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South Bay SDA Church

Keeping Focus

Jeremy Arnall

Keeping Focus Part 1

Thank you for the gift, that's really sweet.

I tell you I feel like Keith really deserves it.

You've been without a pastor for a short while and in a transition period whoever's the head elder, it's like oh boy, that's a that's a huge load.

And I know this is a well-led church, and so I know many were bearing some of the brunt.

But I have seen firsthand what your head elder has, or first elder, however you say it, has been caring.

And so, Keith, I want to thank you for your leadership.

And I know the elders have got together and worked up a little gift for him as well.

We're really happy here, I just want to say that.

We've been talking about it at home, how happy we are and how God is so good.

He knows our story and how he wants to write it.

And I'm just glad that we have given him the pen as best we can in each and every day.

It's a reminder, we need to give him the pen, amen?

I want to open your Bibles to Revelation 17.

I want to set the stage for today's message.

That word keep is a word we perhaps need to be reminded of its meaning.

You've heard keep the Sabbath day, right?

And so it's sort of an intensity that I'm trying to say here with this notion of keeping focus because focus of course means that you you know you keep your eyes on the target.

Well when we say keeping focus that's like magnifying, that's like double underlying, that's like saying holy of holies right.

It's keeping focus, We need to guard our focus so that we are not distracted by all the false narratives that are being thrown at us as a people.

Hopefully, this is a familiar text to you.

Now let's just make sure we're on the same page here.

Dragon, if you look earlier in this text, who's the dragon?

So this is Satan, is enraged with the woman.

Jeremiah tells us that he has compared us to a?

A woman to the church, a lovely woman to the church, okay?

So he's the dragon, Satan is upset or enraged with the church, and he goes to make war with the rest of her offspring.

Now remember, we know from verse 7 of chapter 12 that when he goes to war, he has been known to go to war with words, right?

Polemics, polemos, where we get the word polemics, okay?

I don't believe the word's the exact same, but the point is is we know something about Satan's tactics from how he's worked in the past.

So Satan is going to make war with the rest of her offspring, what we sometimes refer to as the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

So if you want to know what this remnant or the remnant of her seed looks like, you look for those who keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 19.10, again, this is perhaps a familiar sequence here, but Revelation 19.10 says, "'I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, see that you do not do that.

I am of your fellow brethren and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Satan is seeking to attack the people of God in these last days.

And he is seeking to do so specifically by attacking the law of God and the Holy Spirit in our life.

Spirit of prophecy, which is 1 of the gifts of the Spirit.

So through spiritualism, are you hearing me?

Through spiritualism and an attempt To change God's law, Satan is seeking to attack the church.

We read in a book called The Great Controversy, which if you're not familiar with, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy.

We can give you 1 today if you don't have that.

But in that book, she says that apostate Protestants, those who have forgot their cause, will be those who are foremost in reaching across the abyss to clasp hands with the beast of Revelation 13, the first part, and with the apostate Protestants, the second beast of Revelation 13.

Spiritualism and the attack on his law, this is Satan's attempt to try to destroy God's people.

Now that second beast is also referred to, we understand that beast referred to America, we understand to the United States, we understand it to refer to apostate Protestants, this branch of faith, but we also recognize it as described in Scripture as a false prophet, A false prophet.

If the gift of God, if the saints are referred to as those who keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus, if that means that the spirit of prophecy is 1 of the identifying characteristics of God's true church, that wouldn't it make sense that false prophets would be the characteristic of Satan's attack?

Jesus said there'll be false prophets in the last days, right?

That means we should expect false prophets, And if we should expect false prophets, that means we should, by implication, expect true prophet, right?

So, before we go any further, we better pray.

That was all intended to be an introduction.

Father, I pray that you would please help us to understand and comprehend the seriousness of the times in which we live.

Help us to take seriously what is in your holy word and your mission for this remnant in these last days.

And I pray, Lord, that you would so establish us in your word that we would find protection there.

Elijah went up against the false prophets of his day, right?

And as we will unpack this later in the series, you will see that indeed, false prophets are establishing narratives today that many, many, even within our own ranks are finding attractive and appealing and are heralding themselves.

Yes, we can celebrate that we have a risen Savior.

Yes, we can celebrate His grace and His mercy that He bestows upon us, but we have been warned, have we not?

We have been warned to be sober, to be alert, to be vigilant, and to make sure that God is in our heart each and every day.

So with that understanding, let's look at our mission, because if we don't understand our mission, we will fail in articulating our message, and we will find ourselves in the camp of Satan.

Revelation 14, verse 6, I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God, give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven, worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs or fountains of waters.

Paul says this in Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 and onward he says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel.

Or how about this from Paul in 2 Timothy 4, verse 2, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, amen?

Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.

Keeping Focus Part 2

My wife and I had no children at the time.

We were at Cleveland, where we were pastoring at Bowman Hills as interns.

And Tina worked that Friday at the hospital and I said, Tina, I'll pack the car and we'll go camping.

She thought it sounded safe and so It was planned.

We had a little Plymouth Neon, and so I started packing the car with all the camping stuff.

And then when it was time to go, she jumped in the car and we headed off, and we were going to spend the weekend camping.

And so it was Friday, and it was, I believe, February.

Now, this was sort of, you know, we were young, footloose, fancy free.

So we decided we're just going to find a camping place.

And so we went over to the Okoi area and went up this spot and discovered that the campground was closed due to the cold weather.

Not to be deterred, we decided we would reroute and we would go to Teleco Plains, which is a little ways up.

Now somewhere en route, I don't exactly remember where, I remembered something I had forgotten.

Now I was in charge of packing, you remember.

And So I remembered that I had forgotten something.

I knew that if I told Tina that I had forgotten this particular item or items, that it might discourage her and we might not go.

And it was Friday and I knew we really didn't have time to go back, so I just pressed on and I remained silent.

When we got to the campground, it was closed as well.

We're looking at the sign, it was 1 of these situations where the headlights were on and we were out of the car looking at the sign that said due to the cold weather, campground or at least the bathrooms were closed.

Somebody drove up, or somehow we discovered that there was a free campground down the hill from this campground.

And so we started to go down this gravel road.

Now, remember, I'm in a little Plymouth Neon.

It's good and dark, and it's good and cold.

And we make our way down there, and sure enough, there's this little camping area.

There was a horse trailer and some people camping on the other side.

Now, we had come prepared because we had bark collars for our dogs because we didn't want to disturb the campers around us.

We find a spot, it's right next to the cold mountain stream, and we set up camp.

And it was at this time that I thought it's probably a good time to mention to her what I failed to bring.

And so I told Tina, I said, Tina, I need to tell you that I forgot the sleeping bags.

And that, just to put it this way, didn't go over too well.

She was in her nursing uniform still and she said, well just, just give me a minute, you know.

And I thought that wise and so I said, I'll set up the tent.

And so I said, why don't you turn on the headlights and I'll see what I'm doing that way and I'll just set it up real quick while you get changed.

And she said, don't you think you should turn on the car?

You know, well, just turn on the headlights.

I'll be so fast, we don't have to worry about the battery dying.

So she starts to change inside the car while I'm setting up camp in a hurried fashion and I don't remember if I got the tent up at all before the lights started to go dim.

And so I rushed to the car and I turn on turn off the lights try to turn on the car and to no avail We are now by a cold mountain stream without sleeping bags, without headlights, and I'm not sure if she was even changed yet.

We're not in the mood to get a fire going because it's late and it's cold.

So if I remember right, we ate cold hamburgers.

I don't know what it was, but we ate something by the stream.

Oh, and the bark collars, did I mention that they didn't seem to be working at all.

We went and asked the neighbors if they knew anything about it.

And he says, well, we can call AAA in the morning.

And we did have some dog blankets, because in this Plymouth Neon, we did put some dog blankets, because we had a little Shih Tzu and a golden retriever, and we didn't want to mess up the neon, so we took these dog blankets from the backseat and we tried to cover up with these 2 smelly blankets.

And she did too, I believe, but then around 11.30, I guess it was, she woke up and was cold and moved around or something and woke me up.

And I forget what I said, she could tell you, but just as well we'll leave it at that.

And she just said, I'm just going to get in the car.

I tried to dissuade her from doing that, but she insisted.

And of course, the bark collars aren't working, which we later found out we didn't think about the batteries.

And so I get in the car with her and I said, you want to hold Dudley, our little shih tzu?

And she said no, and so we finally got to sleep with the dogs in the car and ourselves, and a little Plymouth Neon.

The next morning, we woke up, somebody did come through, and it was so cold that night that the dog had icicles when it jumped in the creek.

We only stayed 1 night at that campground, and we went and spent the weekend with my parents.

It is so important that we be adequately prepared.

And if you're like me, you may be on a course that you don't want to have interfered with.

You know, you don't want to interrupt a good time.

You reason with yourself that it'll be okay.

And talk as you may, self-talk, whatever, you just as well could be end up in the same predicament that we were.

We are living in a time in which many are saying, don't worry, it's going to be okay.

And it will be if the voice that says that to you is Jesus.

But if you are listening to others who are teaching a false gospel, then you will be rudely awakened, as was my wife.

Dear Lord, I pray that you speak to us this morning as we open your word.

Keeping Focus Part 3

It was supposed to be a party, and I guess it was.

But it was a small party, and it was a good party.

My wife and I, and I believe our 2 boys, yes, our 2 boys, were in attendance for this small gathering and maybe a party is putting it wrong but anyway it was a small gathering at someone's home.

Now they weren't of the same faith as us and I'm not sure if they really went to church often and that's so be it But we were glad to be there.

We were trying to let our light shine, so to speak, and just have a nice visit.

While we were waiting for, I believe it was a lunch we were there for, we were visiting in the dining room.

And I noticed that there was some hors d'oeuvres or whatever and so I helped myself and then discovered that, I don't know, there was some kind of a, anyway, I discovered something and so then I realized, well, there's some lemonade.

And I went over to get the little punch cup and have some lemonade.

And when I drank the lemonade, well, I didn't drink the whole thing, praise the Lord, I had the strangest flavor, a flavor I had never had before.

And I took a little bit of it, and I just didn't know, you know, It wasn't my lemonade, so I thought, well, I'll just, whatever.

And so somebody came over in horror and said, oh, pastor, that has vodka in it.

Oh, I was horror stricken, and yet I couldn't demonstrate that.

And let me ask you a simple obvious question, hopefully.

Now, I tell you that little anecdote because of that simple conclusion.

Because I don't want to, I think that was the first time I'd ever had any, and hopefully the last.

But I didn't finish the glass or the cup because I had made a decision in my heart, you follow?

That I would never take alcohol into my system.

I hope that's everyone's commitment, especially young people, I hope that's your commitment, that you've already made that decision in your heart because what you choose now will determine how you respond later.

I want to try to finish a little bit of what we started last week regarding the wine of Babylon.

And I want you just to keep that little principle that we established here at the beginning in your minds that I have chosen, Right?

I have chosen in my heart that I will not take of the wine.

Lord, as we continue in this series, I pray that your Holy Spirit will guide us, that you'll take my lips and my heart and everything and hide it behind you.

I am not worthy, I don't feel adequate, but I know that you are more than capable and so I ask that through the power of your presence and your ministry through the Holy Spirit that we will see Jesus collectively and that we will find ourselves resolute like the 3 worthies on the plain of Dora, that we will not, We will not by your power and your grace bow.

Okay, so we're in a series called Keeping Focus.

Again, the notion of keeping focus is that, I gotta put these down, Keeping focus is the notion that we are guarding our focus, just like we keep the Sabbath day holy, we are guarding our focus so that we will not become distracted or persuaded by the things of the Antichrist power of Babylon.

And what are we doing to help protect ourselves?

We are lifting up the 3 angels' messages, messages that we have been tasked with sharing with the world.

We find that commission there in Revelation 10, verse 11, and at the story of our history concludes there as a remnant at the birth of our movement, we find that, go again and prophesy again to many nations, tribes, tongues, and people.

And we find in verse 6 of Revelation, chapter 14, that we are to speak to every nation, tribe, and tongue, and people with the everlasting gospel, and that gospel is found in the first angel there in verse 7.

Fear God, give glory to him, and worship him because the hour of his judgment is here.

And I know I've gone over this, I'm just gonna rehearse it 1 more time, or I won't promise it will be the last time because repetition deepens impression.

That first angel, fear God, we find in Genesis chapter 22, the story of Abraham and when he feared the Lord, it said he feared the Lord and so the Lord took his hand, the angel took his hand and he did not slay his son.

But the angel now, God now saw that Abraham feared the Lord because he was willing to give his best, even his only son, because God asked for him.

And so we are to, in order to fear God, give God our best.

We find again looking at the story of Abraham.

Now there in Romans chapter 4 we find in verse 20 there we find that Abraham gave God glory.

Because he took the promises of God and he attributed it as real, okay?

Even though he and Sarah were practically dead, reproductively speaking, he took God's promise and he acted on that promise and God blessed his faith and he experienced the glory of God.

So that's how we give God glory and of course we noted that with worship, 1 of the highest forms of worship is when we simply obey what God has called us to do.

You see that indeed Satan recognizes this because in the Revelation 13 obedience is what is declared as worship when it comes to worshiping the mark of the beast or taking the mark of the beast.

Well, in this case, with Satan's style of worship, it's about force, it's about coercion, just like on the plane of Dura.

We won't let you buy or sell, or else you'll lose your life.

Jesus, he invites us, he woos us to fear God, give him glory, and worship him because the hour of his judgment has come.

And we understand that his judgment has come based on the prophecy of Daniel 8, 14, the story, the prophecy that was at the center of our emergence as a people.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church was birthed out of that great disappointment, which was the result of a misunderstanding of Revelation, of Daniel 8 14.

And now that we have come back to that prophecy and we study that prophecy and we realize, oh wait a minute, the sanctuary on earth was a type of the sanctuary in heaven.

So Jesus went from the holy place to the most holy place, which he only did 1 day of the year, which was the day of atonement.

And on that day of atonement, it was as if it was a time of judgment for God's people.

It was called the cleansing of the sanctuary.

But if you hadn't put your sins in the sanctuary, guess what?

When the sanctuary was cleansed, you're left dirty because your sins are still with you instead of putting them in the sanctuary.

If you put all your sins in the sanctuary by faith today, you can know that you can look forward to the judgment hour.

We noted that the second angel says, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

She makes all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

We noted that Babel began way back in Genesis 11.

It was all on the premise of trying to save oneself.

It was based on the premise of denying the Word of God which said, when you see the rainbow in the sky be reminded that I will never destroy the earth with a flood again.

And what is the Tower of Babel, the Babylonians do, if you will?

They take God's promise and they ignore it.

Instead, they say, we'll build a tower that is so tall that if the earth should be covered with a flood again, we will be preserved because we'll just get on the top floor.

But most of our ideas, when it comes to us trying to save ourselves sound just like that, foolish.

And so that was the principle of the original Tower of Babel.

Of course confusion resulted, they began to bicker when God confused the languages, and because of their bickering and discord, they spread out and they scattered over the whole earth.

We go to Babylon number 2, the time of Daniel, in the book of Daniel, and we find that in there we see several similarities with regards to the story of Babylon or Babel as we're trying to understand it here in the second angel.

Keep Focus Part 4

Revelation 12 17 says that the last days the dragon would go after God's people, the remnant of her seed is how it states it.

It says that he would go after the remnant of our seed, those who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus, or the testimony of Jesus.

Series

Keeping Focus

Keeping Focus Part 5

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

ECYC 2012: Plenary Sessions

Messenger Without a Message

1h

Leadership in an Immoral World: Inescapable Culpability

42m

Evening Plenary

02 The Power of One

1h 7m

Mystery of God Finished

45m

Plenary Sessions

Full Circle: Gratitude in Surrender

1h 18m

Twin Cities

Eavesdropping on Enoch

48m

Look Up and Live

Justice for God

41m

The Power of Temperance

1h 6m

There is Hope

Dressed for the Occasion

54m

The Big Questions (Evening Meetings)

10. The Reformation Will Not Be Televised

2h 6m

Plenaries with Norman McNulty

The Mystery of God Finished

48m

There is Hope

Coming and Going

52m

Sound Doctrine