Reconciliation (Shelby Clark, 10/28/23)

Heavenly Father, thank you so very much again for this opportunity. Thank you for

constantly teaching me and guiding me in the ways in which I should walk to draw

closer to you. Father, I ask that you please fill me with the indwelling of

the Holy Spirit today, right now, that as I speak, Father, they do not hear Shelby,

but they hear the Lord God Almighty. Father, that they don't see the young

girl, but they see the Creator of the universe standing here, speaking to their

hearts today. May we have a wonderful time being able to learn about you and

praise you today, Father. This is my wish. This is my desire. In Christ's name, amen.

Alrighty, so there's a lot of people here that weren't here the first Sabbath of

the month, right? That's when I was here last. So my name is Shelby Clark. I am a

theology major at Southern Adventist University. Wonderful school, beautiful

school. I highly recommend it, even though it's pricey. Still a great

university nonetheless. So a little fun fact about me is that I worked for It Is

Written in 2020. I was a Bible worker for them out in Indiana for the Ignite

Indiana campaign. My dad and I were able to work side by side. We went door to

door and we reached countless people before COVID hit. And even after COVID

hit, we transitioned from Ignite Indiana to another mission. We made it online. I

don't remember the name of it though. Is the Sarah remember? Where's Sarah at?

Elder Sarah. I don't see her. Do you remember? Was it Hope Awakens? That

sounds right. Amen. The elders in the house know what's going on. So yeah, we

transitioned to Hope Awakens and it was a wonderful time. We reached countless

people, even more so because we were able to go online. We even reached people

internationally. I do not remember the amount of baptisms that happened locally

for the state of Indiana. I believe we had around 10. Wish we could have gotten

more, but sadly COVID caused a lot of fear where people stayed home and

wouldn't receive even the things that were online. But now moving forward, I'm

just I'm so happy to be here with all of you today. It's such an honor to be able

to be invited back. That means a lot to me. That means what I spoke last time

was not wrong. I can't think of the other word because I lack intelligence in the

English department even though it's my one and only language. Well, soon and very

soon Hebrew will be my second language, but that's gonna take some time.

Alrighty, so now I wanted to share a little fun fact with all of you. Did you

know that the Bible is the only book in the entire world that cross-references

itself more than any other book out there? Did you know that? Some of you?

Anybody? Did you know that? Okay, some of you know that. Awesome. Okay, another fun

fact about me, I love being able to hear from the crowd back. I love to get the

church members involved because I believe that's what Christ did. We see

that biblically. So today in the house of the Lord, if we're here in Christ, then I

believe that we too should be able to, that are comfortable, speak back and

answer questions. Don't be afraid. This is what God intended for us to do.

Alrighty, so I actually am able to tell you the exact amount of times that the

Bible cross-references itself. Do you want that number? It's over 63,000 times.

The exact number in 2018 was 63,779 times. The Bible quotes itself over and

over and over again. It seems as if it never ends. And another study this year

in 2023, we have found out now that the Bible is continually cross-referencing

itself to where it's broke over 65,000 times. This is the only book in the

entire world that is able to reference itself to this degree. That must mean

that there's something important in there, huh? It keeps repeating itself over

and over again. And soon, and very soon, in fact any moment now, I'm gonna be able

to show you the map that a gentleman, a group of gentlemen put together to show

you how many times the Bible cross-references itself. It's beautiful, it's

amazing, it's immaculate. It blew my mind. There we go. Can you, oh I don't know if

you can see that map, but it's not as bright as I had hoped. Okay, can you see

it a little bit better? So it it's kind of like if you cut a cake in half and

you have that half of the oval that's right there, and it's filled with all

different colors. Anyone that's interested, you can come up and talk to me

after and I can show you the exact picture on my slide so that you can

better see what it is that I'm seeing. So the reason why this is just baffled me

and I had to share this with all of you is because if one truth was taken away,

one truth, one fundamental truth, this whole entire thing would collapse upon

itself. If you remove the state of the dead, cross-references disappear. If you

remove mercy and grace, the cross-references disappear. And that makes

me think of the human body. What happens if the big toes were to be removed from

the feet of a person? Does anyone want to? What would happen? Yes, it would be very

difficult to walk in balance. In fact, you'd probably end up falling. Now, what

if we didn't have feet all together? Wouldn't that be pretty difficult too?

Now, what if we were to take away something extremely fundamental to the

body, like the spine? Then what? Someone said you would die. Probably. Really, your

life would be absolutely miserable. Imagine if we removed grace from the

spectrum from the Bible. If we removed every element of grace, there would be

nothing for us. There would be no hope. All of the fundamental truths would stand

on nothing. Nothing. There would be no foundation, only mere words that meant

nothing. The deists would be right. Do any of you know what deism is? What is it, Elder?

So, it's more of a hands-off approach that God would say to the Creator, set things in motion and said, I'll be over here.

It's a hands-off approach that God made the world, made you, maybe made you special, and then left you and

abandoned you, abandoned the entire planet to do as it pleases. But they're

wrong because grace and mercy is all throughout the scriptures. God is indeed

personal. We have the little big toes to prove it. God cared about you being able

to walk straight and walk properly. Sadly, sin does cause issues sometimes and we

suffer the effects of it, but God also gave you something essential. He gave you

a heart so that you could live. He gave you lungs so that you could breathe and

again live. God is indeed personal and we see it throughout the 65,000 cross

references in the Bible. Now, I wanted to be able to show you guys a cross

reference and it's found in Daniel chapter 9. We're gonna go ahead and we're

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

gonna start jumping around in the Bible and I want to show you a cross reference

that's mentioned. And by the way, the sermon title did change. It was

supposed to be about eternal fire, but now it is the reconciled. The Lord brought

this to me last night and said it needed to change, so we're dealing with a brand

new creature, the reconciled. So, turn to Daniel chapter 9, please. And let's see

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

here. Verse 24. What verse? Verse 24. I'm gonna be reading it from the New American

Standard Bible. It's one of my favorites, so it might not match exactly with some

of y'all's translations, but that's okay. The same point is there nonetheless.

Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. And it reads, actually, are we there? Do we need

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

more time? If we're there, just give me an amen. Oh, okay, we're there. So, in

Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24, it reads, 70 weeks have been have been decreed for

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

your people and your holy city, and to finish the transgression and to make an

end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring an everlasting

righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

Now, we're gonna look at the 70 weeks here. 70 weeks have been decreed for who?

For God's people. Amen. And we know this is dealing specifically with Daniel and

the people of his time. We also know that this is all the way until the time of

Christ because of the time prophecy that's given here. So, we just read the

70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the

transgression. We've established that it is indeed talking about God's people, but

specifically it's talking about Daniel and the Jews. It's not talking about

Christianity at the time. It's talking about them. Now, who is the one that is

desiring to make reconciliation for those who are in iniquity? Any guesses? I

promise the verse tells you who. Not Daniel. Daniel can't forgive sins. Oh, I'm

hearing Jesus being whispered throughout the crowd. Jesus? Jesus. Amen. The most

holy, the anointed, Christ the righteous. This is who this vision is speaking

about in Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. He is the only one that can reconcile

Daniel 9:24

sinners onto God. He is the only one that can take sinners and make them

righteous. Christ is the only one that can do this amazing deed and this

amazing job. Oh good, can you see the little lamb? Isn't it cute? It's so cute.

That's why I chose it. So, now that we know that we're talking about Jesus as

the most holy, as the anointed, let's read the first part again. The 70 weeks. Who

are they determined for again? For the Jews, for Daniel's people. Amen. All the

way until Christ's time as well. Now it's interesting because we're talking about

how the Bible cross-references itself. It repeats itself over and over again. So

before we we dive straight into the next cross-reference, I'm gonna help set up

something here. It says the Bible, the Bible gives us a day for a year

principle. How many of you, a Seventh-day Adventist, believe that to be true? Do

any of you know where that's located in the Bible though? Where we get that

principle? I'm seeing some head nods. I'll give you a hint. It's in the book of

Ezekiel. Does anyone know the chapter? It's okay if you don't know the chapter.

Oh, somebody knows the chapter. What chapter? Chapter four. Amen. We have a

scholar in the house today. Ezekiel chapter four and verse six. It gives us

the day for a year principle when dealing with prophecy and we can read

this if any of you would be comfortable turning to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter four

and verse six. And it reads, when you have completed these you shall lie down

a second time but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah.

I have assigned it to you for 40 days, a day for each year. If you read the full

context of this chapter I promise you'll see that there is a prophecy going on.

And so now if we continue with this a day for a year principle and we do a

little bit of math, which I'm not a fan of math guys. I'm not a fan of math. I've

never done good in it. But this math is really simple. God is speaking to his

prophet about prophecy and God gives him the equation to prophetic time. So

instead of 70 literal weeks it would be 70 times 7. Because we have seven days

throughout the week. So the 70 weeks times 7 and that gives us how many years?

What was that? 490. So 490 years is what Daniel chapter 9 verse 24 is speaking

Daniel 9:24

about. Now isn't that interesting the 70 times 7. This is where we start

connecting the dots. Where else in the Bible is 70 times 7 mentioned? For

forgiveness. Amen. Peter asks a question to Jesus and that question is found in

Matthew chapter 18 and verse 21. Let's go ahead and turn there. Matthew chapter

Matthew 18 · chapter mention Matthew 18 · chapter mention

18 and verse 21. 22. Give me an amen when you're there and mercy if you need some

more time. Sounds like we need a little bit of mercy but nobody asked so I will

not grant it. Matthew chapter 18 verses 21 through 22 starting in verse 21. Then

Matthew 18:21–22

Peter came and said to him, Lord how often shall my brother sin against me

and I forgive him? Up to seven times? I want to stop right there in verse 21.

Peter was being what I call a smarty pants because he took what was true but

he was being aggressive about it. Why would Peter say up to seven times? What

was significant to the Jews about the number seven? Little bit louder.

Perfection. Okay we have perfection. We had the Sabbath so seven was something

very significant. It was essential. It was huge to the culture. Seven was perfect.

So Peter being a little smarty pants as I call it said what up to seven times

Jesus? But Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times but up to

seventy times seven. Isn't that interesting? The Bible is cross

referencing itself. It's building up things here and what's interesting is

that Peter asked this question to Jesus who is the God of reconciliation. Isn't

this amazing? Peter asked Jesus about reconciliation and then Jesus points to

him to himself the God of reconciliation in the Old Testament

specifically from Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. You know the most holy the

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

anointed one? Peter. That's me. Even though he didn't say specifically to

Peter in that moment that that's him he gave him a Bible study pointing him to

the God of reconciliation. You mess up and God doesn't close the doors after

your seventh failure. Instead Christ dealing with continues to deal with you

and work with you until the day you draw your last breath. God is the God of

reconciliation. Now if we continue to look at Daniel we see that it isn't just

determined for the people but it said it was also for the city. Now what do you

need to have in order to be able to build a city? What do we need? We building

materials that's true but before we can build we need a place to build it on

right? So we need land amen. We need land in order to build a city. So isn't this

crazy? The Bible talks about how we're supposed to treat the land. Did you know

this? You might not have known this because I didn't know this. This is found

in Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 4. Again Leviticus what chapter? Chapter 25

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

and verse 4 and it tells us how we're supposed to treat the land. What's

interesting is how we're supposed to treat the land is also connected with

the Sabbath. Leviticus chapter 25 in verse 4 and I'm gonna go ahead and start

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

reading here and it says but during the seventh year the land shall have a

Sabbath rest. A Sabbath to the Lord you shall not sow your field nor prune your

vineyard. Isn't that interesting? When the Jews were being rebellious, rebelling

against God saying I know better you don't have to provide for me I can

provide for myself. We saw that type of attitude in the book of Exodus before

they even received land to become a city but as they were being rebellious

against God they kept breaking the law of God. They weren't keeping it as they

were commanded to. Many nations would then begin to attack Israel for at least

490 years. We had the siege of the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians,

the Greeks and then the Romans. If the land was supposed to receive a Sabbath

every seventh year and the Jews can't work the land for around 490 years then

how many Sabbaths would the land receive? Oh I think I heard the answer. How'd you

get there? I did say it earlier. So if you take 490 and now you divide it by 7

you get 70. Isn't this interesting? The cross references, the connections, some of

you might not be seeing it that's okay but I'm beyond excited. I'm getting

filled up with joy right now because God isn't just reconciling people unto

himself he's trying to recover the land that the enemy had been damaging and

destroying. God doesn't just care about you he cares about the animals he cares

about the very land that we have been destroying for so long. God is coming to

bring reconciliation. God came to bring rest not only to us but to his land and

now continuing on the route of reconciliation turn with me to 2nd

Corinthians please. 2nd Corinthians this is Paul's writings. 2nd Corinthians

chapter 5 verses 18 through 20. 2nd Corinthians what chapter? 5 amen and

verses 18 through 20. Give me some amens if you're there please. Oh wonderful okay

let's go ahead and read this. Well I guess we won't read it all together.

Follow along. Now all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself

through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So where did Paul just

get this verse from? He got this from the Old Testament we've been reading it.

Where did he get this from? Daniel chapter 9 verse 24. The most holy the

Daniel 9:24

anointed one would come to bring reconciliation and Paul through his

studies realized Jesus Christ was the anointed the most holy. He came and he

brought reconciliation through himself. Not only that but he gave us the

ministry of reconciliation. It is a gift namely that God was in Christ reconciling

the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and he has

committed to us the word the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are

ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us. We

beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. Isn't this absolutely

amazing? God is a God of reconciliation. He wants to make things right again. God

wasn't just trying to reconcile his people to himself. He was working to

reconcile all things to him once again. That's what Daniel chapter 9 is all

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

about. He came and took dominion back from the prince of this world to give us

the freedom to choose. To choose reconciliation or damnation. To choose

life everlasting or misery and torment. We know Christ did indeed accomplish

this goal of reconciliation because the father allowed his son to live again.

Jesus rose from that grave. He overcame the devil and now has given us the right

to be heirs of salvation. To come boldly to the throne of God. Proudly now we can

proclaim because of the sacrifice of Christ that we are heirs of salvation.

Not because of ourselves but because of the suffering Savior's sacrifice for it

was sufficient. Isaiah chapter 53 it tells us how we can be partakers of the

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

reconciliation. Titus tells us through whose power we are able to receive the

reconciliation. Christ has done this for all of us but now we have been called to

reconcile to one another. Acts chapter 7 and verse 26 I'm gonna summarize it to

Acts 7 · chapter mention

you. It tells us to stop wronging each other. To reconcile with one another. If

you are lying to your brother and your sister stop lying to them. If you are

doing wrong unto the brotherhood stop doing wrong. Seek what is good. Seek what

is right. Seek reconciliation. Speak to them. While Jesus says in Matthew chapter

Matthew 5:24

5 verse 24 reconcile with your brother and then you yourself go and bring a

gift to the one. To your brother. Isn't that interesting? So that means even if

you weren't the one that did the wrong your brother did wrong to you and you go

and you seek them out and you're saying hey we're divided. This isn't of God let

us work it out. Let's communicate. Let's make things right. Let's reconcile like

God has commanded us to do. Let us work it out. After you've then reconciled even

if you were the one in the right and didn't do the wrong go and humble

yourself and bring them a gift. Isn't that interesting? Jesus Christ came down

from heaven and said father let me reconcile mankind unto myself. They have

done what is wrong and what is evil and what is wicked. They have been deceived

by the enemy and believe that we are evil and wicked and that we don't care

about them but let me show them. Let me show them that the enemy was wrong. Let

me reconcile them unto ourselves that they may live with a life they can't

even begin to imagine. And then after Christ reconciled us onto himself he

gave us something something profound. He gave us eternal life. He gave us a gift

that none of us deserve. Eternal life with God forevermore. It's ours to have

if we would just learn to reconcile with God and with fellow man. Now how many of

you today want to take a pledge before God? Today how many of you want to pledge

that you'll strive to learn what it means to be reconciled in Christ? I want

that. Does anyone else want that today? Amen. I'm so glad that that is the

desire of our hearts today. So with that with that desire let us pray. Heavenly

Father thank you so very much for today. Thank you for your Sabbath. Thank you for

your Holy Spirit. Now Father we just ask that you send your Holy Spirit to dwell

on our hearts today. Teach us of the heavenly reconciliation. Teach us to

abide at the feet of Jesus that we may learn to overcome the flesh and have

victory over the darkness. Give us the Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus name amen.