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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Brian Hindman Weekend

Brian Hindman

Convicted but Not Converted

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

Give Glory to Him

Well, this weekend, the theme that I have chosen are practical messages that I hope will help us grow closer to Jesus Christ.

And I mentioned last night as well that I love the deep theology and the deep study of prophecy, and that is all well and good.

But I also enjoy and appreciate things that are very useful and practical that I can apply to my life and that will really make a transformative difference.

So that's what I've chosen to present here this weekend.

Last night, convicted but not converted, the importance of true conversion.

Not my will, but God's will be done in every area of my life.

And then this morning, this is a message that I'm 50 years old and I should have understood this when I was 12, but I didn't really get it, so to speak.

And so it's my hope and prayer that all of you here will in some way learn and grow faster than I caught on to this very key essential piece of spiritual growth.

If we really want to grow, you know, Spirit of Prophecy says if we're not growing, then we're really dying.

So there is no such thing as a plateau or just sort of stationary spinning on a stationary bicycle.

So, we want to be growing active Christians.

So, let's just bow our heads for 1 more additional word of prayer and we'll dive into God's Word this morning.

My Father in heaven, it is such a great privilege to be here with so many talented and very intelligent people, both young and old.

Lord, The talent in this room is tremendous and Lord you want all of us to be closer to you and to have a closer walk With you and so I pray this morning that you would just certainly give a fresh Outpouring of your Holy Spirit on me and on each 1 of the people listening this morning, that we would be transformed by the message that you have for us.

May we hear you speaking to us personally this morning is my humble and earnest prayer in Jesus' name, amen.

Some of you have maybe heard of this person whose name is Simeon the Stylite.

Simeon the Stylite, let me go back, push the button too fast, was a monk, Catholic monk, who lived in the 4th and 5th century AD, and he wanted to be pure from the world.

And so his way of being pure from the world was to restrict and isolate himself by climbing up on a pillar, initially a 9 foot tall pillar, so that he could be away from people that just bothered him, or caused him any maybe consternation.

Well, his fame began to grow, and people began to want to see this monk who was so devoted in wanting to be a holy, godly person that he decided to get an even taller pillar.

Even taller, Reportedly as tall as 50 feet high Five-story building so that he could be separated from all the contaminating people in the world.

Sometimes people would come to talk to him and they would climb up a ladder to try to be able to have some communication.

Tell us, what is, what have you learned from being so holy and so separate from everyone else?

It's reported that his own mother came to see him and Simeon would not let her come up on the pillar with him.

Seems like, isn't there a commandment that says, honor your father and your mother?

Well, on 1 occasion, in fact, this is recorded by Edward Gibbon in the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, 1 of the things he liked to do was bow down and touch his head down to his feet in kind of a spiritual exercise.

And someone came to watch and count how many times he did that.

And after 1, 244 times of counting, they gave up.

Because he kept on bowing and touching his head down to his feet and over and over and over again.

Well, after 37 years on the pillar, he died there.

Now, some of you might have questions like I do, like, what about other things that pertain to life?

You know, you'll have to do your own research.

But at any rate, 37 years of isolation and is that really the way that God has called us to live on earth?

I think the answer is probably pretty obvious.

Jesus says in Matthew 5, 14 through 16, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, He says, ye are the light of the world.

A city that is set upon a hill, on a hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.

And it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

And then here comes the charge, the sacred charge that Jesus gives to us.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see how isolated and separated you are from them, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Yes, Jesus says that he is the light of the world in John 8 verse 12.

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

If we follow him, if we're connected to him, we will have a light that comes from that connection that others will see and notice and will be by God's grace attracted to.

And then John 1, verse 9, the very beginning of the gospel of John, Jesus is described as the true light, which lighteth, how many people?

Says lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

So we don't have to wonder or worry if we miss out on that.

Jesus' purpose and plan is for us to shine forth and give light to others around us.

We're all probably familiar with the great commission that Jesus has given to us in Matthew chapter 28.

Also though, in Mark 15, the end of Mark's gospel, which we're studying now for our Sabbath school.

I really enjoyed our Sabbath school class this morning.

Thank you to my young brother for teaching over here, the class that I was in.

But Jesus has given us a commission and Mark 15 verse 16, the Bible says, go ye into how much of the world?

All the world and preach the gospel to every creature, every created being, every person that is.

Well, you know, the world is a big place, but sometimes we can forget that that includes people that are close by, particularly in our sphere of influence, my neighbors, my colleagues at work, pretty much anyone that is around me.

Well, what are some of the excuses that we make for not sharing our faith, not sharing it with other people?

Let me just put up a list here and see if, no, it doesn't like me for some reason.

Our first excuse, I don't know enough information.

I'm just going to be very public and admit these have all in some time or another been excuses that I have given For not sharing my faith and I want you to note There's a Bible verse that responds to each 1 of those excuses 2nd Timothy 2 verse 15 when I used to teach Bible class, this was always the first memory verse I would give to my students on the very beginning of the school year.

And it says, study to show thyself approved unto your pastor, unto your parents.

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing, rightly understanding the word of truth, how it fits and connects together.

So we are counseled to study and we should, but we also should share what we know.

And as we share what we know, we will grow.

Well, witnessing is just not really my thing.

I'm here to tell you that witnessing and sharing our faith is really standard equipment.

If you buy a car, you hope that it comes with tires and a steering wheel.

Sharing and witnessing, I believe, is standard equipment when we come to Jesus Christ automatically.

2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, Well, it's not my thing.

Therefore, if anyone, anyone, any man or woman is in Christ, he or she is a what?

A new creature, old things are passed away.

So then that all things becoming new, really, I believe includes a desire to share Jesus with other people.

We will not be able to help wanting to share with other people.

Well, what if you're too scared and too nervous?

I initially took theology when I was in college at Southern Adventist University.

And after I had to take preaching classes, I was so terrified of public speaking that I literally changed my major to education because I said, I can't preach every week, that'll be too stressful.

I mean, I couldn't sleep at night when I had to prepare for my sermon just for classes.

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Series

Brian Hindman Weekend

The Secret of Spiritual Growth

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