattle, nor your stranger
34:12 who is within your gates."
34:14 And then it says why? It gives us the reason.
34:18 Why?
34:21 "For in six days
34:23 the Lord made the heavens and the earth,
34:24 the sea and all that is in them,
34:28 and rested the seventh day.
34:31 Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day,
34:36 and hallowed it.
34:43 The Sabbath
34:47 is a day for remembering.
34:52 It's a day for remembering and acknowledging our Creator.
34:59 The Creator who has been so carelessly challenged
35:05 by our generation,
35:08 challenged by the theory of evolution,
35:12 the theory that had its origins in the mind of Charles Darwin
35:18 as he watched the little finches
35:24 on the Galapagos Islands.
35:27 The Sabbath is a day for remembering that no,
35:32 we do have a Creator God.
35:35 A God who made the heavens and the earth,
35:37 the sea and the fountains of waters.
35:44 Friends, the Sabbath
35:47 is God's answer to evolution.
35:52 In 1844, the very year that Darwin
35:56 launched the theory of evolution,
35:59 God raised up a people
36:00 to proclaim his end time message,
36:03 and call people back
36:06 to worshiping the Creator.
36:12 And so you see, respecting the Sabbath
36:17 is God's appointed way of acknowledging Him
36:23 as the Creator.
36:25 In our modern age of evolution, the Sabbath calls us back
36:30 to the worship of God our Creator.
36:36 That's why, friends,
36:39 if you go right back to the beginning,
36:42 right back to the creation story,
36:48 the Bible begins with these words.
36:52 Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning,
36:59 God created
37:02 the heavens and the earth."
37:07 And then it goes through the whole story,
37:09 the record of creation, what happened on day one,
37:13 two, three, four, five, six.
37:18 And as God comes
37:20 to the climax of His work,
37:26 as He creates man in His own image.
37:32 You know, it's interesting when you come to the end
37:35 of each creation day, it says, this is what was created
37:39 on the first day and God looked and He saw it was what?
37:43 It was good.
37:44 And He comes to the second day,
37:46 He created and He looked and He saw it was good.
37:51 He comes to the third day, He looks at the end of the day
37:54 upon His handiwork, and He looks and He says,
37:56 "It is good."
37:58 He comes to the fourth, the same thing.
38:00 He looks out over and He said, "It is good."
38:03 He comes to the fifth day
38:05 and all the wonders of creation,
38:08 He looks, and He says, "It is good."
38:11 And then at the end of the sixth day,
38:15 when He's created us,
38:20 when He's created us in His image
38:24 He looks and He says, it's not good.
38:28 It's not just good. It is very good.
38:33 Because you see, friends, God made us
38:38 to have a relationship with Him.
38:42 That's why we were made in His image.
38:45 And so I want you to notice what happens next
38:47 as we come to Genesis 2:1.
38:50 It says, "And thus the heavens and the earth,
38:53 and all the host of them were finished."
39:01 2:2.
39:02 "And on the seventh day
39:05 God ended His work which He had done,
39:09 and He rested on the seventh day
39:12 from all His work which He had done."
39:14 2:3.
39:16 Genesis 2:3, "Then God blessed,
39:21 God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it,
39:25 because in it He rested from all His work
39:28 which He had created and made."
39:33 Friends, do you notice,
39:36 Adam and Eve's first day on planet earth
39:42 was spent with God and with each other.
39:48 God wanted to get to know them,
39:51 and He wanted them to get to know Him.
39:54 Their first full day of life on this planet,
39:59 they spent with God.
40:02 And, my friends, that is God's plan.
40:06 That's His intention.
40:09 The Sabbath is a memorial.
40:11 It's a sign that He is the Creator.
40:17 It's a time to get to know God better.
40:23 It's a time to spend with each other.
40:26 It's a time for worship,
40:29 worship of the great Creator God,
40:31 Master of the Universe, the One who made
40:34 the heavens and the earth in six days
40:36 and rested on the seventh.
40:42 That's why the Sabbath
40:45 is God's sign.
40:49 That's what He says in the Book of Ezekiel.
40:52 Ezekiel 20:12.
40:58 Ezekiel 20:12.
41:03 I want you to notice what it says here.
41:05 Very simple, very plain
41:10 and very important.
41:13 Ezekiel 20:12.
41:18 God says, "Moreover I gave, I also gave them My Sabbaths,
41:25 to be a sign, to be a sign between them and Me,
41:30 that they may know that
41:31 I am the Lord who sanctifies them."
41:38 So, friends, the Sabbath is God sign.
41:43 It's His memorial.
41:46 We build memorials to remember, isn't that right?
41:51 You can look at every town in Australia and New Zealand
41:54 and I guarantee you,
41:55 every one of them will have a memorial,
41:57 isn't that right?
41:59 There is an Anzac memorial in every town in our country.
42:02 Why?
42:04 Because we want to remember
42:05 those memorials are designed specifically
42:08 so that we will not forget, so that we will remember.
42:16 Now, friends, God
42:21 could have built His memorial.
42:26 He could have built it on the Mount of Olives
42:28 in Jerusalem.
42:30 He could have built it out of crystal.
42:34 He could have built His memorial
42:36 on the slopes of Mount Everest.
42:38 He could have built of a pure gold.
42:41 Memorial of His creation, but, my friends,
42:45 God did not build His memorial out of crystal, gold or silver.
42:52 God built His memorial out of time.
42:56 Time.
42:58 And He did it for two reasons.
43:03 For two reasons.
43:07 One, so that we could all access it.
43:13 We all live in time.
43:19 And secondly, friends,
43:22 God built His memorial in time,
43:28 because it takes time to build relationships.
43:34 You think of the most important relationships in your life.
43:41 The most important relationships are those
43:43 that we invest time in.
43:46 Is that not right?
43:48 You can't have a close friend or a close relationship
43:50 without investing time in that person,
43:53 in that relationship, and God knew that.
43:57 And so He built His memorial out of time.
44:04 Why?
44:06 Because God wants to know us
44:11 and He wants us to know Him.
44:17 And so He's given us the Sabbath as a special time.
44:21 Oh, yes, we should be in touch with God every day.
44:28 But He invites us to set aside the seventh day of every week,
44:36 so that we remember
44:41 how we got here,
44:44 why we are here
44:47 and where we're going?
44:51 And, friends, the Sabbath reminds us of all those things.
44:55 It answers all those questions.
44:57 It answers them all.
45:02 The Sabbath reminds us that God is our Creator.
45:07 We're not here because of an accident
45:09 because of chance.
45:11 We are here
45:13 because the Almighty God created us in His image.
45:17 The Sabbath reminds us
45:20 how we got here, where we come from.
45:28 It reminds us of the power of God,
45:31 the great Creator who hung the stars in space.
45:35 The great Creator who set the planets in motion.
45:38 The great Creator,
45:40 who made the heavens and the earth.
45:43 He is our God.
45:48 After creating for six days,
45:52 He rested when He had completed His work of creation.
45:56 He rested on the Sabbath, the seventh day.
46:03 The Sabbath is the reminder of that power.
46:07 And, friends, the Sabbath
46:11 is a reminder of God's love.
46:18 Because when the Son of God came to this planet,
46:25 and He completed His work of redemption,
46:29 the work of redemption on the cross,
46:32 when He finished that phase of His work,
46:38 He rested on the Sabbath.
46:43 He rested on the Sabbath.
46:46 And so not only does the Sabbath remind us
46:49 of God's power,
46:52 it also reminds us of His love.
46:56 How God Himself
46:59 came and died on Calvary's cross,
47:05 because He wants to spend eternity with you and me.
47:11 You see, friends,
47:15 when Jesus died on the cross,
47:21 God didn't give the best
47:25 that heaven had to offer.
47:28 He gave everything heaven had to offer.
47:31 He gave heaven itself
47:34 because heaven wasn't heaven when Jesus wasn't there,
47:39 and God was prepared to sacrifice everything
47:44 so that HE could spend eternity with you and me.
47:50 And so, friends, the Sabbath
47:53 reminds us of God's power.
47:56 And it also reminds us of God's love.
48:02 The fact that He was prepared to give His only begotten Son,
48:07 that whoever believes in Him should not perish
48:12 but have everlasting life.
48:16 And, my friend,
48:19 God has built a mansion for you
48:25 in His Kingdom.
48:28 It's got your name on it.
48:33 It's the exact color you would choose.
48:36 The color scheme is perfect.
48:39 He knows your likes and your dislikes.
48:43 Because you see, He knows all about you.
48:47 You are everything to God.
48:53 If you were the only sinner on planet earth,
49:01 if everyone around you was perfect,
49:06 Jesus still would have come
49:09 and died on Calvary's cross just for you
49:16 because He wants to spend eternity with you.
49:21 He wants to get to know you,
49:25 not just in heaven but now.
49:31 God wants to know us.
49:38 And, friends, how important that is to know God.
49:45 It's one of the reasons He's given us the Sabbath
49:49 that we will come to know Him
49:51 that we will start preparing for eternity
49:55 because, friends, when we do get to heaven,
49:59 we're going to worship on the Sabbath.
50:02 Sabbath worship will continue...
50:06 Pardon me.
50:07 You know, friends, it's quite interesting
50:09 when you consider this aspect of time.
50:14 We are people in the Western world
50:17 who are driven by time, isn't that right?
50:19 I mean, I've even got a clock up the back,
50:21 they ticking down every second,
50:24 telling me how much time I've got left
50:27 because time is important to us.
50:29 We've got to get these time programs,
50:31 these programs timed right.
50:34 And as a television evangelist and presenter,
50:36 I know that better than anyone.
50:39 Time is important
50:42 and so we have all these time measurements, don't we?
50:45 Seconds ticking away up there, the minutes, the hours,
50:50 the days and so on.
50:54 When you think about these time measurements,
50:59 all of them are determined by the movement
51:03 of the heavenly planets.
51:07 60 seconds make a minute.
51:10 60 minutes make an hour, they're all determined.
51:13 Every one of these are determined.
51:16 You know, the day is determined
51:18 by the movement of the planets.
51:21 The month, the year, all determined
51:24 by the movement of the heavenly bodies,
51:27 every one of them, with one exception.
51:31 The week.
51:34 The week is not determined.
51:39 It's our only time or measurement of time
51:42 that is not determined
51:44 by the movement of the heavenly planets.
51:49 Friends, there's only...
51:50 And let me say this,
51:52 it doesn't matter where you go on this planet,
51:57 they keep the week, don't they?
51:58 The weekly cycle.
52:00 And, friends,
52:01 that's because the weekly cycle is ingrained in our DNA.
52:07 It comes way back from creation.
52:10 It's the only answer to the origin of the week.
52:17 Time.
52:20 God made His memorial in time
52:26 because He wants to spend time with us.
52:32 And so, friends, as we prepare for eternity,
52:37 let us remember the Creator who has been scorned
52:42 by our modern age.
52:45 The Creator who has been forgotten
52:48 and replaced by eons of time, billions of years.
52:55 Friends, you and I are not here by chance.
53:00 We didn't evolve due to a series of mutations
53:04 or mistakes or accident.
53:07 You and I are here
53:09 because we are the handiwork of our loving
53:13 and Almighty God
53:16 who's coming back soon to take us
53:20 to live with Him forever.
53:24 And I say again, friends, there's a place for you,
53:28 a mansion with your name on it.
53:31 Right color, right design, right everything
53:34 because God knows you, loves you
53:38 and wants to spend eternity with you.
53:41 And that is my prayer that when Jesus comes
53:44 as King of kings and Lord of lords,
53:47 that each one of us here
53:49 will be found ready and waiting to meet Him
53:52 to spend eternity with Him.
53:55 May God bless You. Let us pray.
53:59 Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for Jesus,
54:04 our Lord and our Savior,
54:08 and the Creator of heaven and earth.
54:11 And, Father, tonight
54:14 we bow before You and we acknowledge You
54:17 as the great creator, Master of the Universe.
54:23 We worship You, we adore You.
54:27 We commit our lives to You.
54:30 And, Father, we look forward to the day
54:33 when Jesus will come
54:36 and we will be reunited with You again
54:39 to spend eternity with You.
54:42 Father, may that be our privilege.
54:45 May we be ready to meet You as unbroken families
54:49 to spend eternity in Your kingdom,
54:51 in the mansion You are preparing for us,
54:54 we ask these things in Jesus' name and for His sake.
55:00 Amen.


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Revised 2019-03-11