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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

John Shin

The Most Precious Resource

Good morning and happy Sabbath to you all and on the West Coast for me on the East Coast it is 1 p.m.

So happy Sabbath afternoon for those of us on the East Coast.

So it's a real privilege for me to be sharing with you all today.

And again, I think if there's ever a silver lining in this pandemic, and the fact that we have to worship online is that we can join in with people across the miles and worship together, even internationally.

I've had worship services with people in Thailand, the Philippines, and it's been a real blessing in that sense.

And I hope that we maintain some of this online element, even after life returns to a semblance of normal.

So if you would just bow your heads with me, heavenly father, I thank you so much for this opportunity to worship with my brothers and sisters online through Advent Hope and Lord, As I deliver this message, Lord, I want to acknowledge that it's your message and it's not mine.

And so I pray for your Holy Spirit to guide me.

And I pray that as a result of what's discussed today, that people will be more committed to you and will decide to turn their hearts and their lives over to you.

All these things we pray in Jesus name, amen.

So about a month ago Now, my family, we moved here to Maryland, so I could start my fellowship here at the National Cancer Institute, which is 1 of the institutes of the NIH, National Institutes of Health.

But because of the pandemic and what's going on, our transition has been decidedly atypical, most notably because all churches are closed right now and are holding online services like Advent Hope.

We haven't been able to plug in physically with a church community and when it comes to choosing which online service you're going to watch on Sabbath morning, you might as well go with the 1 that you're more familiar with, even if it's not local to you.

The start of my work has also been quite strange because when the first day of my orientation came around, I discovered that everything was going to be virtual and online.

And so my first day of work at the NIH was me sitting in my room in front of a computer attending online orientation.

So that's been a little anticlimactic to say the least.

And, you know, coming to the NIH, I was really looking forward to familiarizing myself with a lot of the resources that they had and meeting lots of people and connecting and all of these things.

But when I first visited the campus, I have to say that it was a ghost town.

I took this picture of the atrium, which is a very well-known area in the clinic center building.

And as you can see, there's pretty much no people there.

And that's because right now the NIH has been really locked down and slowly they're transitioning their staff back.

Currently only the most essential staff are coming in and they are undergoing a phased process to bring more and more workers back, but that's still a long time in coming.

And On top of that, even though Maryland itself is 1 of the few states where the incidence of new COVID-19 cases is decreasing, when you walk around here, you get the sense that people are very afraid.

Just their behaviors and everything, People are very compliant with masking and social distancing and hygiene, but you get the sense that more than out of a sense of duty, it's out of a sense of fear.

So to say that this pandemic has changed all of our lives, I think would be a big understatement.

And I'm sure those of you who are watching would agree.

And then in the midst of this pandemic, there's unfortunately all the social unrest of the past weeks, the racism and the hatred that have been brought to light show us that civilization is literally only skin deep.

And despite all the progress that we think we've made as a society, I think we're all seeing that the human heart is desperately wicked and that you cannot legislate morality.

So given these significant events, I think a lot of people are wondering about end times and Adventists in particular are trying to discern how these events might fit in with Bible prophecy.

After witnessing the toll that this pandemic has taken on our society, I think people are realizing the fragility of the world economy and the possibility that the government could fall and that the rise of anarchy might actually be a real thing in the future.

Even some of my non-Christian friends have commented to me that they think the world is probably going to end soon.

So as a result, a lot of people have decided to stockpile food and fuel and medicine while converting their cash into things like gold and other precious items that they can barter with.

More disconcertingly, I know some people are stocking up on guns and ammunition.

And so as we're all quarantined at home, and everything around us is in flux, and no 1 knows when all of this is going to turn to normal, if it returns to normal, whatever that might look like, Everyone is trying to make sure that they have enough resources to get them through these uncertain times.

Because whatever lies ahead, you want to be prepared, right?

And The question I want to ask is, as Christians, how should we be preparing during this time?

What should we be spending our time doing during this pandemic?

What resource, if any, should we be focused on acquiring?

Because the Bible teaches us that perilous times will indeed come, and perhaps we're seeing the beginnings of it now, but how does the Bible want us to prepare for the trials that lie ahead?

So what if I told you that the Bible specifically identifies a resource that every Christian will need in order to be ready for the end times?

You know, what if I told you that according to the Bible, there will soon come a time when this resource will become unavailable?

Wouldn't you then agree with me that this would be the most precious resource?

Wouldn't you agree that the most important thing we could be doing with our time right now is to be acquiring this resource?

And wouldn't you also want to know what it is, right?

So that's what we're here to talk about today.

What is it that we should be spending our time right now acquiring?

And to answer this question, if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew chapter 25, and we're going to look at verses 1 through 12.

And as you're turning there, I want to put a plug for this booklet.

It's called Steps to Personal Revival by Helmut Holbein.

And many of the concepts that I'm going to share with you today are taken from this booklet.

I've been incredibly blessed by it and I encourage you to read it over several times.

The original writing of this booklet was written in German and then this English translation can be a little bit wooden or awkward at times, but I think the message comes through very powerfully and I'm sure you'll be blessed.

So if you can, I encourage you to get this book?

This is a parable that we're all familiar with, the parable of the 10 virgins.

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Now 5 of them were wise and 5 were foolish.

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them.

But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight a cry was heard, Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him.

Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out.

But the wise answered saying, no, lest there should not be enough for us and you, but go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut.

Afterward the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, assuredly I say to you, I do not know you." Okay, so many many many sermons can be preached on this 1 parable alone But I want to read a quick excerpt from Christ Object Lessons to talk about the meaning of the symbols, which I'm sure are familiar to most of us.

It says, the 2 classes of watchers represent 2 classes who profess to be waiting for their Lord.

They are called virgins because they profess a pure faith.

By the lamps is represented the Word of God.

The psalmist says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

So then the 10 virgins you represent, those who are awaiting Jesus's return.

So in other words, these 10 virgins are Adventists in the purest sense of the term, because they're awaiting the coming, the advent of the Lord.

So I think here is the main point of the parable.

And it's very clear that for this group that doesn't have enough oil, there is no opportunity to get more oil when the need arises.

And as a result of them being unable to acquire this oil, they are unprepared to meet the bridegroom when he comes.

So I would submit to you that this oil represents the most precious resource for the end times.

So the only difference between the 2 classes of virgins was oil, right?

If oil represents the Holy Spirit, then that means the only difference between the foolish and the wise virgins is whether or not they're being led by the Holy Spirit.

In Christ's Object Lessons, page 411, it says, The class represented by the foolish virgins are not hypocrites.

They are attracted to those who believe the truth, but they have not yielded themselves to the Holy Spirit's working.

They have not fallen upon the rock, Christ Jesus, and permitted their old nature to be broken up.

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The Most Precious Resource

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