Christian Praise & Worship
would just give them a truly wonderful experience wherever they are so be with us now tune our hearts and our voices we pray amen any other visitors I see a young lady there at the back if you give us a wave yes you you’re regular and I haven’t oh I’ve got to come and talk sorry okay I’ve got to come and speak to you because sorry I haven’t seen you so to regular visitor at the back and your name Myra oh lovely my my my son my eldest son used to have a child minder called Myra so I won’t forget your name Myra let us open our worship experience with the hymn number six oh Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness hymn number six [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness bow down before him his glory Glory Proclaim with God of obedience and in sense of loneliness KN and adore him the Lord is his name low At His Feet lay thy burden all carefulness are your he heart he will bear Rich for thee Comfort thy sorrow and answer thy prayerfulness guide in thy steps has May best for thee be F not to when to his courts in the SL tness of the poor well the W [Music] Recon truth in its beauty and love in its tenderness these are the offerings to lay on his Shrine these so we bring them in trembling and fearfulness he will accept for the name that is GI mornings of Joy give for reement of tearfulness trust for our trembling and hopeful of faith [Music] amen hymn number 92 92 sorry hym number 88 then 92 88 I sing the mighty power of [Music] God I sing the mighty par God that makes the mountains rise that spread the flow with Seas abroad and build the L his SK I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to Rule the Day the moonshines full at his Comm and all the stars are I sing the goodness of the Lord that fill the Earth with fruit he formed the creatures with his word and then pronounce them good Lord how thy wonders are this late whereever I turn my eye if I survey the ground I tread oh Gaz upon the sky there’s not a plant of flow below that makes thy glor known and clouds arise and Tempest Flow by order from thy Throne reaches that borrow life from thee are subject to thy care there’s not a place where we can flee but God is present there thank you for your beautiful singing good morning and happy Sabbath welcome to Sabbath school at Hamstead 7th Adventist Church and to our regular members to my sister Yana from colindale um and two regular visitors I’ve forgotten your names poor memory welcome to Hamstead once again can I ask you to stand for our opening prayer after which remain standing for hymn number 388 don’t forget the Sabbath please stand dear heavenly father our creator our sustainer and Our Redeemer you alone are worthy to be worshiped we thank you Lord for taking us through the week bringing us here safely to your house on your day we’re thankful Lord that we can meet with each other and express our praise our thanks to you we thank you Lord for health we thank you for your Providence your preservation and your protection Lord we pray Lord that everything that is said and done throughout this day throughout these holy hours will be to your approval and that your name will be blessed your people will be blessed for Christ’s sake amen H number 388 please remain standing don’t forget the Sabbath after which my brother Steve Nelson will be taking a lesson study entitled the foundation of God’s [Music] government don’t forget the SA Earth the Lord Our God has blessed for the weak the brightest of all the weak the best it brings Repose from neor it tells of Joy Divine his whs of light descended with Heavenly Beauty Shine welcome welcome ever well blessed of day welcome welome for welcome bless said sabath day keep the Sabbath holy and worship him today who said to his disciples I am the living way and if we Meely for Our Savior here we know he’ll give us off the fountain his dreams Eternal flow welcome welcome ever welcome blessed Sabbath day welcome welcome ever welome blessed saath day day of sacred bre meure his golden eyes will spend in thankful hyms to Jesus our children’s deest friend oh gentle love and savior how good and kind I want how precious is I promise to dwell in every heart welcome welcome welome blessed Sabbath day welcome welcome welcome blessed sabath day amen please be seated thank you for singing so beautifully thank you Nathaniel and I’ll help you over to Brother Steve who will facilitate our lesson discussion for today good morning and happy Sabbath Hamstead and just like to welcome that same welcome to you all and um welcome to those who are joining us online as well I trust and hope that you have studied your lesson throughout the past week on our prepare to share our lesson this week is lesson number nine and it is entitled the foundation of God’s law now before we begin our lesson study let us have a quick word of prayer Eternal Father God in heaven once more dear Lord I humbly bow in your holy presence Lord I ask that you will forgive me of my many sins and I ask Lord that you will send your Holy Spirit to be with us to be with me lead us dear Lord in our discussion and help Lord that as we discuss the lesson which we have studied throughout the past week that more light and truth will be ours bless us oh Lord to this I pray with much Thanksgiving and with the Forgiveness of all of our sins I ask in Jesus name amen so let let us begin our memory text is taken to us from Revelation 12 and verse 17 Revelation 12 and verse1 17 and I will read that for you and the dragon was enranged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her Offspring who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ and in the Sabbath afternoon there is said through intensive Bible study Adventists came to understand the significance of the law in the most holy place of the Heavenly Sanctuary looking unto the looking into the heart of God’s law they also discover the significance of the Sabbath the fourth Commandment in fact this commandment more than any other clearly identifies God God as our creator the foundation of all true worship a theme that will be especially especially relevant in the final days of Earth’s history he goes on to say Satan aims Satan aim from the beginning has been to thwart the worship of God through undermining the law of God he knows that to offend in one part means to be guilty of all as seen in James 2:10 which says for whosoever Keeps the whole law and yet stumble at just at just one point is guilty of breaking all of them so he encourages people to transgress God’s law Satan hates the Sabbath because it reminds people of the Creator and how he is to be worshiped but it also is ined in God’s law in the most holy place of the Heavenly Sanctuary because the law is what defines sin as long as people seek to be faithful to God then his law must continue to be valid including the Sabbath commandments so moving on into Sunday as Sabbath afternoon it teaches us that Satan have an intention right from the start and his intention really having a look on the whole lesson is about worship but he tries to he tries to gain our worship from misleading us and to as a lesson in my understanding um use God’s creation and T and to mislead and misguide us to confuse us to give him the worship that belongs to God now in Sunday’s lesson is entitled the sanctuary and the law in here we see um the lesson pointing us back to the day of atonement but before we begin discussing this let us just ask ourselves the question what was the ark of the covenant that um sorry what was the ark of the covenant sorry what was in the Ark of the Covenant is the question I want to ask what was in the Ark of the Covenant what was the um day of atonement how often um um was the day of atonement take place and who was included or invited to take part into the day of atonement do we understand all this and know what the answers to these questions are what to begin with was in the Ark of the Covenant the lesson begins here because there is something in the Ark of the Covenant which as the lesson states that the the early 7day Adventists um the early 7day Adventist recognized that this here is um pointing to the the um the 7 Day Adventist Doctrine and that the really what was here in um attacked is this the Sabbath so we want to begin by looking at these questions I see a hand over there the Ark of the Covenant um The Commandments within the Ark of the Covenant yes um the day of atment was yearly and I don’t know what was the last question um so so um who was invited to take part in theiron um the Israelites Israelite born to take part in the day of atonement okay so what link do we see um with the ark with the law in the Ark of the Covenant now okay let’s carry on we might get to that shortly say the day of atonement was a um a day of judgment all of Israel all of Israel was commanded to take part in this event by repentance of soul searching and reforming from all works see Leviticus 23 and um verse 29 to 31 I won’t read all of that but he says that 29 said that those who do not deny thems on that day must be cut off from their people in verse 30 I will destroy from among their people anyone who does not anyone who does any work on that day and verse 31 now you shall do no work at all this is to be a lasting ordinance in the generation to come wherever you live and so in Leviticus I stop at 31 on this day alone the high priest would enter the most holy place to make atonement for sin there is in the most holy part of the sanctuary was the Ark of the Covenant wherein the Ark of God the Ten Commandments law written and tablets of stone and it goes on to say the golden covering of the Ark was called The Mercy Seat where blood was sprinkled to cleanse the sanctuary from sin God’s presence was manifest in shakina glory above the mercy seats every sacrifice offered revealed God’s mercy toward sinful human being but the day of atonement shows that sin is remembered until the day of judgment seen in Hebrew 10 and verse 3 so in the Ark of the Covenant was the was the law and the lesson teaches us that some of the things that is coming up from the lesson is that God’s law is as we can see in um which which day this is um Monday God’s law the the immutability of God’s law which means to say his law stands forever but some will teach us that Jesus changed some things and we know no longer need to worship we no longer need to keep the Sabbath so at the core of it we can see that what’s really on is being attacked here is the fourth Commandment now Jesus there is a part in the Bible where Jesus says that he did not come to change he said think not that I have come to change the law and the prophet now tell me something did Jesus not change anything and if he did what did he change sorry I didn’t hear that could um could we um use the mic please there are others who are okay we’ll give you a chance to speak on the mic in a minute um he done away with the sacrifices because he was the ultimate sacrifice so there was no need to um you know um shed animals blood and everything like that because he was the sacrifice so that was done away with okay so he changed the sacrificial system because he was the the lamb slain on the cross and there was no need for us to slay Lambs in the cross um in the sacrificial system anymore and is that what you were saying Brother Moore okay and that we see in Matthew 5:1 17-18 he saido not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to what 1 minute but to fulfill them verse 184 truly I tell you until heaven and Earth disappear not the smallest letter not the least stroke of a pen will by any means um not fulfilled and I’m reading from the um NIV version here so you might be looking at your King James version which is slightly um differently worded and so we see here that Jesus indeed um put an end to the sacrificial system but what did he not put an end to what did Jesus not put an end to is that did he put an end to to um to the moral law did he put an end to any of the the the law seen in the Ten Commandments let us stay together here did Jesus put an end to any of the law seen in the Ten Commandments no he didn’t so in Exodus 34 Verse uh 5- 7 I’ll read this it says here the law of the Lord is perfect refreshing the soul one of the things that we see about God’s law is that whatever God says about whatever he says in his law that we see and find that he is and so if God’s law say said thou shall not kill it means that God is a preserver of life and when we ourself observe his law we become that which God is we too will become preserver of Life of life and the same if he says Thou shalt not steal it mean th shall not steal okay let’s use the word steal it means that God also is someone who is of Truth and honesty and does not steal and when we ourself obey his law we to become that let us have a look in in um this scripture Romans sorry Psalms 19: 7 and 11 and see those principle reflecting he says the law of the Lord is perfect refreshing the soul and so because of because God’s law is perfect it refreshes the soul the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple and so we see here what does God’s law does here it says it making the simple to become wise and verse 8 it says the precepts of the Lord are right giving Joy to the heart and so when we keep God’s law it also gives joy to our heart and says here the Commandments of the Lord are radiant giving light to the eye and then verse n the fear of the Lord let me just look furthermore verse 9 for the fear of the Lord is pure enduring forever and this is where I would like to make another Point what does he says here the fear of the Lord in endures forever you see God’s law is it says here it endures forever God’s law is eternal as it teach us in the Bible that God is from Everlasting to Everlasting and so whatever God does is the same because his law is a reflection of his character and so whatever God does he does it with an intent to be forever and so his law also is forever and therefore how then can we believe or allow others to to to convince us that the Sabbath the fourth Commandment is done away with and that we no longer need to worship and to keep the Sabbath and so we can see there that this is um an attack from the devil to cause us to to distrust God let us also look in Romans 7 and verse 11 Romans 7 verse 11 for sin seizing the opportunity afforded by The Commandments deceive me and through the Commandments put me to death so then the law is Holy and the Commandments is Holy righteous and good let us also look in um Psalms 10 sorry Psalms 19: 7-1 Psalms 19 verse 7 to 11 the La of the Lord is perfect refreshing the soul sorry we read that just now so let’s go to 89:14 Psalms 89 and verse 14 righteousness and Justice are the foundation of your throne love and faithfulness go before you and it says here sin is the law of God since the law of God sorry since the law of God is a transcript of his character the foundation of his throne and the moral basis of humanity Satan hates it none could fail to see that if the Earthly centy was a figure or pattern of the Heavenly the law disp posited in the ark on Earth was an exact transcript of the law in the Ark in heaven and that an acceptance of the true concerning the Heavenly Sanctuary involved an acknowledgement of the claims of God’s law and the obligation of the Sabbath and of the fourth Commandment here was the secret of the bitter and determined opposition I to the harmonious exposition of the scripture that reveal the ministration of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary seen in the great controversy page 435 so now let us have a look on Tuesday’s lesson it says that the Sabbath and the law let us read read Revelation 14: 7 and 6 it says remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God and it Thou shalt not do any work neither you nor your son or your daughters nor your male female nor your um male or female servant nor your animals and I stopped there it it speaks so let me just ask a question here how does the the law seen in creation or the Sabbath seen in creation in the lesson here is is is um creation speak of our value in God’s sight we are not alone in the universe some spec of cosmic dust nor are we a genetic accident in other words the common scientific scenario of Life origin Origins which has been picked up by the news Medias and uh popular culture present a view of our Origins that is in every way incompatible with the biblical account so I ask you a question again yes brother Oliver I I I’m an Adventist and I believe in the fourth Commandment but I’ve been asked why does it matter which day I keep the Sabbath so long as I keep a Sabbath how do Adventists answer that so the question is asked why is it matter we keep the now I’ve been told that it’s important to keep the Sabbath but it doesn’t matter which day you keep as long as you keep a Sabbath okay does it matter which day we keep the Sabbath as long as we keep the Sabbath is a question being asked does anybody want to answer that question uh no lab we get that commandment from God sorry say it again sister Watson I said s the Lord said six days shalt thou labor and do all thy Work and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord amen so Oliver’s question was does it matter which day we keep the Sabbath and I would like for us to answer that question does it matter which day we keep the law why okay please use the mic I don’t know which car is the most expensive car long time whether it’s Jaguar what of you but those are the people who manufacture these cars they said to bring it in after so much time you going to get a checkup God is our creator he knows how he made us and everything about us and if he has said to us rest on the 7th day he knows uh what what is good for us and he’s the one who says every seven days we get together to worship he’s the Creator so it’s not that you you go on Monday he say 1 2 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 stop and we want to say 1 2 3 4 whatever is do our own thing I made an effort don’t know that God created us he said 1 2 3 4 5 6 stop he’s God he didn’t we have to follow him if he’s our creator he our brother okay [Music] good morning happy Sabbath I think what Oliver is trying to establish and ask if our whole week should be like a Sabbath right because some people try to create this sabath sacredness only for that particular day yes we know it’s the seventh day yes we know what to do what not to do however in my understanding all our week should be like a relation like a Sabbath that building that building and strengthening relationship with God is this what you are trying to establish okay what was that what is the purpose of Sabbath just arrest a physical rest from the working week my next question is on the floor people what’s the purpose for the Sabbath okay I hear we can do that any day yeah but well the Sabbath is a day of rest a rest day that we cease all work and commune with our fellow men and with our savior that’s how I see it maybe people see differently than me okay the Sabbath is a spiritual rest a physical rest and time to meet your fellow brothers and sisters that’s what the Sabbath is because you’re busy working you do Sunday no because the conversation there because God didn’t ask you to meet on a Sunday he asked you to meet on Sabbath what’s the conversation there you don’t give him your own what you want to do you do what he’s asked you to do okay so all right let me ask a question how it says here um how do we see the relevance in keeping the Sabbath in in in um creation yes Oliver just a quick one are we saying that for those who meet on a Sunday God doesn’t meet with them and he only meets his people on a Saturday is that what we’re saying here no we’re not saying that because all I’m hearing is that the Saturday is a day to rest physically so I can rest any day and that we come to commune with our creator so what happens to those or the bulk of Christians who worship on a Sunday God ignores them well and someone’s telling me that they’re not meeting with God because he meets on a Saturday they’re meeting with a second God that’s what I’m hearing well did anyone want to answer that question further than um what um malvia has given does God not meet with those who decide to meet on a Sunday um Sandra would like Oliver sister Sandra would like to S Sandra would you like to speak I I personally I think that um God does God meets um PE God knows our heart he knows the desires of our heart and I do I truly believe that he meets people because he knows their heart and he loves everyone but with us obviously he’s asked us to worship him on the Sabbath okay now God wings when he when other people don’t know but he’s a loving God he’s a he’s a God who understands and he I believe that God knows everyone’s heart and he meets people where they are so I don’t think that if like say for instance my mom she’s a she’s a um Catholic if Mommy goes to church I’m not say we’re not saying that God’s not going to be with Mommy there because he knows her heart you understand yeah okay let us let us um have a look here on Ezekiel 20:2 also Ezekiel 20 verse 20 so we got two scripture we’ like to go to Ezekiel 2012 it says there also I gave them my Sabbath as a sign between us so they would know that I the Lord made them holy now what do you see in that text it is on the scream also I gave them my Sabbath as a sign between us so they would know that I the Lord made them holy what do you see in this text he says I refering to God he’s speaking and he gave them something he gave them the Sabbath and he says it’s between it is between him and them who keeps the Sabbath and what is um what’s the reason so that they would know and so this blessing here is Promised for those who keep the Sabbath it isn’t promised for those who keep Sunday or a day that you want to keep Michelle Steve it’s very difficult when we’re dealing we know the scriptures and we know creation but when all around like the calendar it’s very hard to find a calendar that starts from Sunday Sunday right through most calendars start from Monday MH quite a few calendars have have Monday as the first day of the week it’s quite hard to find a calendar that starts from Sunday um and with the law king um King Constantine who changed um from Sabbath to Sunday it’s only someone who’s really seeking the truth really will accept the Sabbath as um God’s holy day because all around um it’s the Sabbath or the holy day is Sunday it’s it’s only someone who who is really seeking to have an experience with God and to know the truth and would delve into the scriptures and into the laws that’s been changed to accept um the um the Sabbath as a holy day now it’s not hidden you can find it in the library that the that the you know the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday um but it as I said once again it’s only someone who’s really seeking to know the truth will accept God’s holy day as a Sabbath okay time is flying away we don’t have time to even okay let us I was I was intending to have a look and and I did mention it so let me have a quick look on it Ezekiel 20: 20 keep my Sabbath holy that they may be assigned between us then you will know that I am the Lord your God so in these two texts that we see we see that A A A A promise is there when we keep the Sabbath and it didn’t say another day that we choose over the Sabbath it says the Sabbath so I believe that there is blessing there is a blessing for us to receive when we keep the Sabbath and that blessing is worthwhile now let us look on Wednesday now the mark of the beast Revelation 12:12 it was given power to rage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them and it was given authority over every tribe people language and Nation now what is this it that the scripture is referring to Revelation what is this it that the scripture is referring to seing in Revelation 12:2 I mean this is not hard guys this is the word sorry what is this it that it is refering to in Revelation in Revelation 12:2 sorry sorry Revelation 12:2 sorry therefore Rejoice my mistake therefore Rejoice ye heavens and you who dwell in them but oh to the earth and the Sea because the devil has gone down to you he is filled with fury because he knows that his time is CH so in this text we see that a couple of things is is there for us to take note of put could you put the the text back on the screen therefore he says Rejoice ye events and it goes on to say that you who dwell in them but hold to the earth and the Sea why because the devil has gone down so he says devil has gone down so um the Earth it speaks about um he is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short and there’s a next text that I would like to bring to this discussion which is revelation 12 and verse 17 it tells you that the devil has gone down but he hasn’t said what he’s gone down to do it tells you that he is filled with wrath and in Revelation 12:17 let’s have a look at that then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to what to wage war against her the rest of her Offspring those who keep God’s commandment and hold fast the testimony of Jesus now here again we can see that it is those who keep his commandment and hold fast his testimony that the devil is gone down to rage war against and who are those who who are those who keep his Commandments those who don’t skip one of his Commandments or don’t do what they feel like doing but those who keep the whole commandment and that is pointing to the Sabbath and so we can see here that the Sabbath is indeed under attack now Oliver said that I have two minutes so I better just leave it and go down to Thursday which I have a very nice reading for us to look at it says in Thursdays afternoon he says these committed followers of the Savior will not only have faith in Jesus but will also have the faith of Jesus the faith of Jesus is a faith so deep so trusting so committed that all the demons in hell and all the trials on Earth cannot shake it it is a fate that rest sorry that trusts when it cannot see believes when it cannot reason why and hopes when it cannot understand this faith of Jesus is itself a gift we receive by faith it will carry us through the crisis ahead when the final crisis breaks and we fa an economic boycott persecution imprisonment and death itself the faith of Jesus will carry us through hurt’s Final hours until Jesus returned now our time has run out and so I would like to stop here but I would like to encourage you to study your lesson because we don’t have half the time we need to really expound on it so this is only a time that we can we can go over little glimpses of what make an impression Upon Our Hearts and encourage each other to be prepared for his second coming thank you very much for participating and I trust and hope that you truly have been blessed by what we have discussed so far God bless you we’ve come to the Shetland Islands the reason being there’s 23,000 people here and not a single Adventist we want to reach them with the gospel and we’d love to see them ready for Jesus to return the Shetland Islands are part of Scotland and the northern most part of the United Kingdom Anthony Kent the associate ministerial secretary at the general conference put together a small team of pastors from Scotland in the UK to spend one week cycling through the islands to tell people about Jesus and handout Christian literature after an overnight fairy ride to reach the islands the team prepared to set off to reach the unreached and as far as we know there are no Adventist members on the shetlands and how do you approach trying to make contacts what would Paul and his associates do if they were doing a missionary journey jne and they landed in Lo and they were to start in the shepher maybe Paul also would have used a bicycle to share Jesus with people today the team set out to ride through every inhabited Street stopping with anyone they met much like the Apostle Paul Anthony and his team had to endure hardships in the form of wind rain and Hills it’s it’s cold it’s cold but this is still really good fun and people’s hearts are open the weather’s cold the people are warm praise God for that this isn’t the first I will go bike ride Anthony has led a cycling Ministry trip from Washington DC to St Louis as well as some in Australia what we found is It’s a Wonderful way to generate significant but brief conversations and an opportunity to share the gospel so it’s worked in the past and we we thought we’d give it a go in Shetland there’s a special reason the Shetland Islands were chosen for this ride a man named Philip Ricki immigrated from Scotland to Australia in the late 1800s he rode his bike thousands of miles around Australia sharing the gospel with anyone he rode past one of those people happened to be Anthony Kent’s great great grandfather and Philip riy rode up to him on a bicycle and shared with him the great controversy and it completely transformed his life now in our family there is seven generations of Adventists as a result of Philip Ricki doing that wonderful Ministry and our dream was to take the spirit of Philip Ricki and his desire to to lead people to Christ to take it back to his homeland following Philip ri’s Legacy the team took jesus’ call to go to the ends of the Earth and applied it to their work in the Shetland we’ve literally gone from the very south of the Shetland l to SRA and we’ve gone all the way North as far as we can ride a bike from sea to Sea in a sense we haven’t just stayed on the main roads we’ve deliberately ridden past homes we’ve seen people out and about whether they’re cutting their grass putting their washing out walking their dog farming working in the outdoors we’ve gone to where where people are available and we’ve had wonderful conversations with them although this is not the way they normally witness they’ve seen the value of trying unique methods of ministry we have here a group of pastors they’re not cyclists they’re willing to go to the ends of the Earth even if it means riding a bike in wet cold windy conditions if it may lead one person to Jesus my dream is is is that people will look at unentered places places where we don’t have any followers and do what you can do to reach them please pray for Ministries such as the I will go bike ride and others around the world who are using unique methods of ministry to reach the unreached thank you for your supportive mission I’d like to thank Steve for leading Us in what was quite a challenging lesson and as he says lessons with that sort of uh subject matter require more than the brief half hour so perhaps Steve you arrange the Bible studies perhaps you will um arrange one around that topic um can I ask you to stand and sing our closing hymn hymn number 381 holy Sabbath day of rest and then my brother Dwight will close in prayer himym number 381 holy Sabbath day of rest [Music] holy Sabbath day of rest by your master richly blessed God created and divine set aside for Holy time yes the holy Sabbath r oh your Godly finely [Music] blessed to us a sign shall be throughout all eternity seek not pleasures of this Earth with his fly noise and M let are better things in store over on the other Shore yes the holy Sabbath Rest by your God divinely blessed into to our societ shall be throughout all eternity as a Sabbath drath on Friday even set of sun chrisan households then shall meet sing and prayer at Jesus feet Yes the holy Sabbath Rest by your God divinely blessed it to us a sign shall be through and on eternity oh asking him for saving grace all of victory in the [Music] race and to help us by his PA to keep holy every all yes the holy Sabbath rest by your God def findly [Applause] blessed here to us a sign shall be throughout all eternity please remain standing as brother Dwight close off this part of our worship you Melle let us pray Father in heaven we are thankful for every opportunity that we have to study your word Lord we thank you for all the things that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us through our study father I pray that we will have courage to share what we have learned with others so that they too can make an informed decision Lord today is your Sabbath and this is your courtes father as we Traverse from one place to another May our conduct and our conversation be such that we will remain reverent father bring us again next week to another study help and pray that during the week we will all be blessed and that way possible when possible we will bring someone with us to share in the worship and fellowship one with another I pray in Jesus name amen I’m Don Roberts bringing you SEC news in 60 seconds a UK celebrated its 40th anniversary with a series of events it began with faith in peace at the House of Commons hosted by Watford MP Dean Russell attended by 82 guests academics policy makers alongside bu and AG Representatives the week concluded with a celebration service and concert at staner Park Church on Sabbath and Community event on Sunday in stanbra Park East London School of Music hosted a community concert and award ceremony on May 28th at Clapton Community Church recognizing 53 musicians aged 8 to 18 who participated in it 16 week free community celebratory Orchestra project Southend on sea church participated in the South End together Festival last Sunday offering free health checks Distributing books and performances by its part funder drum cor and community choir thanks for watching see you next week [Music] to [Music] you e [Music] l [Music] see [Music] for [Music] much wor [Music] [Music] than [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] sh [Music] [Music] [Music] PR no [Music] [Music] [Music] h [Music] [Music] [Music] h for [Music] h [Music] [Music] I [Music] all [Music] [Music] J [Music] [Music] good morning again brothers and sisters um could you please lend us your attention for a few minutes I’ve got a few announcement I’d like to share with you uh this evening we have promised you that we would have present a Bible study and the in I think the book of Acts um but that has been changed to um a study that Pastor Will present to us in dealing with the image in the use of image in the services so please um this is a very important topic that has been um discussed and um our pastor has promised us Faithfully to prepare and to present um a study in dealing with that so those of you who have been querying such a thing please make yourself available for this evening study um and that would be between the hours of 4 to 5 and um sister Graham’s funeral is set to take place here at Hamstead and Monday and this information is in your bulletin so please Avail yourself of one of our bulletin and see for these information sister Banner’s funeral there are no further update on her funeral um Arrangement yet and as soon as we have those we will share them with you um we would like to remind our Deacon and deaconesses that you have practiced this evening in preparation for Deacon and Deacon’s day this is another um day which is a a big thing for us Deacon deaconness is here and so we would like to ask for your participant on the day um we are hoping to have a full church here and the only way we can do that is if you get involved inviting your friends and your family again all the dates and the times are in the bulletin and if you want further information just have if you don’t have a bulletin that is let’s have a look on our notice board in the 4year outside there I do not want to go through all the details of those um information at the moment as time is of the essence and we have Kisha here who is prepared to do um a reading and giving us further information thank you very much and um our divine hour will begin shortly good morning everyone and happy Sabbath my duty here this morning is simple is just to um do a transfer out for one of our members and this is the first reading of the transfer for brother Derek Barkley who has asked for his membership to be transferred to Toronto East SDA Church so this is the first reading next week we’ll have the second reading and the vote if there’s any objection as always please speak to our first Elder Naomi nval or our pastor Pastor Mohan thank you very much for your time bye for [Music] for [Music] h [Music] in [Music] h [Music] J [Music] the [Music] [Music] s for [Music] church family to continue our worship can I invite you to stand as we sing Majesty [Music] mesty worship is [Music] mesty unto Jesus be glory prise mesty Kingdom Authority from his his his so exalt lift up on high the name of Jesus Magi glorified Christ Jesus the king mesty worship His [Music] mesty Jesus who died now glori king of all Kings Jesus who died now glorified king of King Jesus who died now glorified king of all King [Music] Hear My Cry Oh God attend unto my prayer from the end of the Earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhel lead me to the rock that is higher than I let us pray Eternal Father God in heaven once more dear Lord we humbly bow into your holy house of worship among this your people Lord we humbly ask that you’ll forgive us all of our sins individually and collectively we ask Lord that you may send your Holy Spirit to rest and abide upon us and help Lord that today’s service May truly indeed be a blessing to all who are present here and those who join us online bless us oh Lord to this and I ask because I ask it not of my own but because of your righteousness thank you dear Lord for and for answering I pray in Jesus name amen please be seated I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all here in the house of God and this his holy Sabbath day I want to say thank you for coming today it is truly a blessing and an honor to be here and I trust and hope that as you come and worship with us that your heart will truly be blessed for those of you who are visiting us for the first time I can see one and two faces that I might have not seen before I might be wrong about that but just in case you are visiting for the first time I want to say welcome to Hamad SDA church and um in that case can you just raise your hand if you visiting for the first time just to raise a hand thank you very much now members I hope you saw the hands I would like for our members to truly go out of your way and make our visitors feeling very welcome and at home and if you visitor would really like our members to go out of their way to make you feel truly welcome at home please raise your hands once more raise your hands once more so we can see who you are amen now now thank you for coming and um we have a custom here where after we finish feasting upon the word of God we get ourself in the back there in the uall and we eat and drink physical food so I want to extend that um welcome to you that after Divine hour is finished please join us in the back there where we will have our lunch and you are most welcome to join us now I have forgotten or to what I say should I say I forget to um make a particularly important announcement and that is uh baby dedication that will be taking place here today and I can see our baby in the back there and so we are thankful to God for the parents bringing that baby back and giving it for dedication in service to God so um that piece of information I have failed to to um offer earlier and so I am making amends now now with no further Ado I would like to ask you to stand and to help us to sing our opening hymn and our praise team will come and lead us out into that thank you very much can I invite you to stand as we sing Our opening hym 28 sing them over again to [Music] me sing them over again to me wonderful words of life let me more of their beauty see wonderful Words of Life words of life and Beauty Teach Me Faith and Dy beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful Words of Christ the blessed one gives to us wonderful Words of Life s to the call wonderful words of life also freely G who in us to Heaven beautiful words wonderful words wonderful Words of Life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of sweet Echo the goel call wonderful Words of Life pardon and peace to all wonderful Words of [Music] Life San forever beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of Amen please be seated we’re going to continue our worship through song with himm number 508 58 anywhere with Jesus I can safely go do you believe in that yes [Music] anywhere with Jesus I can saely go anywhere he leads me in this world Bel anywhere without him D Resto to F anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid anywhere anywhere I canot know anywhere with Jesus I can say actually the second verse I want the young people here to sing the second verse I want to hear you all singing out the second verse anywh of Jesus I am not alone other friends May Fail me he is still my own young people I want to hear you all sing We will support you but I want to hear you all sing that verse two anywhere Jesus I am not alone other the friends May Fail me here is still my though his hand may lead me over anywhere with Jesus is the house of Praise everyone anywhere anywhere I can anywhere with Jesus I everyone anywhere Jesus I can go to S when the gloy Shadows about de to anywhere with Jesus sweet anywhere anywhere I canot know anywhere with Jesus I can stand anywhere go anywhere anywhere there I cannot know anywhere with Jesus I can go learn that song young people anywhere with Jesus I am not alone other friends May Fail me he is still my own though his hand may lead me over dreary ways anywhere with Jesus is a house of Praise learn that song young people 524 te so sweet to trust in Jesus [Music] 524 ladies second verse men third verse sweet to trust in Jesus TR to his word to rest upon his prise just to know the the Lord Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I prove more and Jesus Jesus preious Jesus for gra to trust him ladies oh how sweet to trust in Jesus just to trust his cleansing blood just in simple Fai to blune me be the healing cleansing flood Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I prove more and Jesus Jesus preious Jes gra to trust himen yes it’s sweet to trust in Jesus just from sin and S to Seas just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I Pro Jesus Jesus preious Jesus for gra to trust him everyone I’m so glad I’m so glad I to trust prous Jesus Savior and I know that th with me will be with me to the end Jesus Jesus how I trust him how I Pro more and Jesus Jesus preious Jesus for gra to trust him [Music] and our last song of worship is 5 to8 a shelter in the time of storm do we all go through storms of life let us know that Christ is our shelter in a weary land in a cooling shade in a burning sand he is is our faithful guide for the pilgrim band he is our shelter in a time of storm [Music] 528 again I want you to do a lot of singing Lady second men third [Music] him a shelter in the time of storm seek your May a shelter with the time of oh mighty mighty we Rel sh the the P the shelter in the time of stor ladies a sh by day defends By Night a shelter in the time of storm no fear alarm no fo are fright a shelter in the time of storm everyone Mighty we relax on the [Music] burning God a shelter in the time of St men the Raging flood May round us be a shelter in the time of storm we find in God a safe Retreat a shelter in the T sto everyone Mighty Rock mighty mighty Rock sh the bur for the p a shelter in the time no music Mighty Rock Mighty Rock Mighty Rock sholing shade on the burning for the p a shelter in the time of stor mighty mighty mighty weing Shing sh of the bur for the shelter in the time of stor amen good morning church today’s now time to petition Jehovah and we’re praying for sister EV odain Jade adoi tamy Adib Boi and Isaiah Adib Boi we’re going to pray in twos for a few minutes and then I will do the opening prayer okay so if you can get into twos or threes then we can pray just for a few minutes yeah you can ask your partner what they’d like you to pray for than us spe ch merciful father Jehovah God the most high we thank you once again for bringing us here together to open our hearts to you there Lord we ask you there Lord to be with each and every one of us who’s here and who’s online we thank you for this opportunity because we know that many people people are not as fortunate as we are we thank you there Lord for your blessings we thank you for the peace that you have given each and every one of us in different ways we might not recognize it but dear Lord when we look around the world we see that there’s no peace but in this house we have your peace so we thank you for this dear Lord as we go about our day we ask you there Lord to open our hearts and our minds for what you have prepared for us spiritually we know know that you have made the table with an abundant um spiritual food help us to take it in meditate on it and act on it so Lord as we go about our day we thank you we ask youday Lord to be with the pastor as he open um his his sermon we also thank you for the government of this country although we’re going through um uh trials in different ways we know that we are at peace in some sort of way relatively peace so we thank you for that so there Lord open our hearts send your Holy Spirit to hover around each and every one of us no matter what the situation is help us to trust you rely on you and look on you there Lord for guidance we thank you there Lord and as the family that we are praying for this week there Lord we ask you to be with them help us to remember who they are and hand give them up into your hands dear Lord so we ask if all these mercies and we thank you once again in Jesus Christ’s name your loving son amen we are now going to have our baby dedication normally at this time we will have children’s story but we are going to make a slight changes to today’s program so instead of having the children’s story we’ll now have the baby dation and also another another change into our program after the um scripture reading we will have mimo she will come and make the Adra appeal so two changes to our program today but nevertheless God be praised I would request um n and Eden to come and your friends please come come to their friend these are friends of you can sit there in the front row thanks for coming to support your friends it’s always a blessing to have family and friends around when some special occasions happen well as a church I think we have seen this wonderful couple for at least some time now they got married recently they got baptized and now they have a child the blessings are flowing isn’t it and I think we need it’s time to rejoice and say thank you to Jesus for His blessings um she looks like a doll isn’t it her name is Eva Elizabeth tan and maybe I’ll ask the father to tell me the meaning again I forgot he told me Eva means love and means God’s promise Eva means love Elizabeth means God’s promise I think it’s so rightly fit the love of God and God’s promise be upon this child they have brought the child today to ask the church to pronounce God’s blessings upon in Adventist Church you all know that we don’t do infant baptisms because they don’t know what is repentance and belief we only dedicate as it is in God’s word when Jesus was little 8 days old his parents took him to the temple to be dedicated so children we dedicate when they grow big we baptize them that’s biblical so following the principles of God’s word we have come today to dedicate this Precious Child we all know when Jesus was upon this Earth Jesus loved Little Children You Know many people think Jesus never smiled and never joked and never had social life and always angry and long face like Pastor moan no he was a good jovial person when he saw little children he would he loved them in fact the scripture clearly tells us in Mark 10: 13-6 then they brought little children to him that he might touch them but the disciples rebuke those who brought them can you imagine the picture Jesus is in the crowd parents coming with Little Eva all they just want Jesus to touch their child it simply means they want a blessing from God upon that child but they were disciples like me and others who are always uh thinking oh don’t disturb him he’s too busy in fact it says the the disciples rebuked the parents said don’t don’t disturb him go away go away and who saw that Jesus verse 14 says and when Jesus saw it he was greatly displeased and said to them let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of God you know what he said come they said I’m struggling to see you both yes yeah so Jesus said don’t you do that to them let them come and when he says for the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a little child you know what he meant to them I don’t know you guys disciples whether you go to heaven or not but Eva will go these children will go so you better learn lessons from them don’t disturb them let them come the next verse says as should I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it and verse 16 and he took them up in his arms laid his hands on them and bless them he didn’t simply say bless you and go or push somebody and say go No no I don’t know how many parents came how many children were brought Jesus took time to take them in his arm comes plac his hands on their head and said God bless you so as a church we want to follow what Jesus has taught us and what does this dedication mean by the way Eva doesn’t know what’s happening today tomorrow you may show a picture and tell her are you not taking photo yeah yes you may show a picture and say you are dedicated on this day in this church whatever but she doesn’t know what’s happening to today what does dedication means dedication means today you are committing yourself to the Lord to say Lord we will do everything in our best to bring this child in the fear of the Lord Proverbs 22:6 says train up a child in the way he or she should go and when they are old they will not depart from it that’s not a promise Proverbs are not promises it’s just a guideline many people think oh I’ve done my best I train them up in the fear of the Lord but when they grow big they’ve gone what has happened promise is different from a proverb isn’t it proverb is just a guideline so don’t take it as a promise but having said that the wise man says if you do your part let the Lord do his part and even if I this my conviction you may do the best of parenting still children with their own mind can go away but the training will someday bring them back just like the prodigal son but we have a duty to do so train her up in the way she should go how do we train you know we all love our children and U though I have a daughter who is 24 I still have a child who is 10 the whole week I’m occupied in many ways okay like on Monday I take her for gymnastics Tuesday I take her for martial arts and piano Wednesday another martial arts Thursday swimming okay all these things we do and is not cheap I spend money just to see that my daughter gets some kind of all these things that is good for what I think but you know what’s the most important training is for Eva to grow in the church I’ve seen so many parents like me who do so much extracurricular activities taking them taking time paying money but when it comes to church somehow we relax we send them through grandparents or we say well I’m tired today we can go next week I don’t say that for S swimming I don’t say that for martial arts but Church why am I relaxed this is the best place for a child to grow so Eva must be in the church growing in the church and you have to set one of the best way to train up a child is to set good example in my childhood when my mother said sit I sat today if you set tell somebody sit the immediate answer question is what why why should I sit so which means we can’t we we struggling to teach our children by Word of Mouth they need to be taught by example if you want the best out for Eva you must be the best parents God wants him be loving to each other be kind to each other don’t quarrel in front of her don’t fright in front of her be gentle with each other have morning and evening worships at home sing songs for her bring her to church on time so that she can enjoy these are the things that she will you know statistics show you only have 12 years of Eva in your life to make an impact in her if you don’t make an impact in her by in the 12 years to know who Jesus is once she turns teenage all the rebellious things come and if she’s didn’t have that conviction we have lost her so make sure that you give the best of training so this is the commitment today you’re saying Lord bless my child bless us that we may bring her up in the fear this is also dedication means you’re claiming God’s promises Jesus what did he do he blessed so bless my child as will that she will grow in your fear and it is my prayer that as we dedicate Eva more importantly we dedicating you both to do your best as Godly Parents God bless you can I request the elders to join me as we offer a prayer of dedication somebody help me with the mic Elders please come surround place your hands you can [Music] stand that’s fine come yes come good gu [Music] okay let us pray gracious father what a privilege it is to bring our little ones to the sanctuary to be blessed you have blessed nay and Eden with this Precious Child Eva Lord they have recognized that this is a gift from you and they have brought her to the sanctuary to be blessed when Jesus was upon this Earth he took the children in his arms placed his hands on them and blessed them therefore we do the same to bless little Eva I pray that you bless little Eva that like Jesus she would increase in stature and in favor with God and man Lord she will grow up to be a fine young woman Standing Tall achieving the best and being like a mother in Israel I pray for nay and Eden that you will bless them with wisdom all the help that is needed to bring her up in the fear of the Lord may your angels surround Eva as she grows up be with her as she goes out and as she comes in provide all her needs May the parents be provided with all that they needed to bring her up it is my prayer Lord that this dedication today will be on her life until she grows up in your sanctuary in your truth and someday will turn out into be baptism and that her name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life bless her to this end in Jesus name amen [Music] [Music] here is the dedication of the certif certificate to say that she has been blessed today and a small gift thank you say thank you Pastor thank you I would request the children to join me our church children please come and welcome Eva to our Sabbath School [Music] come don’t go down stand stand [Music] sorry about that it’s just get the kids all together morning church right we just want to welcome little welcome little AA to Sabbath school she has been coming we want to officially welcome her so we’re always pleased to have a new one within the Sabbath School area so before we’re going to sing a little song and then we’re going to present Eva with a little token little children jesuses the little all the children of the world [Music] children Jesus Children all children of the world every is pre Jesus the children of amen we’re going to have youy and to just welcome to Sabbath School little laen thank you God bless you thank you very much am back to your seat Happy saos church uh can the de deesses please get ready to collect the TI and offering um I’ll be reading [Music] Matthew thank you um I’ll be reading Matthew 6 uh 19-21 it says do not store up for yourself Treasures on Earth where moths and Vermin destroy where thieves breaking and steal but store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where Mass ofers do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also um and I’ll also be reading from um verse 25 to the 34 which says therefore I tell you do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink or about your body what you will wear it is not life for more than food and the body more than clothes look at the birds of the sky they do not s or Reep or store away in bonds and yet your heavenly father feeds them are you not more Val valuable than they can any one of you but can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life and why do you not worry about clothes see how the flowers of the field grow they do not labor or spin yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his Splendor was dressed like one of these if that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire will he not much more cloth you you of little faith so do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself each day has enough trouble of its own thank thank you let us now pray Eternal Father God in heaven once more dear Lord we give thee thanks for the portions that were returned and Lord we ask that it may go forward to do your work and that it may reach Souls far and wide bless the hands dear Lord that will use them and those that benefit from it thank you dear Lord for this we ask in Jesus precious name amen good morning church today’s scripture reading will be taken from Proverbs 12: 19 that’s Proverbs 12 verse 19 and it says the lip of truth shall be established forever but a lying tongue is but for a moment thank you happy Sabbath church so um today I’m going to do the adual appeal and this is is going to be the final appeal for this year for our annual appeal there might be other appeals that come but this is the final appeal for our annual pill and I have to admit that I was I’ve been praying for the last couple of weeks of what to say because when it comes to money it’s always awkward so I’ve really been praying about it and so it’s been nice actually because I’m listening to what’s being said in the service um past are talking about how it import how important it is um for us to give as much as we give of our time and our efforts as we do to other things and then also listen to uh Kiana’s scripture reading as well around not worrying so I hope that what I share will land well and will be an encouragement for you so the annual appeal actually ended yesterday so we’re at the end of the appeal uh when I checked in with sister Felix to see how we were doing we just about the 1,000 Mark and so I thought maybe there something that God can share from me today that can maybe encourage us uh because next week will be the last set of collection that we’ll be doing so I read for my devotion some days um the Bible app and one of the days in the last couple of weeks um one of my favorite podcasts Christian podcast pastors was actually presenting and he talked about proverbs 11:24 which says one person gives freely yet gains even more another withholds unduly but comes to poverty and I just want to share a little bit of what he shared with his message because it really kind of stuck with me he said a paradox there’s a paradox of generosity and stinginess it’s human nature to St up more than what we need to ensure we have sufficiently security for tomorrow people who focus on scarcity have a habit of storing up more than what they need which leads to an improv life their lack of depth in relationships creates a form of relational poverty generosity creates bonds of relationships that open us up to a deeper connect connection with people it’s built on an abundance mindset set we trust God to provide we we trust God that his creation is enough to provide for us when we cannot provide for ourselves the way to join Divine economy of support is through giving generously as you know I had worked for Adra for about 10 years and whilst I was working for Agra I was traveling to communities where I actually saw this Divine economy in action so for example when I was in Nepal or when I was in Miranda if we were working on a program with say 7,000 women or 12,000 women and we were supporting them with farming techniques we were helping them setting up uh Village Savings schemes by the end of the project even though we may have started with only 7,000 or 12,000 women by the the end we had 30 40,000 women why because they shared what they had they were so generous with the knowledge that they had they would share it with their neighbors they would share with their other family members and we were able to multiply our effect so they understood this part this this concept of divine generosity Divine economy and I know Hamstead is a very generous church and I have personally benefited from the generosity of individuals having grown up in this church and I know that things are tough many of us had a tough time in covid some of us lost jobs some of us have racked up debt some of us are living hand to mouth but the impact also on covid on people living developing countries has been a lot worse we’re very fortunate here in the UK because we actually have a Social Security System may not be ideal but it catches you it helps you the countries where agile works there are people in communities in rural areas and urban areas that have no security system and so I want to encourage you that next week will be the close in fact it’s already close but I do believe that by faith there is something a little more that we can do as a church to really bring up our total so that we can give something more generous and more reflective of Hamstead and of our nature and of who we are as people to to donate to Adra I can tell you that there’s a growing food crisis in the Horn of Africa and I know personally that Adra are preparing to respond to that every pound that you give the government gives roughly around ound so every contribution that you makes makes a difference so I’m encouraging you if you are 18 over plus let’s say let’s set your personal Target at £100 if you are 14 to 17 let’s set your personal Target at £30 if you are 8 to 13 let’s set your personal Target at 20 if you are three to seven let’s set your your personal Target at10 so there are envelopes in the foyer please I encourage you to grab an envelope put something into the envelope and bring it back for sister Felix um I know it’s tough and I’m also making a faith donation as well but I believe that this is what we’re called to do as people this is why Adra was birthed out of the church because we are trying to follow this Mission and the heart that Jesus had for helping others so I hope that we will give generously and give Faith um and I promise you that you do not need to worry about what you’re going to eat or drink drink because God will provide in the same way that you are providing fors hello I’m Steve loged I’m a trustee of Adra I’m standing outside the Adra officers here in Watford and I’m here to tell you that Andra is an excellent institution and I’m not saying that just cuz I’m biased cuz I’m a trustee Andra is the best way for you to put money in a plate on Sabbath morning and it come out somewhere else in the world and do a shade load of good which is what you know you ought to be doing so put your hands in your pockets for the Adra appeal you know it makes sense and you know you can make a difference thank you give now we can’t do it without you your support makes our work possible your generous gift now will have a direct and life-saving impact worldwide so to donate click on the link in the bio scan the QR code or visit ad.org .don I would like to thank malimo for coming and sharing and for encouraging us i’ also like to thank her for the great work that she has done both for Adra and in this church and I pray and hope that as she continues to work that God will continue to lead us to lead her as well and that we will truly become a people who understand the effects of giving and the benefit that those giving our giving has in the lives of people who are living in other countries that are far less fortunate than we are I would like to give God thanks for our young people amen uh we have two young people up here with us today today and I would like to thank them for participating in the program thank Kiana for reading the scripture for um the TI and offering she didn’t take much encouraging to agree to do it or she said she will do it upon one condition that I do the prayer or somebody else do the prayer and so we see her growing and I believe in time she will be able to take on greater challenge for God and I want to thank khil also for reading the scripture reading for us and he’s a young man that is very happy to do God’s work we have great young people in this church and I want to thank God for them and I pray and hope that you will continue to do the work that you are already doing for God and um it the privilege is mine today to introduce to you our speaker and that is our in-house Pastor moohan now Pastor Mohan is a dynamic preacher and every single time Pastor moan preacher I tell you I am always able to say I didn’t know that because he always deliver a sermon that is well researched very well balanced and very well presented now Pastor moan also is a a pastor who we can see he is on request to get this church together and in so doing he has created a few things that we can use as we worship and grow together one of those is the half an hour with Jesus and um in that he encourag us to spend time with God and he also bring back the prayer scroll and he introduces that we spend time and pray together for 2 minutes during Divine hour just before the Pastoral prayer and so in so we can see Pastor Mohan is a pastor who is working tirelessly to bring this church together and to have us become the light that God God has called us to now he is prepared to preach as he has preached here many times in the past and every time as I said he preaches I receive a blessing and I believe that today will be no different the only difference is are you prepared to receive the message that he has in store now before he preaches we will have a music of meditation but we do not have anyone in in particular to sing that so we’re going to ask you to do it thank you church family I’m going to correct [Music] Steve we purposely chose the church to sing as we want to encourage participation from our church family and not always have a solarist so with you in mind we’re going to sing 538 guide me oh thy great Jehovah cuz we all need guidance don’t we we don’t we don’t have it all we don’t have all the answers so we need direction and this is a prayer that we’re asking we’re asking God to guide us oh thy great Jehovah through this Pilgrim land cuz we’re lost we don’t don’t know what we’re going and we need Jesus every step of the way so collectively let us sing rousingly 538 [Music] Mighty great through land I am we but thou with hand of Heaven of Heaven I want no no more Fe me open down the fountain the he let the father and Cloud the me all my journey through strong deliv strong my strength and Sh strength and Sh by strength and Sh when I of Jordan be my anxious fear death of death and he destru be and of Praises of Praises I will ever leave to the to the to can we sing songs of Praises without any music songs of Praises songs of Praises songs of prais I will have give to thee to the I will to the amen [Music] want to thank sister Michelle and the group for singing one of the preacher who preached here sometime ago he called me to say Pastor you have a wonderful praise and worship group in your church I really like the way they sing so people are appreciative of all the good works you do and next time you don’t have a special person to sing ask me I will sing why do you all laugh do I look smart yeah the last time I wore a three-piece suit was for my wedding 25 years ago and today I’m wearing another the new suit this is a gift from my mother-in-law so the suit that I wore for my wedding also she bought and now again after 25 years another three-piece suit so thank God for good mother-in-law uh she also bought me a diamond ring I didn’t wear it so but uh yeah um this afternoon we have a very special Bible study please I request all members to come as we want to address an issue that we want to really look into so 4:00 we will have Bible study please do come let us pray gracious father as we open your word open our hearts in Jesus name amen the title of my sermon is the cost of speaking the truth I’m preaching this sermon with a guilty conscious too how many times conveniently we did not speak the truth isn’t it because it costs us look at the scripture reading Proverbs 1219 says the truthful lip shall be established forever but a lying tongue is but for a moment let me read again the truthful lip shall be established forever but a lying tongue is but for a moment as Christians we are supposed to be people who speak the truth whether we like it or not but is that what reality we do do you remember one of the famous quotations of elen white in the book education page 57 she says the greatest want of the world is the want of men men who will not be bought or sold men who in their inmost souls are true and honest men who do not fear to call the sin By Its Right name men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole men who will not who sorry men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall have you found such a person thank you for being honest my sister yeah I will raise up my hand and say I’m not that person then why am I preaching I want to be like that person and I want each one of us that is our calling how conveniently we tell tell stories and make up things and think that it’s okay you know there’s no such thing called sin nowadays have you realized that the word doesn’t exist it’s a human error it’s a mistake everybody does it so what is so great about it if Pastor can lie I’m just a member if an elder can do it I’m just a member we always have a justification for the acts we have and the words we speak but God is looking for us somebody who can stand for the truth I believe though the heavens fall that means whatever the cost it is so in a fallen World truth always comes with a cost isn’t it how many of you had an experience where you stood up for the truth and it costed you you have to tell the truth and maybe lose lost the job or what whatever it could be I’m sure some of us had those experiences some of the cost for telling the truth is you will lose your friends you tell your friend the truth then they will leave you you always have to sugar coat and say you’re beautiful you’re handsome your dress looks nice but deep in heart you have something else to say isn’t it tell the truth as it is they will leave you losing allies losing colleagues losing influence most of the time truth is associated with losing and losing and losing very seldom people appreciate look at the news all the good news is not there in the news isn’t it if you tell some kind Deeds Done by somewhere nobody gets any views but tell the bad things everybody gets views so truth comes with a cost what about cost what does it cost to spread the lies or speak The Lies We Must realize it does as well we may the cost may not be as big as the this but the cost is really bad when you tell lies you know what you lose you lose your dignity I think that’s worse you lose something of your humanity and godliness in you you lose your grasp on being able to distinguish the truth from the error for sometime if you keep telling lies a time will come where you don’t where you don’t feel you’re telling lies isn’t it yeah yeah you don’t even feel it’s happening I have a nephew his son anytime first thing he tells is lies only when I insist and do all the tricks that I can then he says no Uncle I told you a lie he says first thing comes out is that somehow when you’re used to it you don’t even feel the pain it’s really sad that’s dangerous because it could cost us life or even eternal life so that is also D so so there is there is a loss for telling the truth there is a loss also for telling lies I might as well tell that truth and get lost lose friends or lose job or something then lose my dignity and my eternal life there’s a story in the Bible I know you love sto is that illustrates of a man who stood up for truth and what it costed him we will look at it turn with me to the which book is this first Kings First Kings chapter 22 First Kings chapter 22 is a beautiful story of one person who stood up for the truth and what it costed him now the background to this story is that at this point of time the if you remember the Kingdom of Israel after uh David was Solomon after Solomon the kingdom was divided into two the northern kingdom for his for jerob the Army Commander took it and the southern one was rabom the son of Solomon from then on there was enemity between the Kings of the South and the kings of the North though they are of one family one group of God’s chosen people they never lived in peace they never did things together so there is a temple in Jerusalem but the Samar the the people of the north didn’t want to come down so they made a temple in Samaria so they were they were all I don’t know if you know some politics between India and Pakistan we look the same we dress the same we eat the same but we are enemies we enemies you see that on a cricket field you see that on everything I don’t know why nobody did anything bad to anyone but that enemity is there even when I watch cricket match I have that feeling they must lose under any cost so Israelites the Judah the southern Kingdom and the northern kingdom are enemies worse than the heathens but look at this point of time something Miracle happens chapter 22:1 1 Kings chapter 22:1 it says now 3 years passed without war between who Syria and Israel now the Assyrians captured I want you to get this background the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom the 10 tribes they are ruling but they allowed the local Kings to still have some uh Authority so the kings of Judah sorry the Kings of Israel had their Authority but they were almost like paying tribute to the syrians but for 3 years it says there was peace which means it’s a good news and after 3 years of no war what happens verse two then it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit who the king of Israel we all know King Jehoshaphat he’s a king in Judah what do you know about Jehoshaphat there there are at least five Kings out of all these 22 mentioned whom the Bible calls good Kings and out of these five great reformers Jehoshaphat was one of those reformers what is one of the famous phrase of Jehoshaphat you hear the battle is not yours but the Lord’s how many times how many sermons we have heard this man completely relying upon God when the enemy came his strategy was I don’t know what to do I rely upon you and then by singing he defeated the enemies God’s favored King and with the enemity that they had with the Israel the scripture says the king of Israel did not come to the South it is Jehoshaphat who went to the king of Israel by the way who was king of Israel at that time it was Ahab now these two are opposite poles the most most wicked King that the children of Israelites ever had in the north is Ahab in fact he is more Heathen Wicked than the syrians and Babylonians and who can you ever think of and here is jaas shapat who is a good King The Good King goes to see the bad King it’s almost like India Pakistan came together it’s it’ll be a miracle I don’t know if I would see in my lifetime but something like that why did he go to see him what work is there for him to go and see him do you know why turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 8 2 Kings chapter 8 verse 16 says now in the fifth year of juram the son of Ahab king of Israel Jehoshaphat having been king of Judah jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat began to reign as king of Judah so in the south at this time after after Jehoshaphat his son jeam be the uh King also but before he became a king look what happens Verse 18 and he walked in the ways of the king of Israel just as the house of Ahab had done for the daughter of who Ahab was who his wife and he did evil in the sight of the Lord so why did Jehoshaphat go to see Ahab because they have a family relation now his son got married to ahab’s daughter so probably he got a grandson or a granddaughter I don’t know so he went to see the you know I don’t know in our culture when a when a when a when a when a woman have to give a birth it is always at Mother’s house her mother’s Place parents’ place not at the husband’s place so similar uh culture I believe so maybe she would have gone to give birth and as a grandfather Jehoshaphat wanted to go see so he went there is Family Ties they went he went to see though they don’t get along as Nations but because of family ties they are together so they went together and when Ahab is such a king that he every little thing around him he sees some opportunity for his own benefit we have some people who will always look to benefit something out of you if you’re around them and Ahab was one of such person so when he saw Jehoshaphat come they had a good meal they sat together and he he had a sad face now he wants something from Jehoshaphat verse three what does it say First Kings chap 22:3 and the king of Israel said to his servants do you know that ramod in Gilead is ours but we hesitate to take it out of the land of the king of Syria so he was making he’s telling a story you know the ramod gilas is one of the famous cities in Israel the syrians are still occupied it now Ahab is saying I want that City but I don’t have the strength to fight the syrians and get back the city so it’s so what is his strategy now verse four so he said to Jehoshaphat what did he say will you go with me to fight at ramod Gilead so he’s asking please because my strength is not enough will you come and help me now Jehoshaphat knows how Wicked this man is Jehoshaphat already know there is three years of peace and he doesn’t want war to kill more people but because of his hunger for power and Glory he says will you help me and what what was the response from Jehoshaphat verse four what did he say I am as you are my people as your people my horses as your horses did you expect this from jeet’s mouth knowing what kind of a man Ahab was being a person of Integrity jeat him do you expect such words if I was there I could have asked why do you want to fight you have already 20 C is in your possession why do you want to go after a city do you have enough ammunition is this all right have you consulted the experts whatever could have been asked but look at his immediate response your people are my people your horses are my horses your problem is my problem how far can he go that shows how how much of influence Ahab had on Jehoshaphat because of the Family Ties whatever the reason so what happens then verse five and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel please inquire for the Lord for the word of the Lord today being a good King who still have this Integrity that every battle must be fought by who God without God’s help you cannot win the battle so he’s trying to tell and convince Ahab yes I will help you I will give you my Army my horses my footmen everything but before we go can we inquire from the Lord because by practice that’s what he did he always inquired of the Lord so please inquire do you know what Ahab did verse six then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together how many of them 400 men and you know in those days Kings you just have to clap hands and all the people will be summoned how many prophets came have you heard of 400 prophets coming to meet a king at one time they all came stood before King Ahab and King Jehosaphat and what did he say what did Ahab say tell tell them it says shall I go against ramod Gilead to fight or shall I refrain simple question shall I go or not what was the answer the answer was very quick at this said what go up for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king I want you to Picture This scene as soon as Jehoshaphat said why can’t we inquire from the Lord immediately how many people he summoned 400 we are not even 100 here imagine 400 prophets they’re not ordinary men they’re not Levites they’re not food soldiers they’re they are prophets who are prophets they are a mouthpiece for God God sends messages to them and they deliver the message to the king not one not two 400 of them came and stood before these two kings I was imagining what Jehoshaphat would have felt to seeing this 400 and with one voice if 400 of them said something with one voice it has some meaning isn’t it all of them said with one voice go the Lord will be with you you will win the battle what do you think Jehoshaphat saw when he heard all 400 of them say with one voice Jehoshaphat was not convinced what is this it’s almost like a chorus they’re singing they never they never questioned anything this is not how prophets behave so he thought something is wrong here then he says something to King Ahab what does he say verse 7 and Jehoshaphat said is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him it’s an insult isn’t it you summon 400 prophets they all tell go and fight and you now say don’t we have at least one more who with whom we can talk to God what do they mean are these not the people whom God has spoken I don’t know how how what insult Ahab would have felt but Jehoshaphat sensed that these 400 100 prophets are telling lie you know sometimes it’s easy to recognize a person by their expressions by the way they speak whether the truth is coming or not isn’t it you know one of the easiest way to escape of not fulfilling that anything is oh I’m so sorry I’m busy it’s so convenient it is so sugary doesn’t make you look bad it makes you look your wearing a badge of honor that you are a busy person but you know you’re telling a lie something like that so somehow josaphat felt something is wrong 400 of them is there still not one and what did J Ahab say verse 8 so the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat there is still one man I actually thought of titling this sermon there is still one man it also fits is there still not one person in Hamstead Church who can speak the truth the answer is there is still one man how I wish that is you and that is me that’s what God is looking at 400 prophets prophets are supposed to be the most honest genuine people isn’t it and all of them are Li do you know why they are all on the payroll of King Ahab if he says sit they would sit if he says stand they would stand if they’re they’re there only to please him they’re there only to tell only good about him oh you’re so handsome you’re such a good King you’re so kind you’re so loving how many of us put posts on the Facebook and even in the midnight get up to see who said liked it who didn’t like it because what do you expect in a Facebook do they say oh your dress is ugly you look ugly no they just and you like you’re so gorgeous and that Puffs us up though you have a belly you have all kinds of shapeless thing you still feel wow everybody is saying I’m look so handsome and beautiful we live in that false world and feel comfortable and happy stand in front of a mirror naked and see yourself you will run for your life wife so these 400 prophets only there to praise Him adore him and say good things but there is still one man who can speak the truth and what is his name mkaya by the way mikah is a contemporary of one of the greatest prophets of all time who who is he Elijah you can’t separate Ahab from Elijah isn’t it Elijah’s stories are all associated with Ahab he he lived during the time of Ahab at least three great things you remember three years there will be no rain and there’s no rain call all your prophets and see whose God is great on the mount Carl you have seen and when Elisha was following him there was a river overflowing what does Elijah do he takes his mantle touches it the river parts and they walk it’s a time of Miracles everybody knew how great and powerful Elijah was and when Jezebel was chasing him he ran to hide and he was feeling so proud and saying Lord I escaped what are you doing here the Lord said I escaped from this Wicked Woman do you know that I’m the only one God says you’re are a fool there are how many seven 7,000 who did not bow down their head to the ball and I believe out of those 7,000 Mika is one of them sometimes we concentrate too much on these great characters and think that but there are so many others unknown characters like Mika who are equally important at this point of time where was Elijah he’s hiding for his life then God brings this unknown known Prophet Micaiah to stand up for the truth when you fail to do your job when I fail to do my job don’t think the work of the Lord will be crippled God still has 7,000 around who can carry on the mantle that’s what Elijah’s story tells us isn’t it so here is a man who is called Mika there is still one man look at what kind of what kind of uh what do you call it impression Ahab has about mikayah what does he say in verse 8 so the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat there is still one man mikah the son of imla by whom we may inquire of the Lord but but is that what I hate him why because because of what he does not prophesy good concerning me but evil 400 of them he he doesn’t hate anyone why because they always give you good likes gorgeous handsome kind loving caring that’s what you want and if you say somebody puts you’re so ugly don’t even dress like that next time you block them off from your Facebook because that commentary is not good jeos sorry Ahab said there is still one man called Mika we can inquire of him because he’s also a prophet but you know what I hate him that is so bad how much he would by the way he hates him to such an extent in fact if you know the history he’s actually in prison now mikai is in prison why because the king hates him I hate him because he doesn’t tell anything good about me my church with a burden I’m sharing this to you better to trust what is that I forgot how you say the wounds of an enemy than the kisses of a friend you remember that if you have somebody who can tell you on the face the true reflection of you praise God for them and if there’s no somebody be humble enough to go to them and say please tell me your honest opinion what do you think about me you know my children fear me a lot they never spoke evil of me neither have courage to speak in front of me one day Rosie came and said you need to spend time with children and be loving to them and uh I said fine so one day I called the two adults I said uh want to talk yeah there’s anything that you don’t like about daddy there was silence for some time I won’t beat you I’m genuinely asking then they told me a few things which opened my eyes I said I’m sorry I will be a better father I thank God for my wife who asked me to take time to talk to them with an open heart because they love you but out of fear and that day when they opened their eyes and spoke they were in tears I was in tears and from that till today they say Daddy we so glad we spoke together you’re the best how much we need that openness rather than the mask of who we are not here is a man whom I have hated because he speaks the truth so what does Jehoshaphat tell him you know with all gentleness he says what let the king do not say such thing verse 9 then the king of Israel in other words what he said please you may hate him but please call him for my sake please call him so what did the king do verse 9 then the king of Israel called an officer and said bring mikah the uh son of imla quickly so you know he is a prophet but he’s not among the prophets where is he he’s in a prison because who hates him the king if the king hates somebody what can you expect so he goes he sends one officer go bring that man called Mikaya and while Somebody went to bring him what was happening here look at verse 10 then the king of Israel and the je and uh Jehoshaphat the king of Judah having put on their robes sat each on his throne at a Thresh ing floor at the entrance of the S gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesized before them I want you to Picture This scene they both put on their kingly ropes the Thrones were brought to the city center they both sat on the city center they were surrounded by how many prophets 400 of them and what are they doing what are they doing according to scriptures they were all prophesizing what are they prophesizing go there’s a leader for for all these 400 prophets by the name of zedekiah verse 11 he is the son of chinana had made horns of iron for himself and he said thus says the Lord with these you shall goore the syrians until they are destroyed so he made some kind of a horns with iron brought them to the king and said the Lord is telling me to tell you like the horns of this iron you will have the victory go what did the rest of the N 399 say verse 12 are you with me and all the prophets prophesized so saying go up to ramod Gilead and prosper for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand you can hear it once twice Thrice if you keep hearing the same thing for too long I don’t know I will get fed up but here is a man who loves self praise so much the more you say the more happy he is he knows he’s living in a falsehood but that that’s what makes him happy you know you’re telling a lie but that what makes you happy you know you’re not being faithful but that’s what makes you happy how sad they keep telling can you picture this two of them sitting on the throne surrounded by 400 right in the city center as 400 of them are praising the whole audience maybe the town is looking and then someone goes to bring who the prophet mikah look at verse 13 finally this man goes to the prison and says mik is being called by the king so they bring him out of the prison they shave they bathe him they clean him because he’s coming into the presence of a king and while he’s bringing him look at what he says verse 13 then the messanger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying now listen now listen the words of the prophets prophets with one Accord what are they doing they they encouraging the king please I beg you I plead with you let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragement so he’s preparing him isn’t it after bringing him he’s saying see look we going to see the king 400 of them are standing in front of him they’re all with one voice you’re also a prophet please at least this time at least this time speak kind words say good things encourage the king don’t say any otherwise I don’t know if I was in the place of Mikaya when I will get my freedom to not to be in jail I would have said yes sure but look at this stubborn man what he says verse which verse is this 14 yeah thank you and mikayah said as the Lord lives whatever the Lord says to me I will speak can you imagine there is still one man how many one man who will stand he says well you have you have given your speech but I want you to know whatever the Lord speaks is that I will speak the Lord is looking for such mikas today and finally he was taken I want you to picture this as mkah comes closer and he sees 400 Prophet surrounding and with one voice they’re saying what go the Lord will prosper you you will win this is this has been in his ears as he comes closer everybody are looking at one another and all with one voice Mikaya comes and stands in front of King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat there’s a complete silence for a moment and then who who speaks who speaks verse 15 isn’t it is it 15 yes then he came to the king and the King said to him mikah shall we go to war against ramod Gilead or shall we refrain after a few moments of Silence look at the response and he answered go and prosper for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king what has happened to Micaiah just few moments before he said whatever the Lord says that’s what I will say I will not change my word he saw the 400 of them saying the same thing go the Lord is with you and now Ahab knew that this man has no good news for him because Ahab knew what he’s doing is wrong but he heard the same words like the 400 prophets go the Lord will prosper you he should have been happy isn’t it because that’s what want to hear but he’s not happy look look at his response in verse 16 so the king said to him how many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord when 400 of them said go he believed them when Mah said go he’s not believing you know what happened mikah sarcastically looked at King ab and said okay go you will have you will win the victory go the Lord is with you you know when somebody says something sarcastically you can find it isn’t it they’re not speaking the truth they’re pulling your legs or they’re trying to please you something so when Ahab saw the sarcasm on the face of mikah though the message is sweet to hear he knew that he’s not telling the truth says no no no you’re not telling me the how many times I told you to tell me the truth that itself is a lie isn’t it because jeos shapat was sitting he’s trying to pretend he’s a good man when did you tell him to tell the truth he never told him to tell the truth he says I hate him because he tells the truth okay Ahab understood the sarcasm of Amaya and he said please stop being sarcastic tell me the truth and what does Mika do now verse 17 then he said I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no Shepherd and the Lord said these have no master Let each each return to his house in peace he spoke to him in a parable for the fools whose heart of hearing Parables is important isn’t it so he tells him a parable you know there is sheep and a Shepherd they all went to the mountain but the Lord told me on the mountain the shepherd disappeared only sheep are left you know something not one sheep is lost so the Lord said take out the Sheep all back in peace that means all go with no loss at all whether anybody understood it or not Ahab understood that Shepherd is who Ahab the Sheep are this Army that goes to fight in other words Mika was telling you will go to fight the battle but your soldiers will return you will not return that’s what it means now what did uh how was the response from Ahab which was is that 18 and the king of Israel said to who said to who Jehoshaphat did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil now he said didn’t I tell you in the first place don’t call this guy because there’s no good to tell he’ll only tell bad about me I did I not tell you you wasted our time then jeos sorry Mika gives him another incident of like a parable type to tell him even more closer what would happen wasse quickly let’s read verse 20 and the Lord said sorry verse 19 then mikayah said therefore hear the word of the Lord I Saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the host of Heaven standing by on his right hand and on his left and the Lord said who will persuade Ahab to go up that he may fall at Raod ramod Gilead so one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner can you picture this scene this is a scene in heaven God is sitting on his throne all the heaven Heavenly hosts surrounded him then God opens his mouth and says I want one of you to go down and speak to Ahab that he must go to the battle in ramod Gilead who would would who would want to take this message then the story says some said this some said that but this some one Spirit look at verse 21 then a Spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said I will persuade him in other words somebody rised up hand they said look I will go and do and the Lord asked what are you going to do look at verse 22 the Lord said to him in what way what way are you going to go and do it what did the spirit say so he said I will go out and be what a lying Spirit where in the mouth of who how many prophets all the prophets and the Lord said you shall persuade him and also Prevail go out and do so this is a controversial text does God encourage his angels to go tell lies that’s how sometimes it could be but that’s not what it is he’s already made up his mind what to do so give him the medicine that he wants that’s what it means you go and give him the medicine if he wants to drink the poison if he’s not willing to listen what can we do let him drink God doesn’t Force his will Upon Us isn’t it that’s one thing so that this Spirit that’s how for lying spirit in the mouth of prophets my dear Church Christianity is what is the word plagued with these lying Spirits Christianity Christian churches are full of these lying Spirits where ever this lying Spirits speak people are flocking what do you call them the Prosperity Gospel some of the most prosperous churches where you don’t even get a seat if you go one minute late are these healing Ministries Miracle Ministries Prosperity come to Christ this is what will happen that is what is going to happen there’s a church which says even if you don’t come send your offering the Lord will bless and fulfill all your desires but a church that speaks the truth as it is in God’s word hardly surviving nowadays because truth is unpopular we have so many lying spirits in the form of pastors and Prophets and teachers who have itching ears to give you what you want people want what they want if you preach something that they don’t want they’re not coming but you give them what you want one of the best way to deceive people is to give them what they want but the truth tells don’t give what they want give what God wants to give them you may like it you may not like it but that is what God wants you to have it please feed on the meat of God’s word don’t you know we are so happy to read psalms and say the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want you mess up and you say the Lord is gracious and merciful and loving and kind he’ll so sweet to hear but what about the other side that he’ll curse the Disobedience brings curses unto the third and fourth generation that the judgment is there every word you speak he will give an account where is those messages we don’t want to hear them we need mikayas that one man who can speak the truth and if that person is there go there to listen to that word not these sweet sing messages which makes you feel so comfortable that whatever you are you have a savior to save you anyway let’s car on so what happens which verse are in verse 23 therefore look the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours and the Lord has declared disaster against you when a preacher preaches tell test them whether they have a lying Spirit or God’s spirit even if it is me moan don’t believe test it with the God’s word just because you love me doesn’t mean you obey me it has to be this nothing else okay verse 24 so when that was said you know who got angry even before King Ahab could get angry the in charge of these 400 prophets zedaka got so mad you know what he did to mkah was 24 now zedekiah the son of chinana went near and struck mikah where on the cheek and said now tell me which way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you how sarcastic that was isn’t it he goes to him and slaps him on the face and say oh now you tell me which side from the spirit of the Lord came and told me to do this you telling me the spirit lying Spirit came from heaven now tell me which Spirit told me to do this how sad sarcastic how evil that is isn’t it to slap a fellow Prophet whom you know has the truth now look at the way he did it if I was there I would have slapped him back pastorship is secondary but look at this guy Handles in a different way verse 25 and Micaiah said indeed you will see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide what was he saying you want to know from which side the spirit of the Lord came to tell you to slap slap me wait for some more time there will come a time when you will go hide into the inner chamber if you read this in the later book in um I forgot which book it is where he actually goes to hide because of the enemies the building will fall on him and he is dead he doesn’t come out so God prophesies through mea oh you want to know you wait for some more time when you go to hide in the inner chamber you will realize from which side the spirit of the Lord came then what happens King now Acts verse 25 and mikayah said in okay verse 26 so the king of Israel said take mikah and return him to who Amon the governor of the city and to Joes the King’s son return to them why and tell them that the king says put this fellow in prison and feed him with what bread of Affliction and water of Affliction until I come in peace what is bread of Affliction and water of Affliction give him enough to survive but not to quench his thirst or hunger give him little bit where he will not die but he will also be starving that’s what it means he should not die but just survive so little bread of Affliction and this and when he said that what was the response until how long you should feed him like that until I come back Victorious and look what mikah says verse 28 but mikah said if you ever return in peace the Lord has not spoken by me and he said take heed all of you people in other words I want you I want you to look at his courage he said to the king we’ll see if you will return in peace and he looks at all these 400 prophets and says guys you listen that my word will come to what a man of courage and Truth who is watching all this please give me a little more time who is watching all this Jehoshaphat the Lord’s King good King at least by now he would have had common sense isn’t it that it’s not right to go to battle here is a man of God who said this will go disaster he should have listened but sometimes let me say this sometimes we are caught up in relationships where we get what we get scared even to speak the truth isn’t it am I making sense we give so much importance to a relationship maybe a wife or a husband or child we hide everything and act as though everything is fine I’ve been in this business for 25 years so I’ve seen couple who don’t talk to one another but in the church they sit together smile at one another as if everything is fine I don’t know what went wrong with the mind of jehos shapat at least by now we could have said to Ahab my friend let’s listen to the prophet and don’t go you know what happens look at verse 29 so the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to ramod Gilead what does it say they went Jehoshaphat lost his mind in other words I’m imagining Ahab said don’t believe this did I not tell you he will never tell the truth let’s go and what did jeat say okay let’s go but Ahab is too smart I don’t know if jeos believed the message of this Prophet mikah or not Ahab believed it so he comes up with the second plan because he wants to save his skin isn’t it so when they got ready to go fight look at what what suggestion he gives to Jehoshaphat verse 30 are you with me this is all in the Bible friends let’s re it and the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and go into the battle but you put on your robes so the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle I don’t know how stupid jahash could be what was the plan here look we going to the battle I will dress like an ordinary Soldier but you dress like a king and let’s go how blind Jehoshaphat could be you know in the battle Common Sense tells you the Target in a battle is who the king if you get the king you have won the battle and who is joshap you see you think he’s a dumb man no he’s a king he knows it and here is Ahab saying I will disguise myself just like an ordinary Soldier but you put on the Kings let’s go and what did Jehoshaphat say okay fine let’s go I don’t know how this could be so they both go to fight and now the instructions from the king of Syria look at verse 31 now the king of Syria had commanded the 32 captains of his chariots you could imagine what kind of an army he went to fight with and what what was his command fight with no man small or great but only with the king of Israel what was the instruction to all these 32 Battalion commanders guys don’t worry about how many soldiers come your eyes and your target must be who king of Israel don’t touch any small or great just focus on him maybe the intelligent report came to Ahab that this is the TR strategy so he’s trying to put Jehoshaphat in the four how Wicked you can be isn’t it he came to your house and he’s willing to help you and you put him in danger now what happens next verse which verse is that 32 so it was when the captain of the Chariots saw Jehoshaphat they said what surely it is the king of Israel how did they come to that conclusion because among all the Army there’s only one man with royal robes and that is only the king so they said this must be the king of Israel so what did they say therefore they turned aside to fight against him I want you to picture this okay Jehoshaphat is in kingly robes on his Chariot going where was Ahab just like an ordinary Soldier walking maybe before and all the 32 men of Syria looked at him and said that’s the guy and Jehoshaphat is thinking why are they pointing at me I’m not the king and he saw them come close maybe the arrow and is almost at his head jehoshaphat’s eyes were open now he said if I don’t see anything now I’ll be killed you know what he says he stood up on his chariots and says it’s me it’s not the king I’m not the king look at what it says what does it say he cried out saying that I am not the king what does the scripture say and it happened when the captains of the Chariots verse 33 saw that it was not the king of Israel that they turned back from pursuing him thank God josaphat got common sense at least in the last moment had he delayed little bit the Aris would have shot his head and his heart finally he said no no no it’s not me please don’t shoot me do you do you believe in the sovereignty of God can man escape the ways of God no matter how smart you are how intelligent you are how what kind of IQ you might have Can you escape the sovereignty of God you know what happens when he said it’s not the king 32 captains started looking for who Ahab can he find them find him no way he’s in an ordinary army suit he’s among the people walking around they looked and looked and looked from morning till evening they couldn’t find Ahab their arrows they were throwing no and they can’t find there’s one guy from the camp of Syria who threw arrows but still in his quer there’s one left and he said look the Sun is going to set down if I go with any of my arrows still there the king would ask me did you not use them did you not kill so there’s one left let me randomly throw it somewhere you know all of us as children we did isn’t it when you go to school when you don’t eat your food what do you do mil what did you do throw it in the bin and go home so that your mama won’t say you’re a good girl then I did it my daughter brought food uh she didn’t eat with banana and something and she put it somewhere because she has two bags after two months we took the bag only to see it was stinking and smelling Oh Daddy I forgot all of us did those stupid things so this guy wanted to prove that he has used all his arrows you know what he decided to do I want you to really see the sovereignty of God here which verse is this verse 34 do you know how it says verse 34 it says now a certain man that means just an an ordinary Soldier among the group he decided to do something what he decided to do drew a bow at what random what does random mean aimless isn’t it just throw it you don’t want to keep it just throw it he threw it you know what happened just randomly he threw it do you know what happened what does the scripture say the arrow that was thrown randomly flew it searched where Ahab was and it searched the place in between his breastplate where there is a tiny space to go and hit him if you doubt the sovereignty of God after this you should not doubt it 32 captains looking trying they couldn’t some fellow just blindly throws an arrow it goes and finds this Ahab and finds the space where there is space to go in because he’s in armor anyway and what happened it where did it strike him in between the joints of his armor in almost like in between the buttons there’s some Gap so it went and hit him that which was thrown randomly no aim and what does the scripture say so he said to the driver of his Chariot turn around and take me out of the battle I am wounded verse 35 the battle increased that day and the King was propped up in his Chariot facing the syrians and died at evening the blood ran out from the wound where unto the floor of the Chariot verse 36 then as the sun was going down a shout went throughout the Army saying every man to his City and every man to his country so the king died and was brought to Samaria and they buried the king in Samaria do you know something because of one of the wicked things that King Ahab did God cursed him you know God also predicted how his death would be and what would happen if you turn to uh 21 the previous chapter verse 19 1 Kings chapter 21: 19 look what it says you shall speak to him saying thus said the Lord have you murdered and also taken possession this is the field he takes from nabot you remember and you shall speak to him saying thus said the Lord in the place where dogs licked the blood of nabot dogs shall lick your blood even yours that was what God Said but now as soon as he got wounded he knew he’s going to die look at the smartness of this guy Ahab he says take me home he was brought home he dead he tells his family bury me immediately if you buried and and covered with mud which dog will come and lick your blood but look again the sovereignty of God when he was wounded in The Chariot the scripture made it a point to write this that his blood dropped where in The Chariot look at verse 28 chapter 22: 28 so after his burial everything is done and someone look at how it starts then someone washed the chariot where at a pool in Samaria and what happened and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken he thought he’s dead and buried the word of the Lord will not come true my blood is not anywhere but the blood was in The Chariot so some guy took the Chariot to wash it as he was washing who followed him the dogs followed him and as he was washing what were the dogs doing they were licking the blood blood and the rest you know this guy loved look at uh verse 39 and the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did you know what is he known for this guy is crazy after cities and houses he built a house that no other king in the Bible built what kind of a Palace built with Ivory and all the cities that he built they’re all written in the book of The Chronicles and IAB rested with his father then aaria his son reigned there is still one man who can speak the truth it was Micaiah the greatest want of the world is the want of men men who will not be bought or sold men who in their inmost souls are true and honest men who will men who do not fear to call the sin By Its Right name man whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the the pool men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall there is still one man whom God is looking at Hamstead who can stand up for the truth are you that woman are you that man God bless you I would like to thank Pastor Mohan for delivering such a powerful sermon in which as I said I’ve learned and always learn whenever he preach I want to thank God for his service and I pray and hope that God will continue to use him mightily in his service and um we would like to ask you now to kindly stand with us as we bring this wonderful service to a close uh with the hymn 610 610 stand please [Music] Christi the master with helmet and shield and a sword in our hand to be the B the f go then stand like the brave with thy face to the stand like the grave stand like a brave stand like a bra with my face to the [Music] the cause of thy Master with be defect Be watchful be and fight to the end wherever he leades the go go then stand like a with th face to the stand like a brave stand like a brave stand like a brave with thy face to the Press never doubt in th cap with to supply and with Comfort to chair his love like a stream in the desert will FL stand like the brave with th face to to the stand like a brave stand like Ave stand like a brave with to the [Music] you know I said uh speaking truth comes with a cost Mika was sent to prison we don’t have any evidence he came back probably he would have died for speaking the truth I also said telling lies also comes with a cost Ahab did it he also died it is better we tell the truth and die like Mika then tell lies and die like Ahab because that’s where God’s favor is let us pray we also remember Sister Davis I believe she’s traveling back to BU Jamaica to bury her brother let’s pray for God’s mercies on the family let’s pray gracious father we thank you for Mika every time we hear the story of Ahab we only think of Elijah the mighty man of God to me Mikaya is no less in fact when you needed somebody to stand like the brave you used Mika when Elijah was in hiding for his life you said there’s 7,000 who have never bow down their head to Bal and one of them was Mikaya Lord in this day and age to stand up for the truth to speak the truth it comes with a cost but Miki has taught us it’s worth the cost because your favor is upon him he didn’t have an easy life he lived all his life in prison but I believe when I see him in heaven what a glorious joy that would be precious Lord as we go in the challenges of life may we have the courage like Mikaya to stand for the truth to speak the truth though the heavens fall bless us to be faithful to your word and faithful to your calling and not be convenient people speaking here and there just to meet our needs bless us to that end so that the world will know that we belong to you pray for sister Davis as she travels to Jamaica to bury her loved one give her a safe travel that all will go well that your comfort will be with them and when it is time you’ll bring our HS back safely bless us to this end in Jesus name amen [Music] in moment like the I sing out the song I sing love song to [Music] Jes like the I lift up my hands I lift up my hands to the [Music] Lord sing it I love you Lord [Music] sing I Love You Lord sing it our Lord I love you sing sing it I love you Lord sing in I Love You Lord sing in [Applause] [Music] love [Music] you amen