Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC180007A
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00:46 Hello and welcome to 3ABN's Fall Camp Meeting...
00:52 our Fall Homecoming 2018. 00:55 Have we been blessed so far? 00:56 Amen! What an incredible blessing! 00:59 This theme this Camp Meeting has been Covenant Identity. 01:04 And I know my heart has been blessed 01:06 and convicted by the messages that have been brought to us 01:09 by the Word of God. And we welcome you at home. 01:13 Thank you for joining us. 01:15 Our speaker this hour is my pastor: Pastor John Lomacang. 01:20 He's the pastor of the Thompsonville SDA church 01:23 and also director of world evangelism for 3ABN. 01:28 He's a man of God... a man of the Word. 01:32 And his message today will be Coming With Clouds. 01:35 It's not about the second coming. 01:37 It's instead about how God reveals His character 01:41 through clouds. Before he speaks to us 01:45 Pastor C.A. Murray will minister a song entitled 01:49 I'll Tell The World. 01:51 After Pastor C.A. shall have sung 01:53 the next voice that you will hear is that of our pastor 01:56 and friend John Lomacang. 02:15 I'll tell the world 02:19 that I'm a Christian. 02:22 I'm not ashamed 02:26 His name to bear. 02:30 I'll tell the world 02:33 that I'm a Christian 02:37 and I'll take Him with me 02:41 everywhere. 02:44 I'll tell the world 02:48 how Jesus saved me 02:51 and how He gave me 02:55 a life brand new. 03:00 And I know 03:02 that if you trust Him 03:05 that all He gave me 03:09 He'll give to you. 03:16 I'll tell the world 03:20 that He's my Savior. 03:23 No other one 03:27 could love me so. 03:30 My life, my all 03:34 is His forever 03:38 and where He leads me 03:41 I will go. 03:49 I'll tell the world 03:52 Jesus is coming 03:55 and it may be near 03:59 or far, far away. 04:03 But we've got to live 04:06 as if that coming 04:10 could be tomorrow 04:14 or today. 04:17 For when He comes 04:21 and life is over 04:24 for those who love Him 04:28 there's more to be. 04:33 Eyes have never seen the wonders 04:39 that He's preparing 04:42 for you and me. 04:50 Go tell the world 04:53 that you're a Christian. 04:56 Don't be ashamed 05:00 His name to bear. 05:03 Just tell the world 05:07 that you are a Christian 05:11 and take Him with you 05:14 everywhere. 05:20 I'll tell the world 05:25 how Jesus saved me 05:29 and how He gave me 05:32 a life brand new. 05:37 And I know 05:39 that if you trust Him 05:43 that all He gave to me 05:46 He'll give to you. 05:55 I'll tell the world 05:57 that I'm a Christian. 06:01 I'm not ashamed 06:04 His name to bear. 06:08 I'll tell the world 06:12 that I'm a Christian... 06:15 I'll take Him with me 06:18 anywhere... 06:23 I'll take Him with me 06:25 anywhere! 06:41 Amen! Amen... thank you, Pastor C.A. 06:44 That's what the sermon is all about: 06:46 telling the world that we are a Christian. 06:49 I'd like to invite you to bow your heads with me 06:51 as we invite the presence of God to continue with us. 06:57 Loving Father in heaven, we thank you 06:59 that You have given us the mission 07:03 to tell the world that we are Christians. 07:07 This afternoon, Lord, speak to us in a very real 07:10 and daily way 07:12 that we may recognize that we are the ones to proclaim 07:18 that Jesus is real. 07:20 And now anoint this message, Father, 07:22 that You may be glorified. 07:24 In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Amen! 07:29 Coming With Clouds. 07:31 I'm going to begin with a scripture in Revelation 07:35 that really has nothing to do with the second coming of Jesus 07:38 directly but has everything to do with 07:41 getting ready for the second coming of Jesus indirectly. 07:45 Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7. 07:47 If you don't have your Bibles, the text will appear on the 07:49 screen. And we read together: 08:12 It was 1983. My wife and I were moving 08:15 down to Orlando, Florida. 08:16 We just got married May 22, 1983. 08:20 And in our quest to move... 08:22 as a matter of fact, trials caused us to make that decision 08:26 we were going from Orlando down to Miami, Florida. 08:29 And if you've lived in the South at all, 08:30 you know that there are no rainstorms like the rainstorms 08:34 in the South. We were not too far outside of Orlando - 08:39 maybe about an hour - and before us we saw a wall 08:43 that was black. 08:45 You've gotta be in Texas or in the Midwest 08:49 or in the South to understand what I mean. 08:52 The wall was black and ominous. 08:55 And we were driving in a 1976 rusted-out Toyota Corona 09:00 that did its best to keep any water out at all. 09:08 And because we were going and our minds were set 09:11 on our destination we knew that we had to meet this cloud 09:16 that we understood was a representation of the torrential 09:22 rains that Florida can produce. 09:26 When we entered that raincloud - 09:28 that black, ominous wall - 09:30 the rain began to hit our car like BBs. 09:35 Like marbles. 09:38 It began to blast away everything on the outside 09:42 of our car. We couldn't see. 09:44 The rain began to come into our vehicle. 09:46 It was so dark when I decided to pull over 09:49 under an overpass I almost hit a cyclist 09:51 who had pulled over before me. But it was so dark, 09:54 the rain was so heavy that we couldn't see. 09:59 But when the rains were over 10:03 there was not a speck of dust on my car. 10:09 You couldn't manufacture one. 10:11 If it was there, it was blown away 10:15 by the torrential downpour that Florida can produce. 10:21 And I learned a valuable lesson. 10:23 It is oftentimes, through the torrential downpours of life 10:29 that God employs clouds and rain 10:33 to remove the dust and the clutter of our lives. 10:39 So today I invite you on a journey with me 10:43 where clouds are dominant. 10:46 Go back with me to the heavily-overcast moments 10:51 of your life. Come with me to the gloomy days 10:55 when coldness and uncertainty 10:59 even challenged your prayers. 11:01 Today we're going to discover something that we often forget 11:06 in moments of prosperity... in moments of "much. " 11:09 In moments of a lot of fun and security, 11:13 when the bank account is stable 11:15 and the children are behaving well 11:17 and our marriage is smooth 11:18 and there are no interruptions in our church relationships. 11:21 Today we'll discover something that is often obscured 11:25 by the prosperity of life. 11:28 For you see, it is on cloudy days 11:31 that disappointments penetrate our human armor. 11:35 Isn't that right? 11:37 Cloudy moments. It is on dark days that 11:39 we tend to forget that God is never absent. 11:44 But I thank Him for the promise: "I will never? " 11:47 "leave you and I'll never forsake you. " 11:50 But it's on those dark days we tend to believe that 11:52 somehow God is absent. 11:54 It is on stormy days that our deepest dreams and desires 12:00 seem to begin to fade and we begin to lose grip. 12:04 I was recently in Colombia. My wife and I were there 12:08 and I was looking through somebody's Facebook page 12:11 that had actually tagged me in a photo. 12:14 And I was painfully introduced by one of the locals there 12:17 of a young lady that was a good friend 12:20 of one of those that had gone to school with her. 12:23 And they said: "Isn't this a nice photo? " 12:25 They showed my wife and I when we were having dinner 12:27 that evening with them. And they said: "This young lady 12:30 took her life six months ago. " 12:32 Jumped off of a bridge in Argentina. 12:35 Could not handle the clouds of life. 12:38 She had everything going for her. She had made it 12:40 through college, was in her internship... but somehow 12:43 the clouds became so intense that she could not handle it 12:46 and ended her life. 12:49 And then I kept thumbing down on that page 12:51 and I saw a beautiful picture of a tall, stately pastor 12:55 that I recognized. I said: "I know him; 12:56 I've seen him at ASI. " 12:58 And I read the disheartening story... 13:00 he took his life 13:03 because the difficulty of life he could not handle it. 13:08 And it is those things that we confront in our lives 13:11 that sometimes get us to the place where 13:13 we tend to think that God is absent. 13:15 It's on stormy days that our deepest dreams 13:18 begin to fade. But today... today we will rediscover 13:23 that even in the darkest moments God's blessing can be realized. 13:28 Amen! 13:30 Even in the darkest events of our lives - 13:33 let me say this clearly - 13:35 God is still God. 13:38 Amen. 13:40 But it's not about how God changes because God never 13:43 changes. But what happens in our lives 13:46 for to us clouds often appear as sorrow and suffering 13:49 and circumstances. The circumstances of our lives 13:53 that seem to somehow momentarily eclipse who God is 13:58 and contradict the character of God. 14:02 However, the Lord showed me as I was reading a devotional - 14:06 I'll share some of those excerpts with you - 14:08 from July 29th in one of my second-favorite authors 14:11 by the name of Oswald Chambers. 14:13 God was revealing to me through that July 29th devotional... 14:16 In our own journey - my wife and I... in our own journey 14:20 growing together still after 35 years... 14:23 God was revealing to me something very pertinent 14:26 that day when we read that devotion together 14:28 which has become the impetus to the birth of this message. 14:31 But even in the darkest moments and events of life 14:35 God is still God. 14:37 And I discovered something very powerful 14:40 and very potent. I want you to really focus on this message 14:42 today because I believe... I've preached a lot of sermons 14:45 but I believe that this to me is one of the most 14:49 relevant and significant messages 14:54 that are going to help you when you leave Camp Meeting 14:56 when the clouds come into your life. 14:58 'Cause they're going to come... they're coming. 15:05 I've learned that God sometimes employs clouds 15:09 to reveal to us His character. 15:13 One of the most insightful reasons why God comes to us 15:17 with clouds is to remind us, 15:20 and listen to this: we don't follow God 15:23 because we can see. We follow God because HE can see. 15:28 Amen? What does Romans 1:17 say? 15:31 Look at the text: 15:37 If you can see everything that God sees, 15:40 you will be God. 15:42 You don't need to see everything that God sees. 15:45 We need to know that God is God 15:48 and that is good enough for me. 15:52 Why would you not trust? That's why last night 15:54 I said on the Bible panel: "If you can't trust God, 15:57 who can you trust? " 16:00 If you have questions about whether or not 16:02 God is trustworthy, 16:05 then please don't put a second person on that list 16:08 until you clear up your misconception about God 16:12 because I can guarantee you the problem is not with God 16:15 but with us. 16:18 It is through clouds that God is re-teaching us 16:21 the walk of faith. 16:23 If there were never any clouds, 16:25 there would be no need of faith. 16:29 But there are clouds. 16:31 One of my favorite hymns 16:33 is There Shall Be Showers of Blessing. 16:37 But it was not until recently that I came to grips with the 16:40 fact that... hear me carefully... unless 16:43 there are clouds there won't be any showers. 16:48 Amen! 16:51 Showers are always preceded by clouds. 16:57 Like the little boy that stood in the midst of a 17:01 praying church. One morning the pastor 17:05 got together with the congregation 17:06 somewhere in the southwest where the rain had not come 17:09 for many months and they were praying for rain. 17:11 True story. I don't remember where I read it 17:13 but it never left my mind. And they were praying for rain 17:16 and he said: "This afternoon at 3 o'clock 17:19 we're going to gather together again and wait for the rain. " 17:22 And when they gathered together that little boy's face was 17:25 so confirmed that God was going to respond 17:27 that when he came back he had something that nobody else had: 17:32 he had an umbrella. 17:34 And he said to the pastor: "Where's your umbrella? " 17:37 If you believe that God is going to send the rain, 17:40 we need a spiritual umbrella to confirm the fact that 17:43 God's promises are reliable. 17:46 Amen! 17:47 But so often we pray and our prayers are 17:49 covered by the brass ceilings of our lack of faith 17:52 that troubles our hearts of uncertainty. 17:56 Showers don't fall on cloudless days. 17:59 Showers are always preceded by clouds. 18:02 Showers don't produce showers... clouds do. 18:05 Without clouds showers will never appear. 18:09 Without clouds the grass will wither 18:12 and the earth will suffer from thirst. 18:15 Without clouds rivers become parched and dried up. 18:20 Without clouds, flowers will bow their heads in defeat 18:24 and the harvest will be delayed. 18:29 So I'm getting to the place now, I'm getting a little older... 18:36 I should have had a hearty amen from the whole people... 18:40 but then you don't want to admit it. 18:43 As I get older, I'm realizing 18:45 that it's not so bad to get older and have some marks 18:50 of the war that God has brought us through. 18:52 Amen. Am I right? 18:55 I mean, it's those wars that make Bible study real 18:59 and make church service something you long for. 19:03 That makes prayer meeting an event that nothing will 19:06 stop you from getting to. Just a few nights ago 19:09 we had one of our dear church members 19:11 due to trials in her own life God sent two people in her life 19:14 that she helped. And she came late to prayer meeting 19:17 and we thought... and people when she walked in thought: 19:19 "Yeah... late for prayer meeting. " 19:21 But when she told us why she was late - 19:24 helping lift somebody else's burden - 19:28 we said: "That's a good reason to be late. " 19:33 In the Bible clouds are often and almost always 19:36 associated with God. Let's walk through 19:39 some examples in scripture 'cause we've gotta move here. 19:42 Look at Genesis chapter 7 and verse 4. 19:44 It was through clouds that rain introduced God's judgments 19:47 to a world hardened by sin. 19:49 Genesis 7:4... notice what the Bible says: 20:05 You see, while the gathering clouds spelled doom 20:09 to the antediluvians... to those who did not know God... 20:13 the clouds became a confirmation to Noah 20:16 of the validity of God's promises. 20:20 And I'm beginning to see clouds differently now. 20:23 There was a time when I would say: "Not another cloud. " 20:26 But after so many clouds 20:28 and behind them realizing that it is true: behind every 20:31 cloud there is a? Silver lining. No... there is a God. 20:37 Ah, got you. 20:39 Behind every cloud there is God! 20:42 The Shekinah glory of God was there. Behind every cloud 20:45 God was there. So I assure you that 20:49 it is in the cloudy occurrences of life 20:52 that the promises of God become more meaningful. 20:57 Which brings me to my first point: 20:59 clouds are a precursor to the promises of God. 21:03 Say that with me? Clouds are a precursor 21:06 to the promises of God. 21:08 Look at Psalm 23 and verse 4. 21:10 You see, when we live by the promises of God 21:12 our reaction to the clouds in our lives, 21:15 our reaction to the difficulties in our lives, 21:17 ought to be different from those that don't know God. 21:21 Did you hear what I just said? 21:23 How can a person that knows God 21:25 and a person that does not know God 21:27 have the same reaction in the moments of trial? 21:30 I mean, where would that person who knows not God 21:33 look? He should look to us. 21:35 And we are told in Revelation the character of God's love 21:38 is going to be revealed in His people. 21:40 But how can a person who does not know God 21:41 look to somebody who claims to know God 21:43 as they are both in the same boat and they're both hopeless? 21:46 But look what David the Psalmist said. 21:49 Psalm 23 and verse 4: 22:02 You gotta know that. 22:03 That cannot be a text; that's gotta be a confirmation; 22:07 that's gotta be etched in the experiences of your life. 22:10 "You are with me. " God is with me when we don't 22:13 see Him. "Your rod and your staff: they comfort me. " 22:17 He keeps the enemy away from us with the rod 22:20 and the staff He keeps us from running away. 22:22 Hooks us while we're running in the wrong direction. 22:25 "Your rod and Your staff... they comfort me. " 22:27 One of the most beautiful promises of God 22:30 was also ratified with clouds. 22:32 Look at Genesis chapter 9 verses 12 to 15. 22:36 He's with us in our clouds. 22:38 Even in the valley of the shadow He's there. 22:41 One of the most beautiful promises was also ratified by 22:43 clouds: Genesis 9 beginning with verse 12. 23:18 The beautiful hues 23:20 of the unchanging colors of the rainbow 23:22 are revealed in the presence of clouds. 23:24 And I like the covenant: 23:43 Can somebody say Amen? 23:44 Amen! But here's what I got out of that: 23:46 even the severest storms of life cannot cancel 23:50 God's unchanging covenant. Amen! 23:54 Think about your storms. 23:56 A few days ago Mollie Steenson and I and 24:01 my wife and another young lady were sitting down... 24:06 No, I was trying to think about the other person. 24:10 She's a board member of 3ABN. 24:12 I just kind of... Carmelita! Carmelita Troy. 24:14 We were sitting at the table there and Pastor C.A. 24:17 and others were there at the table. 24:18 And Mollie began to walk us through the challenges 24:21 of her life. And she said: 24:23 "I will never let the difficul- ties of life shake my faith. " 24:28 She said: "I said that, and the difficulties of life came 24:31 and shook my faith. " 24:33 That's when she was a Sunday-keeper. 24:35 That's when she was the pastor's wife of a Sunday pastor: 24:39 Hal Steenson. God sent the clouds 24:42 to get her from where they were to where she is. 24:46 Amen! They would have never become 24:48 Seventh-day Adventists had the Lord not allowed clouds 24:52 to come their way. 24:53 And she said... She went through a list, a retinue of 24:56 things that fell apart in her life. And so somebody said 24:59 "I'm praying for you through your difficulties. " 25:02 She said: "Which ones? " 25:05 But she said "I would never have become... " 25:08 and Danny said to her: "When everything that you trust in 25:10 is no longer there, there's a space for you here at 3ABN. " 25:15 And she came here and worked at 3ABN for five years 25:17 before she became an Adventist. 25:19 'Cause we loved her in. Amen! 25:23 Sometimes you've got to let God be God. 25:26 I don't believe in premature birth. 25:28 It leads to stillbirth. 25:31 God loved her in through the trials of her life. 25:35 But we have to remember that no clouds, no rain; 25:37 no rain, no rainbow; no rainbow, no covenant. 25:41 When we forget God's promises 25:44 He sends the clouds. 25:47 The Bible also reveals another profound truth about God 25:50 and this is going to mess your mind up. 25:51 I'm warning you ahead of time. 25:53 You're going to shake your head 25:55 'cause that's what I did after I read this scripture. 26:00 A profound truth about God 26:03 that many of us have never learned. 26:06 And I'm just saying that because I've been preaching for 31 yrs. 26:10 and for whatever reason this text eluded me. 26:15 At the end of Nahum 1:3 the Bible say, look at this: 26:27 Do you know what that says to me? 26:30 When there's dust in your family 26:34 God is walking by. 26:36 God's in the neighborhood. 26:39 When there's dust in your marriage 26:42 God is in the neighborhood. Come on, somebody. 26:44 Amen! When there's dust in your job 26:47 that you cannot get rid of... Don't get rid of the dust 26:50 because the clouds are the dust of His feet. 26:57 God's passing by. 26:59 It is so good to know that when the clouds and the dust come 27:02 into my life from now on I can have the Blessed Assurance 27:05 that God is in the neighborhood. 27:08 Amen! If there's dust in your church, 27:11 if there are clouds in your mind, 27:13 if there are clouds in your job, 27:15 if there are clouds in your relationship, 27:17 link it to the presence of God 27:20 not the abandonment by God. 27:24 Because so often that's what happens. 27:27 Which leads me to the second point: 27:29 clouds are a confirmation of the presence of God. 27:32 Together: clouds are a what? 27:35 CONFIRMATION of the presence of God. 27:38 They confirm that God is around! 27:40 Look at Exodus 33 verses 9 and 10. 27:42 Some examples... evidence #1: 28:03 He had to shield His glory lest He consume, incinerate Moses. 28:18 "Each man in his tent door. " 28:22 What does that say? 28:24 God sometimes has to bring clouds 28:29 to get us back to the place where we worship Him. 28:36 When they saw the cloud they worshiped Him. 28:39 When they saw the cloud they worshiped Him. 28:43 When there are clouds in our lives 28:45 nothing matters more than our time with God. 28:50 My wife and I... I could tell you stories about my wife and I. 28:52 We've been through some stuff. 28:56 If you've been married more than 20 years you ought to say Amen 28:59 unless one of you is brain dead. 29:03 'Cause when people tell me they don't have trials 29:05 I say "One of you is brain dead. " 29:06 "One of you has been forbidden to talk. " 29:09 We are both New Yorkers... I mean we talk. 29:12 We "tolk" as they say in New York. 29:14 And we get real... we get real. 29:17 We deal with the issues head on. 29:20 And if I'm trying to be evasive she yanks my coat tail. 29:22 If she's trying to be evasive I say: "Where you goin'? " 29:25 "Don't try to avoid it... let's talk about it. " 29:30 God sometimes has to do that. 29:31 Sometimes God has to bring the clouds. 29:33 And notice they didn't sit down and complain 29:36 when the presence of God was there. 29:37 They rose up and they worshiped! 29:40 Nothing can change your attitude about the difficulty 29:43 and the clouds in your life 29:45 better than choosing to worship God when you can't see Him. 29:51 That's what they did. 29:52 They worshiped God when they couldn't see Him. 29:54 When the Israelites were freed from slavery 29:57 another example in Exodus chapter 14 29:59 God used a cloud to protect them 30:02 from the pursuing army of the Egyptians. 30:05 Look at this: Exodus 14 verses 19 and 20. 30:28 Clouds don't stand... God stands. 30:51 Whoo! Now I want to get this. 30:54 Whoo! OK... calm down. 30:57 The cloud was a darkness to the enemy 31:00 but it was light to the children of God. 31:03 Amen! I'm so glad to know that 31:06 when the enemy is pursuing me and I see clouds 31:09 it's not the evidence of him catching up 31:12 it's the evidence of God shutting him down! 31:15 It's the evidence of God blocking because you know what? 31:18 Some of you have had experiences where you can smell 31:21 the sneakers of Satan 31:25 runnin' after you. Come on, now. Amen! 31:27 You can smell him burning rubber 31:29 in his pursuit to catch up to you. 31:31 All of a sudden he runs into a wall called God. 31:34 A cloud between the Egyptians and the Israelites. 31:40 A cloud between us and God. 31:42 Praise Him for that 31:44 because if the devil had unbroken access to us 31:48 he would destroy us at his whim. 31:50 But God knows how to put his brakes on 31:54 when he doesn't stop running after us. 31:56 Can somebody say Amen? Amen! 31:58 I'm convinced that in eternity 32:01 when the rest of the story is revealed 32:02 God will disclose to us... God will disclose to us 32:05 that when clouds appeared in our lives 32:08 they were not a sign of God's disapproval 32:12 but a sign of God's protection. Amen! 32:18 Exodus chapter 14 verse 24, another one. 32:22 When God freed them look at what He did. 32:26 Verse 24 of Exodus 14. 32:39 God just peeked through the clouds at the Egyptians. 32:54 The pulpit is shaking. 33:03 When we are in trouble 33:07 and God steps into the picture 33:11 He transfers the trouble from us - 33:15 listen carefully - 33:17 to the enemy that's pursuing us. 33:24 Did you get that? 33:27 They were troubled 33:29 while the Israelites were having breakfast. 33:34 The enemy was troubled. 33:39 He troubled the army of the Egyptians. 33:50 So I'm learning now to trust God when I can't see Him. 33:55 God cannot reveal Himself 33:59 sometimes in the way we want Him to 34:03 but He always reveals Himself through clouds. 34:08 Because if God revealed Himself without His glory being veiled 34:12 Hebrews 12 and verse 29 says: 34:16 We couldn't handle the presence of God. 34:19 We would cease to exist if God came to us 34:22 without shielding His glory. 34:24 That's why when Moses asked: "Show me Your glory" 34:27 the Lord said to Moses: "You cannot see My face 34:29 for no man can see the face of God and live. " 34:32 So the Lord said to Moses: 34:33 "Why don't you hide behind that little pebble over there? " 34:36 It was a rock to Moses but it was a pebble to somebody 34:39 who created unnumbered galaxies. 34:43 "Hide behind that pebble. 34:46 When I pass by, peek. " 34:50 And he peeked... and just that peek 34:53 made his face light up with such glory 34:56 that his face had to be veiled 34:58 from the power and the presence of God. 35:01 Remember, clouds are a confir- mation of the presence of God. 35:06 The servant of the Lord also revealed to me 35:09 another beautiful thing. Go to Matthew 27:45. 35:12 Look at this: Matthew 27 verse 45. 35:14 At the darkest hour in the life of Jesus 35:18 His Father was there in the clouds. 35:22 Look at Matthew 27 verse 45 35:24 because you know what Jesus said: "My God, My God, 35:28 why hast Thou forsaken Me? " 35:30 And sometimes... The reason why He said that is because 35:33 He was expressing in human terms the way we feel 35:36 in many of our experiences. 35:38 We feel forsaken. Don't we feel forsaken sometimes? 35:41 It's those moments that even 28 or 29 35:44 or 30 fundamentals don't do any difference. 35:47 And so Jesus - the Author of salvation - 35:50 in human form said: "I feel forsaken. " 35:52 But listen, Matthew 27:45: 36:00 But look at this quotation from Desire of Ages. 36:02 Powerful! 36:39 Let me make a point. 36:48 Get this: if the Lord allowed His own Son 36:52 not to be comforted in His moments of trial, 36:55 do not equate that with God abandoning His Son. 37:00 What does that mean to us? 37:02 We have had trials that nothing can comfort us in. 37:06 Come on, now. 37:08 We've had trials that we cried ourselves to sleep. 37:11 We've had trials that we stayed in the house for days 37:14 where we don't want anybody to see our face 37:18 because our face will be a billboard of distrust to God 37:22 because the trials are so great. 37:25 We've seen family members taken away unscheduled 37:28 and don't know what to do with it. 37:29 We said: "God why did You allow this to happen? " 37:32 But God allowed Jesus - His own Son - 37:35 not to be comforted by His presence 37:37 but He was there with His holy angels beside the cross. 37:42 So remember this: the discomfort of our trials 37:47 do not equal the absence of God. 37:50 The discomfort of our trials 37:54 do not equal the absence of God. 37:57 Which brings me to my third point: 37:59 clouds are a preparation for the revelation 38:03 of the glory of God. 38:05 Clouds are a what? Preparation for the? 38:09 revelation of the glory of God. 38:11 I Peter 4:12-13. Look at that very quickly with me. 38:14 I Peter chapter 4 verses 12 to 13. 38:16 This text ought to have been e- mailed to every one of us 38:20 on the day of our birth. 38:21 Look at what it says: 38:24 "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery 38:27 trial which is to try you 38:29 as though some strange thing happened to you. " 38:32 And this, I want to be honest with you, 38:35 I'm getting closer to verse 13 but I'm not all the way there 38:38 yet. "But rejoice to the extent 38:42 that you partake of Christ's suffering. 38:44 That when His glory is revealed 38:47 you may also be glad with... " What kind of joy? 38:51 "exceeding joy. " Sometimes the glory of God 38:55 is revealed through trials. 38:58 Now I'm not yet... I have to confess it... 39:02 sometimes the devil still comes with trials that throw me 39:04 for a loop. Can I get an Amen anywhere? 39:07 I'm not yet at the place where I rejoice 39:09 because I see another trial being delivered to my house. 39:12 I don't say to my wife: "Ooh! New trial! " 39:15 And you don't either. 39:18 But I'm not belittling that. 39:21 But I'm getting closer to the point where I keep saying 39:24 "OK, Lord, You were with me in the last one 39:27 and the one before that 39:30 and the one ten years ago 39:32 and the one fifteen years ago 39:34 and the one when I first started in ministry. 39:37 You were there when they tried to torpedo me out of the 39:39 ministry in '95. 39:41 You were there... " And I keep going back. 39:43 And God says: "Turn to page 2 in your book. " 39:47 You were there, too, 39:50 and because You're the same You're here today. 39:55 Paul in Romans 8 and verse 18 says this: 40:14 In us... IN us! 40:17 Look at this quotation from my favorite book... 40:19 one of my favorites: My Utmost For His Highest 40:22 the devotion of July 29th. 40:24 Oswald Chambers says: 40:48 The greatest blessing is not the glory of God revealed to us. 40:52 Hear me: 40:53 The greatest blessing is the glory of God revealed IN us. 41:00 The challenge with many of us is we focus so much on the cloud 41:04 we forget that God is behind those clouds. Amen. 41:07 Look at I Peter 1:6-7. 41:10 Look at the evidence of that. 41:11 Look at the evidence of that. He says: 41:47 You see, this is powerful because 41:49 when clouds come many of us change our view 41:55 of God. I've heard people say: "It's like the devil 42:00 doesn't exist in some Christian's lives. " 42:03 "Why did God take? Why did God allow? 42:06 Why did God do? Why didn't God? " 42:09 As though God is some kind of dispenser machine 42:14 that we only expect warm water out of. 42:18 And the devil sits around and says: "That's right! 42:20 Talk to God again. " 42:23 But look at Numbers 21:5. 42:26 Look at what happened to the Israelites. 42:27 And we are no different! 42:49 That's why some of us... Anyway, let me not go there. 42:55 Some of us ain't going to eat healthy until unhealthy food 42:58 is no longer around. 43:05 But the focus of this text is complaining against God. 43:08 And the servant of the Lord makes it so beautiful. 43:10 Look at Signs of the Times, December 4, 1884. 43:13 Look at this quotation. Powerful... powerful! 43:15 Relevant! 44:06 Because it's not important to know where the clouds 44:08 are coming from, but it's important 44:10 not to damage God's character. 44:14 Yeah. I believe more people will be Christians 44:17 if it weren't for the stuff we talk about around our family 44:20 tables. Some of our members in our family 44:23 would want to join our church 44:24 if we weren't so down on everything in the church. 44:28 If we didn't talk about the GC president 44:30 and what's happening in our schools. 44:33 And airing our dirty laundry because we didn't feel good 44:36 that day... and Facebook 44:40 and damaging God's character almost irreversibly. 44:44 People hear us talk in certain ways and say: 44:48 "If that's how he or she talks and they claim to know God, 44:52 I am not gonna become what they are 44:56 'cause it's worse than what I am! " 44:59 Look at this quote again. My Utmost for His Highest 45:02 July 29th: 45:21 Is that powerful? 45:25 You see, if you know somebody, no matter what somebody's saying 45:29 to you, you will refuse to damage that person's character 45:32 because you'll say: "I know him! I know her! " 45:35 And right now you know what's going on in Congress. 45:38 I ain't even goin' there. 45:40 But everything happening in America and around the world 45:42 is about character. What more demand is there 45:47 than the character of God to be upheld without damaging it 45:50 among God's people? 45:54 In this hour when character is on trial 45:57 we must be like Job. In Job 13:15 Job said: 46:08 And this quotation continues in My Utmost For His Highest. 46:11 I tell you, it's in my personal devotions that God speaks to me. 46:15 My wife and I, sometimes we pause in our bed 46:18 after reading a devotion. We just look at each other 46:20 and talk about where we came from and pray and thank God 46:23 for where He's leading us. 46:25 Listen to what Oswald Chambers said: 46:45 That means when we don't understand something 46:47 we say: "But that's not God. " 46:49 So what do we know about God? 46:50 Quickly: Isaiah 41 verse 10. 46:52 What do we know about God? 46:54 Here's what Isaiah the prophet said. He says: 47:08 Can we get an Amen? 47:09 Amen! That's what we know about God. 47:11 He says: "I'm with you! " 47:13 "Don't be dismayed... I'm your God. " 47:15 And what other God can you have other than that God? 47:18 Isaiah 43 verse 2, notice what he says: 47:21 When those difficult trials come: 47:38 I've got suits with the smell of smoke on it 47:40 but I'm still here. Amen! 47:45 Thank you, Jesus. 47:50 And I can look through my wardrobe; 47:53 I can turn to bulletins that are still left in my Bible 47:58 and remember God was there. 48:03 And He said to Joshua in Joshua 1:9 48:05 and I like this. He didn't say "Have I not suggested to you. " 48:09 Look at what He said to Joshua: 48:27 Amen! And we know that. 48:32 Every country we touch God is with us. 48:36 We were down in New Guinea 48:38 at an Adventist college in the jungle. 48:41 And I never forgot that because after I did about 13 sermons 48:45 and counseled during the day. A sermon in the morning; 48:47 a sermon in the evening for nine days. 48:50 Maybe 18 or 17... whatever. 48:52 Preached my brains out. 48:53 When I come home people say: "How was your vacation? " 48:55 I just want to hit them with an old pair of sneakers. 49:00 But here we are in the jungle 49:01 and people don't even have money to get food to eat 49:06 were giving people stuff to help them make it from 49:08 their trials one to the other. 49:09 And I remember when we left the campus 49:12 while we were taken back to the airport 49:15 the people that were taking us back 49:17 one of the instructors and the financial manager, he said: 49:21 "I want to tell you about the success of this week. " 49:23 I said: "OK. " He said: "Every time we have 49:27 a week of prayer or any kind of revival 49:30 Satan always manifests himself through somebody. " 49:34 "There's always a display of demon possession 49:37 on this campus because many people among this campus 49:41 some of them are sent by the government, they're not 49:43 Adventists, they're not even Christians. 49:45 They have demon practices in their family. " 49:48 He said: "It is always displayed among every one of these 49:51 weeks of prayer. " But he said: "This is the first time 49:53 it never happened. " 49:56 'Cause my wife and I... we go to bed praying, 49:59 in our Bible. We wake up praying, in our Bibles. 50:02 We don't walk out that door 50:05 before we pray. 50:08 And if nobody else prays for me, my wife 50:11 holds my hand and says: 50:13 "They may have prayed for you but let me pray for you again. " 50:16 And not one event of Satan's displeasure 50:21 was revealed on that campus. 50:23 Which brings me to my last point: 50:26 Clouds are employed by God 50:31 to get us to focus only on Jesus. 50:38 Not on ourselves. Look at Mark chapter 9 verses 7 and 8. 50:43 On the Mount of Transfiguration 50:46 an experience of the revelation of the second coming of Jesus 50:50 the Lord invited three of His closest companions 50:54 Peter, James, and John 50:56 and He said: "Stay awake! " And they couldn't. 51:00 "Stay awake as you struggle with your haystacks. " 51:04 "Stay awake! " And they couldn't. 51:08 And I understand. They couldn't stay awake for Jesus 51:11 so I don't feel bad. 51:14 And when the cloud was there... look at verses 7 and 8 51:18 of Mark 9: 51:55 Now what does this text have to do with anything? 51:59 When the clouds come in your life 52:02 just like it came into their experience 52:06 and they turn around to look to find out what's going on 52:10 I'm praying like they experienced 52:13 that you also when you look around your life 52:17 in the cloudy, un- questionable challenging moments 52:21 of your faith that you see no one but Jesus. 52:26 Did you get that? 52:29 Because if you don't, it's only going to get darker 52:32 until you get to the place 52:34 where there is no one any more but Jesus alone. 52:39 They saw no one but only Jesus. 52:46 And I believe one of the reasons why there are some clouds 52:49 that have to come into the lives of... us, 52:51 many of us... is because we're still looking at everybody else 52:55 when the clouds come. 52:57 We're blaming that person for the cloud and that person 52:59 for the cloud and that set of circumstances for the cloud. 53:03 We don't know that God is sending the cloud 53:05 to get us to look to Jesus. 53:07 "Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. " 53:11 My brothers and my sisters, there's a quote in Ellen White's 53:13 writings. It's not on the screen but I'm going to read it 53:15 very quickly. "The last rays of merciful light... " 53:20 from Christ's Object Lessons page 415 paragraph 5 53:24 "The last rays of merciful light, 53:27 the last message of mercy to be given to the world, 53:31 is a revelation of His character of love. 53:35 The children of God are to manifest His glory 53:38 in their own life and character. 53:41 They are to reveal what the grace of God 53:44 has done for them. " 53:47 And how could that happen? 53:48 Why would you need the grace of God? 53:51 Because the trials of life are coming. 53:55 The difficulties of life are coming. 53:57 And you know what I'm so glad about right now? 53:59 As we're sitting here I am so glad that the Lord has not sent 54:02 me an e-mail saying: "You have 62,000 more trials on the way. " 54:09 I'm glad I don't know how many are coming. 54:12 But I do know this: He will never allow anything 54:15 to be placed on my shoulder that He cannot bear for me. 54:19 Amen! 54:20 Right? So when you are tempted to complain, 54:24 when you are tempted to murmur, 54:26 when you don't understand what's going on 54:29 and it doesn't make sense, 54:31 when you're standing by the bedside of a loved one 54:34 whom the doctors have exhausted their resources 54:37 but there are no answers, when your children 54:40 turn their backs and walk out into the unknown world 54:44 and begin to meander in the maze of corruption, 54:48 when your marriage is challenged, 54:50 your job has just been pulled from under you 54:52 the day before Christmas, 54:54 when your car breaks down on the way to the most important 54:57 event of your life and you get news from the doctor that now 55:02 you have a terminal illness 55:05 and nobody's there to pray for you, 55:09 the pastor forgets to visit you, 55:12 it may be that God just wants you all to Himself 55:17 to talk to you by Himself. 55:22 He wants to draw near to you without any distractions 55:25 like He took Jesus into the garden, into the wilderness, 55:29 into the mountain... just He and His Father 55:34 so that the greatest trial ahead of Him 55:36 He was willing to bear for us. 55:39 So I end with a question: 55:42 first a statement then a question. 55:44 You see, this message is not about the eventual cloud 55:47 that will one day welcome the return of Jesus. 55:51 It is about the frequent clouds 55:54 that daily introduce to us the presence of Jesus. 56:00 Can I say that again? 56:02 It is not about the eventual cloud that will one day reveal 56:05 the return of Jesus 56:07 but it about the frequent clouds 56:10 that reintroduce us to the person of Jesus. 56:17 And I was in the back with Seth and with Ben 56:22 and the Lord gave me a closing statement that made the hair 56:26 on my arms raise my shirt about 4 inches. 56:31 I said: "Lord, how do I end a sermon like this? " 56:35 He said: "This is what you need to say: 56:40 why is Jesus coming back with clouds? " 56:45 "Why is He coming with clouds? " 56:48 "Because He always has! " 56:54 He always has! 56:56 He always has! 56:58 "And He walks with me and He talks with me 57:02 and He tells me that I am His own; 57:04 and the joy we share 57:07 as we tarry there 57:09 none other has ever known. " 57:11 My brothers, my sisters, those watching this program: 57:14 the clouds are coming. 57:15 "Behold, He is coming with clouds 57:18 and every eye will see Him. " 57:20 Keep your eyes on the God who controls the clouds 57:26 and don't become enamored and overshadowed 57:29 by the clouds themselves. |
Revised 2019-03-04