Participants: Pr. Dwight K Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP032908
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01:46 Amen, Lord Jesus, we thank you for this Sabbath today.
01:50 And as we gather to worship as a family, Lord Jesus, 01:53 fill this room with your spirit and your presence. 01:55 Continue to be with us. 01:57 Refresh us, revive us, 01:59 as we worship you today, in Jesus' name. 02:02 Amen. You may be seated. 02:21 It's Sabbath 02:25 And my rest has arrive 02:28 It's Sabbath 02:31 A day God set aside 02:35 It's Sabbath 02:38 It's a Joy and delight 02:42 It's Sabbath 02:49 It's Sabbath 02:52 And my rest has arrived 02:55 It's Sabbath 02:58 A day God set aside 03:02 It's Sabbath 03:05 It's joy and delight 03:09 It's Sabbath 03:14 O Holy God 03:16 O Holy God, this Holy day 03:22 Please purify our lives we pray 03:29 O Holy God, this Holy day 03:36 Please purify our lives we pray 03:42 It's Sabbath 03:45 It's a joy and delight 03:49 It's Sabbath 03:54 Let's sing it again, It's Sabbath 03:56 It's Sabbath 03:59 And my rest has arrived 04:03 It's Sabbath 04:06 A day God set aside 04:09 It's Sabbath 04:12 It's a Joy and delight 04:16 It's Sabbath 04:23 It's Sabbath 04:26 And my rest has arrived 04:29 It's Sabbath 04:32 A day God set aside 04:36 It's Sabbath 04:39 It's a Joy and delight 04:43 It's Sabbath 04:47 And this is off for today 04:48 O Holy God 04:49 O Holy God, this Holy day 04:56 Please purify our lives our pray 05:02 O Holy God, this Holy day 05:09 Please purify our lives our pray 05:16 It's Sabbath 05:19 It's a joy and delight 05:22 It's Sabbath 05:29 It's Sabbath 05:33 It's a Joy and delight 05:37 It's Sabbath 05:50 Over the mountains and the sea 05:53 Your river runs with love for me 05:55 And I will open up my heart 05:59 And let the Healer set me free 06:01 I'm happy to be in the truth 06:04 And I will daily lift my hands 06:07 For I will always sing of 06:10 When Your love came down 06:12 Now sing out the chorus. 06:14 I could sing of your love forever 06:18 I could sing of your love forever 06:19 I could sing of your love forever 06:25 I could sing of your love forever 06:31 I could sing of your love forever 06:46 All together, over 06:48 Over the mountains and the sea 06:50 Your river runs with love for me 06:53 And I will open up my heart 06:56 And let the Healer set me free 06:59 I'm happy to be in the truth 07:02 And I will daily lift my hands 07:05 For I will always sing of 07:07 When Your love came down 07:11 I could sing of your love forever 07:17 I could sing of your love forever 07:22 I could sing of your love forever 07:28 I could sing of your love forever 07:41 Let's sing Amazing grace, with passion in our hearts. 07:44 Amazing grace 07:50 How sweet the sound 07:55 That saved a wretch like me 08:07 I once was lost 08:12 But now am found 08:18 Was blind 08:21 But now I see 08:28 I could sing 08:31 I could sing of your love forever 08:37 I could sing of your love forever 08:43 I could sing of your love forever 08:49 I could sing of your love forever 13:03 We've already been ushered into 13:06 Your very presence, Holy Father. 13:11 With the music, the praise, 13:14 with the bringing of our littlest ones. 13:18 Just a moment longer we stay here in your house. 13:26 May your words speak with clarity. 13:30 Let us understand and what we understand, 13:36 may we integrate it into this business of living. 13:40 We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 13:46 Do you suppose God has a MySpace account? 13:52 I suppose a more logical question is, 13:54 why would He not have a MySpace account? 13:58 200 million human beings meet 14:04 in that little piece of cyberspace. 14:08 One out of every 33 people alive 14:10 on the planet today is in MySpace. 14:16 And if you're mumbling right now to yourself, 14:17 oh, mercy, what is MySpace? 14:19 Don't you dare say a word out loud, 14:21 you'd give away your age. 14:26 This has to be the ages of the ages for cyberspace. 14:32 Let me run some numbers by you. 14:35 Did you know that in February, 14:39 Americans, now these are only Americans, 14:44 made over, no-- made not quite 14:46 ten billion core searches on Google. 14:51 If February had been two more days, 14:53 we'd have gone over 10 billion. 14:54 Did you know that in January, 14:57 according to Nielsen's net ratings, 14:59 the average person in the U.S alone, spent, 15:02 listen to this, 37 hours, 15:04 1 minute and 59 seconds on the internet. 15:08 December, in America, 15:10 we Americans online viewed 10 billion videos. 15:17 We're the most cyberspaced, high-techie generation 15:21 in the history of earth, obviously. 15:24 And we have become, as most of you know, 15:29 the most socially networked generation. 15:32 Hitwise.com describes 55 social networks 15:36 that band the globe, the top, top four being, 15:40 MySpace-- Let me just try something, 15:45 if you have an account on MySpace, 15:47 would you raise your hand? 15:48 Just come on, be proud of it, all right. 15:50 MySpace? All right, good for you. 15:53 Facebook, if you have an account on Facebook, 15:55 some of you have double, look at you. 15:57 Facebook. 15:58 Now according to hitwise.com, these are the top four, 16:01 MyYearBook, any of you ever heard of that one? 16:04 I haven't heard that one. 16:05 How about Bebo, number four? 16:07 It's the number one social network in the U.K. 16:13 Here's a quiz for you, who do you suppose spends 16:15 more time in social networks, 16:19 men or women, males or females? 16:24 Huh? Okay, hold on, hold on. 16:29 Prweekus.com, all right, here's their website here, 16:32 I'm quoting now, "A recent study by the pewinternet, 16:35 an American Life Project determine 16:39 that female teens are the primary Creators 16:42 of web content far outpacing their male peers 16:44 in the areas of blogging, website building 16:47 and creating social network profiles." 16:49 You go girls. 16:53 So here's the question, does God have a MySpace account? 16:56 Do you? I already found out. 16:58 I know what you're asking. 16:59 How about you pastor, do you have one? 17:03 The answer is, I didn't, 17:06 until some young friends of mine 17:07 in the seminary decided to create an account for me. 17:14 I found out about it, somebody tipped me off 17:17 and then I figured out how you get on MySpace 17:19 and I went on to MySpace. 17:20 Sure enough, there I was, 17:21 I don't know where they got my picture. 17:24 And then you know, you have this friends space 17:26 where you list your top friends, 17:27 my two top friends they said are 17:29 Doug Batchelor and Joseph Bates. 17:34 Now I've got to tell you, Doug Batchelor, it's true, 17:36 Doug Batchelor, is a good friend of mine 17:38 but Joseph Bates, was in the class ahead of me 17:40 so I've never really got to know him. 17:44 Does God have a space, 17:48 does God have a place in MySpace? 17:51 Open your Bible with me this morning, 17:53 as we plunge into a new series for a new season 17:57 about a new generation in cyberspace, 18:00 the most high-teched, 18:02 cyberspace savvy generation history. 18:05 We're going to call this series, God's Party. 18:10 Five parts to God's Party, let me tell you about them. 18:13 Today, MySpace, next Sabbath, Facebook, 18:16 Sabbath after that, YouTube YouToo, 18:19 Sabbath after that, Green Google, 18:21 Sabbath after that, 18:22 I think this is a great one to end a year with, Yahoo. 18:26 All right, okay, now I want to, 18:31 I want to give you, right here at the beginning, 18:33 I want us to scribble down 18:36 the bottom line to this brand new series, all right. 18:38 So take out your study guide, let's write it down. 18:41 The bottom line to this brand new series, 18:44 if you didn't get a study guide put your hands up right now, 18:46 we got the friendliest, 18:47 most efficient ushers in the world. 18:49 They're in the balcony, they're up front, 18:51 they're in the middle, just hold your hand up, 18:53 we'll make sure you get a study guide. 18:55 I hope everybody here has one. 18:56 Good, and to those of you who are watching on television, 18:59 we're delighted to have you on the brand new series, 19:01 God's Party, go to our website please. 19:03 You see it on the screen there, www.pmchurch.tv. 19:08 We're looking for the series entitled God's Party 19:11 and today's teaching, MySpace, 19:13 when you see today's teaching, you click on study guide, 19:16 you'll have the same study guide we do 19:18 and we'll be connected through cyberspace together. 19:23 All right, so grab that study guide, 19:25 print it off, do it a real quick. 19:27 By the way, let me just tell you this, 19:29 we have set the study guides up now 19:31 so that you could be sitting here 19:32 and actually doing it, don't you ever do this, 19:34 you could be sitting here doing it on your cell phone. 19:37 We've set it up now so that you can 19:39 actually type into your computer, 19:41 you don't have to run it off and then write it in, 19:43 I don't know how we did it but somebody came asks us, 19:46 if we could do it. 19:47 That was you, Paul. 19:49 By the way nice overplaying today, that was beautiful. 19:52 Yeah, Paul, came to me, Paul Williams, great oboist, 19:55 and he said, hey, Dwight, come on, 19:56 set it up so that we can do it right-- wherever. 19:59 Not here, okay. 20:03 All right, take your new study guide, let's fill it in. 20:05 God's Party, what's the bottom line to God's Party? 20:07 Now that we know the day, let us explore the way. 20:11 Now that we know the day, let us explore the way, 20:14 because the series we just came out of was entitled 20:16 "The Sabbath." 20:18 By the way, Justin, that was a great rendition 20:20 of "The Sabbath" this morning, beautiful piece. 20:23 I can sing that every single week. 20:25 So we just come out of the Sabbath 20:27 and the most logical question for us 20:28 to be asking as third millennials, 20:30 now that we heard about that is, so what? 20:33 Huh? 20:34 So what am I supposed to do with the Sabbath, 20:36 so what's this day for? 24 hours, so what? 20:41 God's Party is the searching -for-the-answer to the, 20:44 so what, question that we rightfully ask. 20:47 So let's get going, open your Bible now 20:49 please to the second book of the Bible. 20:51 One ancient line, two dynamic verses. 20:55 One ancient line, two dynamic verses in the second book, 20:58 that would be the book of Exodus. 21:00 Find Exodus 31, please. You didn't bring a Bible? 21:03 We've got a pew Bible for you, 21:04 it'll be the same translation that I have. 21:07 Here, The New King James, 21:08 which will also be on the screen this morning. 21:10 Exodus 31, just one line, just one line, 21:15 and it's God and Moses having a private conversation together 21:18 and God is doing the talking right now, 21:20 and He's talking about the Sabbath. 21:22 This is dynamite, all right. 21:24 Genesis chapter-- 21:25 I mean Exodus rather, Exodus 31:17, 21:28 "It" the Sabbath, God's speaking, 21:31 "It is a sign between Me 21:34 and the children of Israel forever" 21:36 and hit the pause button right there 21:38 because some of you as soon as you hear that you say, 21:40 ah, I told you, I told you, Dwight, 21:43 that the Sabbath is something between God and Israel. 21:46 I am not a Jew so I-- the Sabbath 21:49 is not applicable to me and my journey. 21:52 Hold it, hold it, hold it. 21:54 You must be very careful with that kind of logic. 21:56 Watch where this logic will take you, 21:57 if you hang on to that logic. 21:59 Do you know with whom God made the new covenant? 22:03 Everybody is clear that new covenant's for Christians, 22:05 new covenant's for the whole world. 22:07 God made the new covenant, isn't that right? 22:08 Everybody is under the new covenant. 22:11 Let me show you something. 22:12 With whom did God make the new covenant? 22:13 Let's go to the New Testament and find out. 22:15 Hebrews 8:8, "Behold, the days are coming, 22:18 says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant." 22:20 With whom? 22:22 "With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." 22:25 Wait a minute, time out, time out. 22:27 I thought the new covenant was for everybody, it is. 22:31 Because when God says Israel, 22:33 He's talking about all His friends 22:35 through out all of history, all over the earth. 22:39 And that, by the way, 22:40 is the truth about the Sabbath. 22:41 It's for everybody. 22:43 From the very beginning, 22:44 in fact, scribble this down, will you? 22:45 "The same people God makes the covenant with 22:47 He gives the Sabbath to 22:49 - 'Israel' represents all his people forever." 22:53 God makes the new covenant with His people, 22:54 that's for whom the Sabbath was created as well. 22:58 All right, so lets go back to that verse now, 23:00 Exodus 31:17, "The Sabbath is a sign 23:02 between Me and all my people forever." 23:06 Somewhere we can read that. Now keep reading. 23:08 "For in six days the Lord made 23:10 the heavens and the earth, 23:12 and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." 23:17 One ancient line, two dynamic verbs, 23:19 write it down verb, dynamic verb number one, 23:22 He was refreshed, well take them reverse order, 23:24 He was refreshed. 23:26 Keep your pen moving 23:27 because the Hebrew verb here for refreshed is "naphash", 23:30 it means to take a breath. 23:33 Which is why, by the way, the New Jerusalem Bible, 23:35 and I put this in the study guide for you, 23:37 the New Jerusalem Bible renders this, 23:39 "but on the seventh day He rested and drew breath." 23:45 Some of us enjoy running. 23:48 And we all know that there are times 23:49 when enjoy is just a euphemism for endure. 23:52 Well, everybody knows that. But be that as it may. 23:55 You know, those of you who are runners, 23:57 when you come back from running, 23:59 a good hard run you come back sweaty, 24:02 you come back smelly, 24:04 and you come back generally spent, isn't that true? 24:07 I do my long runs on Sunday mornings. 24:10 So I go out and do my 10k. 24:12 And when I come back, I have this little ritual, 24:14 I go to the box and I pull out my Sunday paper 24:17 and I go and I sit down on the front step. 24:20 I say I do that-- when you're in spring 24:24 and apparently we're not in spring 24:25 because you can't do that. 24:27 But you go, I sit down, I open up the newspaper, 24:30 I catch my breath and I just chill out. 24:34 That's what naphash means, it means to slow down, 24:37 it means to sit down, it means to catch your breath, 24:39 it means to be refreshed. 24:41 In fact, it has a Hebrew twin, 24:42 watch this, this is fascinating. 24:45 Naphash has a Hebrew twin 24:47 and you see it in your study guide there, 24:48 nephesh, they sound almost alike. 24:51 And what is nephesh mean? A breathing being. 24:55 The very first time this word gets used in all the Bible 24:57 is back in the creation story and I just love this moment. 25:00 So keep your finger right here 25:02 because we're coming quickly back to Exodus 31, 25:04 but let's go back to Genesis chapter 2. 25:08 Creation takes place in Genesis 1 25:09 but Genesis 2 comes along and says, 25:11 "Let me give you a little bit of the details 25:12 behind that creation, 25:14 particularly the creation of the human raise." 25:17 The two first parents of us all. 25:21 Now so this is Genesis 2, page 1 of your pew Bible, 25:25 drop down to verse 7, " 25:26 And the Lord God." 25:27 Now remember from our previous series, 25:29 who is the Lord God? 25:30 That's Christ, that's the preincarnate Christ, 25:31 that's Jesus, the one who becomes Jesus. 25:33 "And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground." 25:39 Now that's a very action, that verb, "formed." 25:42 Hey wait a minute, guys, do you know 25:43 what God could have done? 25:45 I mean He could have just said, "Let there be Adam." 25:49 Wow, not bad. 25:52 Couldn't He have done that? 25:53 He did that with everything else. 25:54 Just spoke the word, "Let there be-- 25:58 But He didn't. 25:59 The only part of the creation, the only moment of creation 26:03 when God becomes personally interactive 26:06 is the creation of the human race. 26:08 And He takes some dust, 26:10 you ever go here to Andrews University, 26:11 you go over to the art department, 26:13 man we got some great artists on this campus. 26:15 And you know what, they take a little bit that dust, 26:17 you put water in it and it becomes clay. 26:19 And you watch those masters work just with their hands. 26:23 They begin to work that clay, that's what God did, 26:25 he began to work, He say, "oh, no four fingers? 26:28 No lets add a fifth." 26:29 And if He had stopped with four, 26:30 we be in trouble, wouldn't we? 26:32 Have a five, five. 26:34 I like those arms here, it's good, good. 26:37 Let's see two ears, one mouth, 26:39 which means we're supposed to listen 26:40 twice as much as we speak. 26:42 The whole point. Two ears, one mouth. 26:45 And then, how does the verse put it? 26:48 "And Lord God formed man." 26:49 Adam, by the way, in the Hebrew, 26:50 Adam, we call him Adam. 26:52 "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 26:55 and He leaned over and breathed into his nostrils, 27:00 the breath of life." 27:01 Picture the incarnate, the preincarnate Christ 27:04 just leaning over and putting His mouth, 27:06 His divine mouth over the nose of Adam and He goes. 27:13 And that whole ribcage goes. 27:21 And Adams eyes opened and ladies and gentlemen, 27:23 when his eyes opened 27:25 who is the first face he's gazing into? 27:29 Straight into the face of his Creator. 27:33 I want to tell you some about parents. 27:35 Because I've been a parent twice over. 27:37 When your baby is sleeping, and you love that baby so much, 27:40 you wish the baby were awake. 27:41 That's the thing about babies, when they're awake, 27:43 you wish they were asleep and when they're asleep, 27:44 you wish they were awake. 27:45 And you know, I don't know how many times 27:47 I've gone in the room and I just wanted to just-- 27:49 I just want to look into that baby's face, 27:50 maybe get a little recognition. 27:52 So I purposely make-- I'm in trouble with Karen 27:54 if I make a lot of noise but I just make a little noise, 27:56 that kind of shake the cradle. 27:57 And there go those eyes. 28:01 Those eyes open and I'm looking down. 28:03 I tell you what, when you're a daddy 28:05 that is one gaze you never forget. 28:08 So the Creator says, yeah. 28:13 And, verse not over, so "He breathed into his nostrils 28:17 the breath of life and man became a," what? 28:20 Man became a living being, ladies and gentlemen 28:22 jot this down in your study guide please 28:23 because that's the word, the first time 28:25 it's used in all of scripture, the word naphash, 28:29 it means, jot it down, 28:31 "the Creator breathed the breath of life into all of us 28:33 and we became alive." 28:35 Oh I like that, we became, did you see that there? 28:37 We became alive. 28:40 King James says, "We became a living soul." 28:43 Alive. Keep your pen moving. 28:48 So what are you saying, Dwight, about naphash and nephesh. 28:51 Well, these two twins, the word naphash 28:53 which is a twin to nephesh, 28:54 carries with it the nuance meaning, 28:56 jot this down, of coming back to life. 29:01 All right, nephesh is when you come to life 29:02 but naphash means coming, breathing again, 29:06 re-freshed, re-souled, as it were, 29:12 you're coming back again, see. 29:15 To be refreshed and that's-- 29:16 would you jot those down please? 29:17 To be refreshed is to be recharged. 29:22 Recharged. 29:25 Have you ever knows that nearly everything we own, 29:26 is this true or what? 29:27 Nearly everything we own is hooked up to a battery charger. 29:32 Have you ever thought about that? 29:33 So I'm hurrying through our house, 29:34 I've said, okay, let me find out 29:36 how many battery chargers do I have in this house? 29:39 And I probably forgot something, 29:41 so if you can tell me, 29:43 you just tell me which it was I forgot. 29:46 Everything is on a battery. 29:47 So I'm going to reach into this little Andrews University bag 29:51 and okay, this is for my digital camera, 29:54 All right, you got to charge your batteries 29:56 for your digital camera, everybody knew that. 29:59 This one is for-- 30:01 Ooh, it's a heavy one, this one-- 30:03 Oh, this is for my Palm Pilot, all right, 30:06 you got to recharge that for sure. 30:09 Oh, cell phone, 30:11 what would you do without the cell phone charger? 30:13 Cell phone, we all know about that one. 30:18 Laptop. 30:20 We got a flashlight, have you ever seen these flashlights? 30:22 You just plug them in the wall, they charge up during the day, 30:24 pull them out use 'em at night. 30:25 Great invention, who thought of that, 30:26 I don't know. 30:29 iPod, I got to charge up my iPod. 30:33 Yeah, you didn't think I even knew about 'em, did you? 30:37 That's why you're laughing. You know, what this one is? 30:43 You can't even brush your teeth anymore without charging up. 30:48 What is this? 30:50 Everything we own and by the way, 30:51 I don't have in this bag, 30:53 I do not have an auto battery charger, 30:56 but if the price of gas keeps going up, 30:58 we're all going to be plugging in our cars every single night. 31:02 Charging the batteries back-up, huh? 31:06 What's up with these chargers? 31:09 Ah, here's the point ladies and gentlemen. 31:12 Fact, would you scribble this down, little Q and A here. 31:14 What is the purpose of a charger? 31:16 What's the purpose of a recharger? Answer. 31:18 To restore the power and the energy of that 31:22 which has become run down. 31:33 That's true of batteries and guess what? 31:35 That is also true of life. 31:38 Could it be, that we were given 31:40 the seventh day Sabbath to recharge 31:43 what's become run down in our lives. 31:48 Exodus 31:17, go back there please, 31:51 where your finger was, the Sabbath God says, 31:54 "is a sign between Me 31:56 and the children of Israel forever. 31:59 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 32:02 and on the seventh day He rested and was recharged." 32:07 He was refreshed. 32:10 Dynamic verb number one, 32:11 there it is refreshed, recharge. 32:13 And I know what you're saying, 32:14 you're saying, but you know something, pastor, 32:16 this is talking about God, this isn't talking about us. 32:20 And you're right. 32:21 But what we don't know is that in fact, 32:25 just a bit earlier in Exodus, 32:27 God used that same thought, to talk about us. 32:30 Go-- just turn back a few pages to Exodus 23 32:34 and take a look at verse 12. 32:35 Exodus 23:12, it's great, 32:42 "Six days," God's speaking here, 32:44 "six days you shall do your work, 32:48 and on the seventh day you shall rest, 32:51 that your ox and your donkey may rest." 32:53 I want to tell you some, hit a pause button right there. 32:55 The brute beast of barnyard are of concern to God. 33:00 He's not concerned about you and me. 33:02 Do you think we're the only thing 33:03 special on this planet to Him? 33:05 Are you kidding? He made the whole system. 33:08 The whole creation is His. He cares about everything. 33:13 So He said, I want to make sure of the animals. 33:15 I want this Sabbath to have a residual effect 33:16 on all the dumb creatures that you have in your purview. 33:24 So He said, six days you should do your work, 33:26 and on the seventh day you shall rest, 33:28 that your ox and your donkey may rest, 33:30 and the son of your female servant 33:32 and the stranger may be, 33:34 there it is, naphash, let them be refreshed. 33:37 Let them be recharged. Jot this down, guys. 33:40 Clearly God intends the celebration 33:41 of the seventh day Sabbath 33:43 to refresh and recharge all in the family 33:46 and community who honor Him on His day. 33:48 It's for everybody, everybody get recharged. 33:53 That's how holistic God is as He thinks about the Sabbath. 33:58 Now here is something, here is a writer, 34:00 James Richard Wibberding, 34:01 has written a delightful book, titled the book 34:03 "Sabbath reflections, a weekly devotional." 34:05 And in the book, in fact, I put it there in your study guide. 34:08 In the book, he makes this very perceptive observation. 34:11 Take a look at this. 34:12 "Energy," see if you agree with this, 34:14 "energy is more precious than time." 34:20 Because he says, "I can't use my time without energy." 34:24 You know, the point he's making? 34:26 In that little ellipsis there, here what he's saying, 34:28 24 hours a day? 34:29 He says, do you understand 34:30 that you spend eight hours of that time sleeping. 34:32 I know, you guys don't but the, you know, 34:34 the ideal eight hours a day. 34:36 We'll talk about sleep next week 34:37 by the way in Facebook. 34:39 He says you know, why do we spend eight hours in sleep? 34:42 That's so that our bodies can reenergize. 34:44 Get the old battery charged up again. 34:45 And then he says, you're going to spend two hours eating. 34:48 Well, give or take. 34:50 But what's the purpose of eating? 34:51 Reenergize, energy again. 34:53 And then he says, you're going to spend 34:54 four more hours in rest. 34:55 And I thought to myself, four more hours in rest. 34:57 Are you kidding? I don't have a four hour nap. 35:00 Every time the heart stops, a little rest. 35:03 He goes up to four hours, 35:04 he says that's 14 hours of reenergizing, 35:07 10 hours for work. 35:08 That's how important energy is to you and me. 35:10 Hey, we couldn't enjoyed time 35:12 if we didn't have energy, could we? 35:13 There will be no point having time, 35:15 you got no way to enjoy. 35:17 That's what he's writing here. 35:19 "Perceptive," keep going on the quotation, 35:21 "perceptive people transform our energy needs into dollars, 35:27 selling everything from energy bars 35:29 to energy drinks to sugar highs 35:30 and, what party thrives without refreshments?" 35:33 And I never thought about that before 35:34 but isn't that, that's the word we use. 35:36 That's why I love to going to parties, 35:38 I mean I enjoy meeting people 35:39 but I love the refreshments even more, why? 35:41 Because that's what fun about a party. 35:43 You got anything to eat. 35:46 Come on, be honest, don't you enjoy refreshments? 35:48 Yeah, we call them refresh, it's kind of reenergize. 35:51 We love it. 35:53 And now here's where I thought he was perceptive. 35:56 "We humans have to recharge or refuel often. 35:59 This energy deficit can be traced 36:02 to human banishment from the tree of life, 36:06 but all is not lost. 36:07 There is something of refreshment." 36:09 Write it down. 36:10 "There is something of refreshment 36:13 still within reach." 36:15 Wibberding, is writing about God's seventh day Sabbath. 36:19 He says, we got a refreshment coming. 36:21 Don't give up on the weak, don't you quit yet, 36:23 refreshment is within reach. 36:26 You know what, ladies and gentlemen, 36:28 what would happen if we shifted the paradigm 36:31 from obligatory observances to recharging refreshment? 36:38 To shift the paradigm. 36:39 You know, the problem with us-- 36:40 oh, it's the Sabbath, I got to do this, 36:44 oh man, I have to, do I? 36:45 Yes, to be faithful to God, you have to do it. 36:48 If the Sabbath is just this awful, drudgery, 36:52 that I'm required to do, well, no wonder it's a bore. 36:55 What if we shifted the paradigm 36:56 and we thought of it as recharging, refreshment. 36:59 You know what, it would become 37:00 the most joyful day of the week. 37:01 Wouldn't it? It's all up here. 37:05 Exodus, go back to 31:17, The Sabbath God says, 37:11 "It is a sign between Me and my friends forever." 37:15 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 37:18 and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed." 37:22 There it is dynamic verb number two. 37:24 There are only two of them, write it down, 37:25 number two, "rested." 37:27 Number two is rested. 37:28 Now interesting on the Hebrew word here, very interesting. 37:31 The Hebrew word here for rest is Shabath, 37:35 from whence comes our word Sabbath or Sabbath. 37:39 But notice a literal meaning of the word, rest. 37:42 It actually means to cease or desist. 37:47 So that when God rested on the Sabbath 37:48 he just ceased what he has been doing the previous six days. 37:51 That explains why I can say God rested. 37:53 I mean do you think that Creator came 37:54 to that seventh day and said, man, guys, 37:56 this is, this was hard work, 37:58 can somebody give us a day off or something right now. 38:01 Can you imagine Him out of breath 38:02 that I got to recharge my batteries. 38:05 Didn't need it at all. 38:07 Do you know what, God gave less than a dozen commands. 38:10 Creation week, that's not going to wear you out. 38:12 And two human sculptures, 38:14 that would take a little bit of time 38:15 but it's not going to wear you out. 38:19 But the word rested means to cease and desist, 38:23 He quit doing what He had been doing 38:26 those six days on the seventh day. 38:30 Right, jot that down, will you? 38:31 When God rested on the Sabbath, 38:33 He simply ceased doing 38:34 what he'd been doing all week long 38:36 and that's why ladies and gentlemen, 38:37 He invites us to do the same in the fourth commandment 38:40 of the Ten Commandments. 38:41 When He's talking about the Seventh day Sabbath 38:42 He says, listen guys, don't work, take a break. 38:44 Give it a rest. Slow down, slow down. 38:50 Cease and desist, 38:52 that's what I did when I made you. 38:54 That's what I want you to do when you come to me. 38:56 Just slow down. 39:00 I'm not against work, God says. 39:02 I've made you to work. 39:04 You're a strong worker, you're a hard worker 39:06 and I'm proud of you for it. 39:07 But there comes a time when you got to cut-- 39:08 you got to stop, just take a break. 39:12 We'll call it my Sabbath. 39:14 You and me, cease and desisted. 39:17 Yeah, but what's the deal about ceasing? 39:19 I mean, what do we have to cease? 39:21 Everybody knows 39:22 that one of the great principles of friendships 39:24 is that you must remove the distractions 39:28 so that you can focus on the relationships. 39:32 Let's put that on the screen, 39:33 you must remove the distractions 39:35 so that you can focus on the relationship. 39:40 Now that it is praying time here in Andrews, 39:41 I know that when I walk in, in the evening 39:42 when I walk in front of Lamps and Hall, 39:44 the women's residence, 39:45 I got to walk looking straight ahead. 39:47 I will not look to my right, to the park benches, 39:49 I will not look to my left, to the parked cars. 39:51 I'll just will look straight ahead. 39:54 You know why? 39:55 Because young adults have figured that out. 39:56 You guys are brilliant, you have figured it out. 39:58 One of the great secrets to relationships 40:00 is you got to cut out the distractions 40:01 so you can focus only on that relationship. 40:04 And some of you guys are so focused, 40:06 I wouldn't want to even interrupt. 40:10 So I just look straight ahead, 40:12 pretend like I didn't see anything. 40:16 Because every friendship needs that, doesn't it, 40:18 you got to cut out the distractions 40:20 so that you can focus on the relationship. 40:22 Hey listen, have you ever been with somebody? 40:25 You don't have to be a young adult for this one. 40:26 Have you ever, have you ever been with somebody? 40:29 And you've been going for five minutes, 40:30 you've been talking. 40:32 And you suddenly realize that person, the body is here, 40:37 I swear the body is right here, 40:39 but that person is a 1,000 miles away. 40:44 How does it feel when that happens? 40:45 How do you feel? 40:47 Don't you feel kind of like a fool? 40:49 I mean, talking and talking and talking and talking. 40:53 You must been talking to the wall. 40:56 You see, you can be physically present. 41:00 You can be physically present in a relationship. 41:03 And you can be emotionally 41:04 and you can be mentally a 1,000 miles away. 41:09 And oh, boy, is that true about God's gift, 41:14 of that seventh day. 41:15 Physically present in a counterfort, 41:17 yes sir, check. 41:20 Mind a million miles away. 41:28 That's why God uses the word Sabbath, 41:30 which not only means to rest, it means to cease, 41:33 because He wants us to cease. 41:35 What is necessary, come on you got to do this, 41:37 this is important, you got to be distracted 41:38 with these priorities over these past six days. 41:40 But what I'm asking you to do is cease, just stop. 41:43 Stop all that good stuff 41:44 and now let's just focus, you and me. 41:46 Let's just focus, you and me together. 41:52 How does He put it here in Exodus 31, write it down. 41:55 "The Sabbath is a sign between Me and you forever, 41:57 the sign of our forever friendship." 42:02 I want to tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, 42:03 the Sabbath is exclusively, 42:05 exclusively about a relationship. 42:08 People think it's about a calendar and some time, 42:10 no, it's about our relationship 42:13 with the Almighty, Creator of the universe. 42:18 And as everybody knows if you want to grow a friendship, 42:21 you unplug the distractions 42:23 so that you can focus on that relationship. 42:26 So hey, guys, remember this little bag down here, 42:28 all these little recharges? 42:31 I'm going to put something practical on the table 42:33 and I want to see how hard you debate me on this one. 42:36 I'm prepared for you to argue, all right. 42:40 Here's what I'm going to suggest. 42:42 What would happen if on the Sabbath, 42:45 on the seventh day Sabbath, 42:46 we unplug them all? 42:52 You say, what are you talking about? 42:54 I'm talking about unplugging the high speed internet. 42:58 Unplugging the cell phone. You're kidding me. 43:02 I'm talking about unplugging the television. 43:06 Unplugging the radio, except for W.A.U.S. 43:11 I'm talking about unplugging the emails. 43:15 Unplugging your MySpace, Facebook account. 43:20 I'm talking about unplugging the newspaper 43:26 and the 24 hour news channels, just unplugged. 43:29 I know what you're thinking. 43:30 What kind of a weirdo, fanatic, have you become, pastor? 43:34 Fair enough. 43:35 Let me tell you, let me just clarify what I mean. 43:38 Because I'm not talking about unplugging from technology. 43:44 I'm talking about unplugging 43:45 from what the technology connects us to. 43:50 See. 43:52 The problem is not with me. 43:54 The problem-- hey, hey, the problem is with all of us. 43:57 We have all become the most connected 44:02 but addicted generation in history. 44:05 Addicted to our 24/7 demand for technology 44:10 and information and it's called glut. 44:13 We never unplug. I don't unplug at night. 44:16 I don't unplug in the day. 44:17 These things are always plugged in. 44:19 I don't know may be our-- may be stock futures, 44:21 there will be a plunge in stock futures. 44:23 May be I'll have an unexpected email bulletin. 44:26 May be a new friend will show up on my MySpace account 44:29 and I got to make sure I'm there. 44:31 So much so that even when we go to church, 44:33 we've got our Blackberries and our cell phones 44:36 and they're vibrating and even beeping 44:38 and we'll pull it out and be obedient 44:40 as little servants and say, 44:41 who might be calling me now? 44:49 God has no MySpace on the Sabbath. 44:54 It's all our space. 44:56 Because all my gadgets are plugged in. 45:00 Bring it on. 45:02 I'll be there in an instant for you. 45:07 Have you noticed at some times 45:08 you can be physically present in a relationship 45:11 and be emotionally and mentally a million miles away? 45:22 Jot this down, will you? 45:24 In the Bible, God calls the Sabbath MyDay. 45:27 And by the way if He were doing the Bible now, 45:29 He'd put the MyDay together, wouldn't He? 45:31 Yep. 45:32 But today, I believe God would surely call 45:34 the Sabbath MySpace. 45:36 Keep your pen moving. 45:38 Six days, God says, hey, listen. 45:39 "Six days I give to you to do your work 45:40 and to grow your networks 45:42 and to utilize you're your technologies 45:43 and please expand your connectivities." 45:45 But the seventh day is the MySpace Sabbath day 45:48 of the Lord your God. 45:50 Keep your pen moving. 45:51 And in the MySpace of my Sabbaths, 45:54 you shall unplug your gadgets 45:56 that you might plug into your God. 46:01 Unplug. 46:04 Guys, this is what's so embarrassing. 46:07 This is totally counter intuitive 46:14 to our high-techie mindset. 46:17 This is it, this is the exact opposite. 46:19 Because what God is saying is, 46:22 you've got to unplug in order to plug in. 46:27 And that's crazy. 46:28 No, no, you got to plug in, God. 46:30 You got this to, hold it hold it, 46:31 you got to plug in. 46:32 No, God says, no, no, no, no. 46:34 You've got to unplug in order to plug in. 46:40 "Be still," Psalm 46, write this down. 46:42 "Be still and know, 46:49 be still and know that I am God." 46:55 I've been your friend from the get go, boy, girl. 46:59 When you were born and your parents did this, 47:03 I was there. 47:04 I have marked you from the beginning. 47:08 I'm only asking for the last day of the week. 47:13 Could you unplug from the other six days 47:16 and come to me on this last one? 47:18 I know you got to study. 47:19 I know you've got those crazy schedules. 47:23 I'll let you live with it. 47:24 But I'm asking you, on the last day, 47:28 the seventh day, would you mind unplugging the week. 47:34 So that is just you and me. 47:38 I know it's counter intuitive to our high-techie way of life 47:41 but that's what God's saying. 47:42 By the way, He's doing it through the Hebrew. 47:44 The intentional placement of the Hebrew, 47:46 the unplugged, cease and desist. 47:49 The unplugged verb comes first 47:52 and after you've unplugged then you refresh, 47:54 then you plug in for recharging. 47:56 The order is correct. 47:58 It seems backwards to our third millennial minds, 48:02 but it's right. 48:03 Unplug, so that you can plug in. 48:07 MySpace, you and me, 24 hours. 48:13 I've given you my life, I'm asking for 24 hours. 48:17 Isn't that great, guys? Isn't that great? 48:19 The Desire of Ages, by the way, comes along 48:21 and it's commenting on this Psalm 46 statement of God. 48:25 You know, I love this line from Desire of Ages, 48:26 "when every other voice is hushed, 48:28 and in quietness we wait before Him, 48:31 the silence of the soul." 48:33 Read with the gadgets turned off. 48:35 "The silence of the soul makes 48:37 more distinct the voice of God." 48:43 Now I'm going to make a statement here. 48:50 I believe, that if we will give God the priority 48:57 His relationship is inviting us to, 49:01 every other relationship in our lives 49:05 will begin to quietly fit together. 49:10 I believe that when Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, 49:12 "Seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 49:16 He means plug into me first. 49:19 And I'll take care of every other relationship you have. 49:24 So at the end of every week, 49:27 I'm going to ask two things unplug and then plug in. 49:35 And I promise you, 49:37 I will recharge every battery you have. 49:44 I want to end with something from the Wall Street journal, 49:46 came out a couple of weeks ago. 49:50 It's written by, Steven Moore, 49:51 who is the economics up head page senior editor. 49:57 Obviously he teaches economy classes in colleges 49:59 because he opens up with a story 50:01 and I'm going to read that one to you right here. 50:03 Steven Moore. 50:07 "A few weeks ago, I gave a talk 50:08 on the state of the economy to a group of college students, 50:12 almost all Barrack Obama enthusiasts. 50:16 "Who were griping about how down-right 50:18 awful things are in America today. 50:23 As they sip their Starbucks latte's 50:25 and adjusted their designer sunglasses, 50:29 they recited their grievances. 50:31 The country is awash in debt, that we will have to pay off. 50:34 The middle class is shrinking, the polar ice caps are melting 50:37 and college is expensive. 50:42 I've been speaking to groups like 50:43 this one for more than 20 years, 50:44 but I have never confronted such universal pessimism 50:49 from a young audience. 50:50 I mean, Its members acted 50:51 as if the hardships of modern life 50:52 are making it nearly impossible for them 50:54 to get out of bed in the morning. 50:58 So I conducted a survey of these grim youngsters. 51:05 How many of you, I asked, own a laptop? 51:10 A cell phone? 51:12 An iPod, a DVD player, a flat-screen digital TV? 51:15 To every question somewhere between two-thirds 51:17 and all of the hands in the room arose. 51:19 They didn't even get my point. 51:20 "Well, duh," one of them scoffed, 51:23 "who doesn't have an iPod these days?" 51:26 I was way too embarrassed to tell them 51:28 that I, for one, don't. 51:32 They thought that living without these products 51:38 would be like going back to prehistoric times." 51:45 Ladies and gentlemen, maybe that's the solution. 51:48 Going back to prehistoric times. 51:51 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth 51:57 and then on the seventh day He was rested and refreshed. 52:03 Do you suppose that's it. 52:06 And if you and I could unplug from our gadgets 52:11 and plug in to our God, His MySpace Sabbath, 52:16 do you suppose this is it? 52:17 His MySpace Sabbath could turn out to be 52:19 the gladdest day of all. 52:25 Oh, God. 52:29 We have made this so complicated. 52:34 We need to shift the paradigm, that's it. 52:35 Just shift the paradigm. 52:38 Get off of this obligatory observance stuff. 52:42 Get into this recharging refreshment joy. 52:47 And so Father, I'm praying for everybody. 52:49 I'm praying for all of us. You know what we need. 52:54 You know what our hearts long for most. 52:58 In your forever friendship that gets plugged into 53:03 and recharged every seventh day. 53:07 May what we truly long for most become best to us. 53:13 Wrapped up in our friendship with you. 53:18 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 53:27 There is an old hymn, 53:28 we're going to sing this on our way out the door. 53:30 382, open up your, your hymnal, 53:32 "O day of resting gladness." 53:34 It's an old, old, old, old, old hymn, 53:38 we're going to change the tune to it. 53:40 You'll recognize the tune when you hear it. 53:42 But you know what, let's just sing this. 53:44 It's just a short little one, three stanzas, 382, 53:46 but lets just sing it out as we stand up together. 53:49 "O day of resting gladness." 53:51 Celebrating the gift of that MySpace. 54:31 O day of rest and gladness 54:35 O day of joy and light 54:39 O balm of care and sadness 54:44 Most beautiful, most bright 54:48 On thee, the high and lowly 54:53 Who bend before the throne 54:58 Sing, holy, holy, holy 55:02 To the Eternal One 55:08 Thou art a part protected 55:13 From storms that round us rise 55:17 A garden intersected 55:22 With streams of Paradise 55:26 Thou art a cooling fountain 55:31 In life's dreary sand 55:36 From thee, like Pisgah's mountain 55:41 We view our promised land 55:48 A day of sweet reflection 55:52 Thou art a day of love 55:57 A day to raise affection 56:02 From earth to things above 56:06 New graces ever gaining 56:11 From this our day of rest 56:16 We seek the rest remaining 56:21 In mansions of the blest 56:33 And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ 56:36 and the love of God 56:38 and the communion of the Holy Spirit 56:40 be with you all. 56:42 Amen. 56:58 I wanted to take one more moment here 56:59 at the end of the telecast to let you know 57:01 how grateful I am for your journey with us, 57:04 with our New Perceptions Ministry. 57:06 You may think that New Perceptions 57:07 is only about television, 57:09 but I need to tell you, we do have a website 57:11 which is more than just the study guide. 57:13 I know we go to the study guide every week 57:15 but if you go to our website, 57:16 let me put the address on the screen again, 57:17 www.pmchurch.tv. 57:22 You'll find at that website a blog. 57:24 I write every Wednesday. 57:25 I sit down with my laptop and write up a blog, 57:27 something as commenting on world events, 57:29 something local, something national. 57:30 You get the blog. 57:32 You want archive, 57:33 previous teachings from here in the Pioneer Pulpit, 57:35 you go to that annotated archive. 57:38 You can pick out a message, it will be sent to you. 57:41 You want to get into the podcast business, 57:44 I am not real high-techie on this 57:46 but if you click podcast, 57:47 you'll be able to connect 57:48 instantly with every new teaching 57:50 that comes from the Pioneer Pulpit. 57:51 The point is, we're trying to connect 57:53 with a generation on the move, on the go. 57:56 Thanks for being a part of it. 57:57 Thanks for your prayer partnership. 57:58 We have got to connect with this generation 58:01 at this time in earth's history. 58:03 And I'm grateful you and I are sharing the mission. 58:05 God bless you, until next time. |
Revised 2015-03-19