Pastor Paul LeBlanc 3-9-24 "It's not what you know..."

The speaker introduces his wife, Argenta, and shares the story of how she got her name. He talks about how they met and got married. He then talks about his upbringing in a Catholic home and how he found faith in God through reading a book about prophecy. He shares his journey into ministry and his experiences with different people and places. He then moves on to talk about a story from history involving Adolf Hitler and Jesse Owens, and how it relates to the scripture reading from Jeremiah chapter 9. The speaker emphasizes that it's not about personal achievements or riches, but about knowing and understanding God. Thank you. Thank you, Dan. I've never been introduced that way ever and you talk about a hard act to follow. It's good to be with you. I was asked to introduce my wife, Argenta. You'll want to know about her name. She mentioned her Down syndrome sister who's 11 months older than she is. They were both born in the year 1956. So that's kind of cool right there. But when Argenta was born, she had a birth mark in her hair. It was silver hair. Most of her hair was brown, but she had this silver spot in her hair and it freaked out her mother. You caught a glimpse of her mother's character and that almost starts to tell you a little bit about Billy. Anyway, she was freaking out there with the doctor wanting to know what was wrong with her baby. You know, she'd already had one Downs and now what's wrong with this one? Talking about her and the doctor told her, said, look Billy, there's nothing wrong with this child. She has a beautiful birthmark. A lot of women pay good money to get their hair straight. This was back in the 50s. She said, the doctor said, look up the word silver in Latin and see if you like it. And it just so happens Argenta means silver. So that's how she got her name. I met her when I went off to Southern Missionary College. It's now Southwest South Southern Adventist University. And we met there and I thought that when I first met her, I thought, man, that is one bodacious woman. No way I'm ever going to be attracted to her. But you know, our schedules kept interfacing. God has his ways. And so we became good friends and I finally asked her to become my wife and we've been married for 44 years, is it? 45? 1978. So you do the math. It'll be June on June 4. So good chance we'll be here at that time. Anyway, I was baptized in 1978. And like Dan said, I grew up in a Catholic home. And like most Catholics, we never attended mass. Until my father went off to Vietnam. He was military. And my mother asked me, would I like to go to catechism? I was probably six years old. I said, okay, and I went to church. My godmother gave me a child's missal that I used to follow when we went to mass. That was the only year we ever, we ever went to church when my dad was in Vietnam. And I remember the training we had before we were to receive our first communion. The nun told us, whatever you do, do not bite the host. That is Jesus. You just let him go. And he'll dissolve. And you'll receive his body that way. And I thought, wow. So right after we had that first communion, my buddy said to me, I did it. I was aghast. I told the nun, I just couldn't believe it. Well, we all grow and learn, right? But I found out later that when I was 17, my mother brought home the book, Late Great Planet Earth. It's a Baptist book about prophecy. And I began to realize that this book knows the future. Because I used to wonder, was there really a God? And I read this book and was convicted. I began to read it. And I was 17. And when I was 18, my first semester of college, I went to a series of revelation seminars, of course, by the Adventists. Had never heard of them. And while I was there, I heard a message that just brought joy to my heart that made absolute logical sense. I thought, wow, it is truly the blessed hope waiting for Jesus to come. And that's what thrills my soul. So, of course, I was told by the church school teacher there in the place where I was baptized that I needed to go to one of our colleges. Because I was getting at the age I'd be attracted to the ladies. And I needed to make sure I had an Adventist wife. Those were the words. And so the rest, of course, is history. I started full time ministry in 1987. And I took a break about five years ago. I was old enough to retire. And was just painting houses, which I enjoyed doing in odd jobs, that kind of thing. But after a nice break, my batteries got recharged. And I got a phone call from your conference secretary, who I knew back in Texas, asking me if I'd be interested in coming back into ministry. And I interviewed with the elders of the churches here over Zoom. And I have to say that the folk up here in New England just seemed to be delightful people. I always had this concept that maybe they were a little bit aloof. And maybe y'all, maybe they are. Maybe it's just the Adventist church. But I got off the plane in Burlington and went to pick up our car. And the lady there was as nice as she could be. We ate in Berlin yesterday up in Vermont. And the people serving us were great. Talked to the customers, the clients that were eating. Everybody was wonderful. And y'all have been absolutely tremendous in your reception. So thank you very much. What's that? Oh, well, when my dad retired from the military, we were living on Fort Gordon, Georgia. And they built a house in Augusta. And I hated Georgia. That my cat had been killed there. And the people were just rude about it. And, you know, we moved off base and moved into the new home. And I began to love Georgia. I've loved everywhere I've been. I've lived in 12 states. And if we move here, it'll be 13. So God's will be done. I want to get into the Word. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for the privilege to be here today with your people. We ask for your blessing. We pray that your Spirit will fill us as we listen to your Word. And we pray that you will give us the will to do your will, that we may understand your doctrine. Lead us now. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. In 1936, Adolf Hitler was boasting about the Aryan race, those blond-eyed, blue-haired people that were superior to all other races. And he was going to prove that, demonstrate the Aryan superiority through the Olympics that were going to be held that year. You might remember the name Jesse Owens. He came from a poor, hard-working family. Of course, he was African-American. And Jesse had already broken world records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. And he was also a member of the American record-breaking relay team. Now, the event that the Germans most wanted to succeed in was the broad jump. And Jesse entered the trials for that race. And he wanted to beat the record holder, his name, a German fellow by the name of Luz Long. And so on his first trial jump, he ran, but he fouled, crossed over the line just a little bit before he launched and was disqualified on that jump. And so wanting to really make a good impression, he tried super hard the second jump, but it was just a terrible jump. And realizing that he was now in danger of having to totally miss that event, he pulled himself aside and got down on his knees and was beginning to pray when he heard his name called. Well, there was nothing he could do but get up, cut his prayer short. But before he even finished getting up, he felt a hand on his shoulder and there was his competitor, the German record holder, Luz Long. And Luz told him, he said, relax, just start six minutes, six inches farther back and then just give it all you've got. And so Jesse did that. And he made his qualifying leap. This kindness that Luz Long, his competitor, showed him began a friendship that they kept up through the years, riding back and forth. You know, they didn't have cell phones back then, right? And so they'd write to each other. And on the very last letter that Luz wrote from North Africa, he told Jesse, that hour in Berlin before I first spoke to you, when you had your knee upon the ground, he said, I knew that you were in prayer. And then he said, I believe in God now and I pray to him all the time. The thing is, Adolf Hitler had his own agenda, considered himself superior, his people above all other peoples. He was proud, he was arrogant, and I guess so was the country because they followed him. I want to bring you to our scripture reading for today, Jeremiah chapter nine. Jeremiah chapter nine, beginning in verse 23, reads, thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the rich man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord and the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the only begotten in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord. Because it's not about us, it's all about him. Now we're prone, we look at what we have and we feel good about it sometimes. But the Bible tells us here that that's not what it's about. The world has seen rich men and mighty men and wise men. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. The wisest man the Bible ever records is who? Jesus. That's true. But he was also God. Who would come in second place? Solomon. Wisest man. I love the story of Solomon. He received his commission to be king and in his prayers, the Lord asked him, in his dreams, the Lord asked him, what do you want? I'll give you anything. Wise man, give me wisdom. I'm thankful for the promise in the book of James that if anyone lacks wisdom, he can ask of God. And if he asks, believing without doubting, God will give it. I claim that promise more times than I can think, probably every day. God gives wisdom. I've seen it happen. God gave Solomon ultimate wisdom. I mean, they brought to him this impossible case. Two women, one of them lost their child. The other one claimed it was hers. So these two women both claiming the same child. What does Solomon do? Well, bring him to me. Cut the child in half and give him to each one. You know the story. And what does the real mother do? No, no, let her have the child. She gave birth to the child. And Solomon was wise. Give the baby to the proper mother. But Solomon, in all his wisdom, he wrote the book of Song of Songs, but he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, which is one of my favorite books of the Bible. In the book of Ecclesiastes, he writes about the wisdom and knowledge for everything. In the end, he finds out it's all about God. Everything else is vanity and useless. You can have the highest IQ in the world, but you're going to die just like everyone else. Your name will be forgotten, except for the books of Ecclesiastes. Solomon was wise. And what did he do? He married into relationships with heathen kingdoms. And through it, he introduced idol worship into the country. All the wisdom that you have is lost if you do not stay connected with the source of wisdom. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might. Okay, the strongest person in the Bible, who was it? Samson. Just don't cut your hair, right? He was the son of a donkey. He flew a thousand Canaanites. They tried to catch him. They couldn't do it. But he got cocky. Time after time, his girlfriend kept asking him. You know, it's kind of interesting to me. Both Solomon and Samson got into trouble because of their girlfriends. I don't know that that happened. But I do know that Samson took his eyes off the source of his strength. And he told his girlfriend the symbol of that strength. And so, she cuts his hair and calls for the guards, and they take him. Finally, after how many years, Samson says to his girlfriend, this is the greatest moment. Just take me to the center pillar. Lord, it's all about you. Give me the victory. And in his death, Samson killed more of the enemy than he killed himself. He killed himself. He killed us. Whatever we have is for his glory. He's the one who has provided it. Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. Now, I don't know if this is true. I don't know if this is right. Maybe Job, in his day. Job was a righteous man. Every day, he knelt before the Lord and offered sacrifices for every one of his children. We would be wise to follow that, the sacrifice of prayer and praise, lifting up our children and giving them to the Lord. He had wealth that was unheard of for the territory. But in a moment, it was snatched away. He was faithful. It was taken from him. Of course, he didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, just like we don't know. But he was a righteous man who had taken all of his produce that he'd gotten, all the grains, and stored them up and decided, I'm going to take my ease now and relax. And of course, the response was, what a fool, because your soul will be required of you tonight. It's like they say, you've never seen a yule hall following a hearse. It doesn't matter how much money you've got in the bank. It's all going to be gone. When Jesus returns, and the signs indicate it soon, when Jesus returns, all of that's going to burn. The elements will melt with fervent heat. And it won't matter. We've also been told that before the Lord returns, all our money is going to be worthless. And we don't know when the Lord is coming. We don't glory in what's in the bank account. We don't take pride in how big or magnificent our house is, or even how beautiful our church building is. And it is amazing how this building came into your hands. I'm just standing in awe. I'm just standing in awe of God. So we read it again, Jeremiah 9 verse 23, Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows me. So, let me read you some reading. And I came across the story of a fellow by the name of, let me see if I got this right, I've got to find my notes here, and I came back to my first story. William Herschel, 17 years old. He lived in Germany. Germany back in that time in the 1700s or 1800s was owned, at least that part of Germany was ruled by King George, the same king that ruled the colonies. And so, like his father and his brother, William Herschel joined the Hanoverian guards. And so, when Hanover was the city, he joined the military. I went in and asked my wife if she'd ever heard of William Herschel. How many besides her, how many know who William Herschel is? I asked her, she's a teacher of course, and she said, I've never heard of him. And I was like, wow, I didn't know that either. But he was 17, joined the military, got stationed over in London, but they got called back to Germany because there was a war going on. And his father told William and his older brother, he said, don't go to Germany, stay here. And so, he was, he'd served his time, this contract was up, he could get out. But William had to go AWOL. He obeyed his father, got lost, and for the next 25 years, he had to keep looking over his shoulder because the penalty for going AWOL in the British service was the death sentence. And so, he was a little bit worried about that. He was a little bit worried about the fact that you were going to die, or however they chose to kill you, Marshall, firing squad, whatever it might be. And so, for 25 years, he worried about this. During that time, his love for astronomy overcame him. He built his own telescopes, polished his own mirrors and glass, would get high up on that telescope, his sister sitting at the bottom, taking down the notes of his observations. He was a scientist. He was a scientist. He was a scientist. He did all kinds of things, he found out. And he was known in the scientific community. One day, he got a summons to appear before the court of George III. And he thought to himself, well, this is it. I've been found out. And so, he went to the palace. And when they let him into the throne room, the king got off of his throne, came to William, gave him a hug, and then handed him a parchment, sealed with the king's seal. And so, he opened it up and he read it. And he read it. And there, the royal pardon, he'd been forgiven. All this time, William was running and afraid, scared. But the king knew who William Herschel was and offered his pardon. Knew the man. But William did not know the king. The king was so moved that he just forgave his past. Of course, you see the obvious. Our God who created us, loved us so much that he provided the pardon. Not only did he provide the pardon, he came down into this world and lived the life that we could not live. The life that satisfies everybody in the kingdom. You know, those angels are looking over the records. And they want to know, are we safe to become their neighbors? And they're looking over the records to see, have we come to know Jesus ourselves? Do we know our God as our Father? Have we gotten that well acquainted with him that he has so changed our lives? Because you know, that's what happens. The more that we study this book and discover the character of our God, the more we become like him. It's not like the Pharisees who memorized the entire Old Testament. Even though they read the words, they never got to know the author. But in prayer, we come to him. Teach me more about you. Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For these I delight, says the Lord. When Jesus was on his way to Gethsemane, he talked with his disciples and his disciples. And he talked with his disciples and he shared a lot of things. And he stopped with them and offered a prayer. And in his prayer, he said these things. I'm reading from John chapter 17. I'm going to start in verse 1. Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your son also may glorify you. As you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. Now, listen to his prayer in verse 3. And this is eternal life, that they may what? That they may know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And he said, Father, I have glorified you on the earth. Jesus said in verse 4, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. It reminds me in the book of Hebrews, we read of Jesus. I have come to do thy will, O God. And in verse 5, it says that we beheld his glory, full of grace and truth. Jesus said, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. There's the glory of the sun when it sets behind the mountains. I think to walk in here and just look at those trees on the hill is just glorious. There's all kinds of glory. There's the glory of battle, and I don't even know why they call it that. It seems horrible. There's the glory of when Jesus comes back again. When the heavens open up and his brilliance shines through, it's so much glory that those who have not learned who he is, who do not know him, they call out for the rocks in the mountains to fall on them. They would rather die than have to face Jesus face to face. But those who have learned to love him, those who have learned who he is, they're going to look up and they're going to say, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us. Jesus is coming back again. But to live through that glory, we must expose ourselves to the truest of glory. Come with me to the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus. In Exodus, Moses has led the people out from the Egyptian bondage. They've come to the mountain where God called him up. And Moses was up there in his covenant, which is based on the Ten Commandments. And the people said, everything that he has said, we will do. And while Moses was up there on the mountain, they had the high priest Aaron build for them a calf so that they could worship this God and go back to Egypt and worship the Lord and worship the lamb and the lambs and the garlic. How many times do we sell ourselves short for the things of this world? Moses comes down and he finds what's going on and he throws the tablets on the ground because they've broken the covenant. The Lord punishes the people. And he pleads with the Lord. He says, Lord, please don't destroy this people, but go with us. How can we bear it if you don't go with us? We will be destroyed. We need your presence. In Exodus chapter 33, the Lord promises Moses, I will go with you. He continues to reassure him. In chapter 18, Moses gives a wonderful request. It says here in Exodus 33 and verse 18, and he said, please, show me your what? Show me your glory. And God answered him in verse 19. He said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face for no man will see me and live. Now, I want to pause right there because in 1 John, it says that when he comes back again, we will see him as he is. We will behold him face to face because we will have been changed. We have gotten to know him and he will have changed us. And that day is going to be awesome. Verse 21, the Lord said to Moses, here is a place by me and you shall stand in the rock. So it shall be while my glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall you not see. Come down to chapter 34 and read in verse 5. Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, talking about Moses, and he proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, which means patient, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty. In other words, I can be merciful and just at the same time because I will pay the sins. And the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, showing mercy to thousands. So Moses made haste and bowed his head before toward the Lord and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray you, go among us, because we are a stiff-necked people. And the Lord said, The only hope we have is the glory of God. And that glory is in his character. It is who he is. And as we behold him, we become changed. We become more like him. I hope that you're not allowing the distractions of this world to distract you from the truth and what he has done. There's a whole other sermon. You might hear it one time about how do we get to know him better. The most important way is to seek him. Come with me to the book of Proverbs, the second chapter. Proverbs chapter two. Beginning in verse one, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. In other words, if you will seek for God with all your heart, pray earnestly and fervently. He is a rewarder of those who seek him. You will find him. I was a young Adventist. Maybe it had been a year since I had been baptized. I wanted to be close to God. I don't remember what sin I had done that made me just feel so awful. You know, I was working at McKee Baking Company at the time, and maybe I'd eaten too many of those brownies fresh off the line. I mean, you haven't tasted something until you've done that. And I'd probably eaten too many. Whatever it was, I was wrestling with God. You know, we've been told that it's good for us to get on our knees, to find our closet somewhere, and not to get up until we know that he has accepted us. Whatever it may be that's making you feel distant from him, seek him. And so, I was wrestling with God, and I was telling him, Lord, I love you. I was just pleading with him with all my fervency. Lord, I love you. I just want you to know that. I love you, you know. I wanted him to understand that I was with him. I was young. Finally, I felt relieved like he had heard me. A couple weeks had passed, and I came across a scripture just reading along in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10. It's one of my favorites. It says, Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave his son to be the propitiation for our sins. As we get to know him, we find our home. We find our home. We find our home. That verse has maintained me. I heard a poem one time, a real short one. Be my feelings what they will. Jesus is my Savior still. I encourage you, brothers and sisters, stay fervent in him. Seek him with all your heart. Spend time every day reading about his word, and asking him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. Ask him for discernment. And when that day appears, when the sky opens up, the clouds separate, and the glory of Jesus shines through, and all the world beholds him, we will be among those who stand up and say, this is our God. We have waited in him because our glory is in him. He will shed his glory. Upon us. Even so, come Lord Jesus. We're going to sing a beautiful hymn, number 290. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Number 290.