Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: 3AM
Program Code: 3AM000025
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00:30 Let's pray. Father what a joy it is to be in Your presence.
00:37 We've delighted as we've opened Your Holy Word 00:41 and studied about the three angels' messages; 00:44 Your last message to planet Earth. 00:47 And Father as we study about that great call in 00:53 Revelation 18, Come out of her My people, 00:56 we ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. 00:59 I ask, Lord, that You will especially bless those who are 01:04 watching this programming on the different media. 01:07 I ask, Lord, that You will open their minds and hearts 01:11 to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. 01:13 And we thank You, Father, for the promise of Your presence, 01:17 because we ask it in the precious and holy name 01:20 of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. 01:25 I'd like to begin our final study on the three angels' 01:32 messages by reading the passage that we have been studying 01:38 during the last several weeks, Revelation 14:6-12, 01:45 and then what we're going to do is bring everything together. 01:50 We're going to see how all of these pieces of the 01:53 three angels' messages fit together. 01:56 And not only will we dwell on Revelation 14:6-12, we will also 02:02 saw a few things about Revelation 14:14-20. 02:08 Revelation 14:6 reads as follows: 02:49 That's the first angel's message. Verse 8. 03:10 And then in verse 9 we have the third angel's message. 04:16 This is God's final message to planet Earth. 04:23 Because, as we're going to notice, as soon as the third 04:27 angel finishes his message Jesus is seen seated on a cloud 04:34 with a cycle in His hand, and He's going to harvest 04:37 the harvest of the earth, and He's going to harvest the grapes 04:41 of the earth because they are ripe. 04:44 In other words, these messages divide all of the human 04:47 race into two groups. 04:50 Now what we want to do is review, very briefly, 04:56 the content of the three angels' messages. 05:00 You'll notice that the first angel's message, first of all, 05:05 presents the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, 05:11 tongue, and people. 05:12 We have studied the everlasting gospel. 05:16 We noticed that the everlasting gospel has to do with 05:19 what Jesus did for us. 05:21 Jesus lived the life that we should live. 05:26 Jesus died the death that we should die. 05:29 And if we receive Jesus as our Savior, and as our Lord, 05:34 His life counts as if it was our life, and His death stands in 05:40 place of our death. 05:42 In other words, the everlasting gospel has to do with 05:46 the objective work of Jesus Christ; what Jesus did for us. 05:51 He lived the life that we should live, and He died the death 05:55 that we should die, so that we could be 05:58 accepted in the beloved. 06:00 And we noticed in our study that it's called the everlasting 06:03 gospel, because the plan of salvation was laid in the 06:08 ceaseless ages of eternity past. 06:12 You know, many Christians would want to stop with the 06:15 first part of the first angel's message. 06:18 Yes, it's all about the everlasting gospel. 06:21 It's all about what Jesus did for us. 06:24 But verse 6 does not end the first angel's message. 06:29 You see, the first angel's message, the everlasting gospel 06:33 when it is embraced, it commands us to do certain 06:38 things in response. 06:40 And so in verse 7 we have the response that Jesus expects 06:46 from those who have embraced the everlasting gospel. 06:50 And so the second part of the first angel's 06:55 message says fear God. 06:59 You see, that's our response to what Jesus has done 07:03 when He lived on this earth a perfect life, and when He died 07:08 the cruel death that we should die. 07:10 As a result of embracing the gospel the command 07:14 is given: Fear God. 07:16 Now we've studied what it means to fear God. 07:20 The basic idea behind fearing God is loving obedience to God, 07:29 because we stand in reverence, and in awe of Him. 07:34 In other words, fearing God means obeying God because 07:40 we love Him from the bottom of our hearts. 07:43 And we notice that that expression, fear God, 07:46 or the fear of the Lord, is constantly in the Bible, 07:50 linked with the idea of obedience to God's commandments. 07:55 For example, in Ecclesiastes 12 it says, Fear God and keep 08:01 His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. 08:05 For God will bring every work into judgment. 08:09 Once again, fearing God, and keeping His commandments, 08:13 are connected, or linked together. 08:16 So the first angel's message says, If you have embraced 08:20 the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will fear God. 08:25 But then you'll notice that the first angel's message continues 08:30 saying, Give glory to Him. 08:33 In other words, not only fear Him to the point of keeping 08:36 His commandments and obeying Him, 08:38 but also revealing His glory; giving glory to God. 08:44 And, as we studied, we noticed that the only glory that we can 08:48 give God is the glory that came from Him in the first place. 08:52 We noticed that His glory is His character. 08:55 And when we have embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, 08:59 the gospel of Jesus Christ transforms us. 09:02 It changes us into His glory, and then we reflect 09:07 His glory to the world. 09:08 I other words, the call to give glory to God means to reveal 09:13 the loving and wonderful character of God to the world. 09:18 We use the illustration of the sun and the moon. 09:21 You see, the sun represents God's glory. 09:24 The moon would be us. 09:26 The moon receives the glory from the sun, and then it projects 09:31 the glory of the sun to the earth. 09:33 In the same way, we receive the glory of Jesus Christ. 09:37 We, in contact with Him, receive the glory of His character, 09:41 and as a result we project, or we reflect 09:44 His glory to the world. 09:47 So the first angel not only calls us to obey God, 09:51 it also calls us to reflect in 09:54 the world the wonderful character of God. 09:58 But the first angel's message also calls upon us to care 10:03 for our bodies, and for our minds; what we put into our 10:07 bodies, and what we put into our minds. 10:10 Because that expression, Giving glory to God, is also used by 10:14 the Apostle Paul to say that we are temples. 10:17 Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, 10:20 and therefore we are to glorify God with our body and with our 10:26 spirit, or our mind, because they belong to God. 10:29 This means that we will be very careful about what we watch, 10:34 and what we listen to, what we allow to come into our minds. 10:38 It also means that we will be very careful with our physical 10:42 nature, with our physical body. 10:44 We will follow God's laws of health, because you need to 10:49 have a healthy body to have a healthy mind. 10:53 And so the first angel's message not only calls us to reflect 10:58 the glorious character of God, but it also calls upon us to be 11:02 careful about what we eat, and what we drink. 11:05 It should bring glory to God. 11:08 But the first angel's message also tells us that we are now 11:14 in the hour of God's judgment. 11:17 You see, most Christians believe that the judgment is going to 11:21 take place when Jesus comes, or perhaps even at 11:24 the moment you die. 11:25 Because they believe that when a person dies, if the person was 11:30 evil they go to hell, or their soul goes to hell. 11:34 If they were righteous their soul goes to heaven. 11:37 And there are other Christians who believe that perhaps 11:40 your soul would go purgatory to suffer a little while until 11:44 your soul is cleansed, and then it can enter glory. 11:49 And some even say that for people who have not reached 11:52 the age of accountability, their soul would go to limbo. 11:56 But the fact is, the Bible tells us that the judgment begins 12:01 at a certain point in human history. 12:03 It begins, and we haven't studied this specifically, 12:06 the date, but actually begins shortly after 1798 in 1844. 12:12 That's when God began the process of judging 12:15 first the dead, and ending with the living. 12:18 So if the judgment begins at a particular point of time, 12:22 and it begins with those who died first: Adam and all of his 12:26 decedents, that would mean that Adam and his decedents 12:30 did not go to heaven or to hell when they died, because if they 12:35 went to heaven or hell when they died, why would God call a 12:38 judgment to judge them if they've already been judged? 12:41 So basically the idea that we are in the hour of God's 12:46 judgment brings to view another important doctrine, 12:49 and that is that the dead know not anything. 12:54 Because the dead are dead until the moment when their name comes 12:58 up in the judgment, and when they're finally 13:01 rewarded when Jesus comes. 13:03 In other words, when a person dies they don't 13:06 receive their reward. 13:07 When a person dies they go to the grave, then in heaven they 13:11 are judged, and eventually, based on what is done in the 13:14 judgment, they receive life or death when Jesus comes. 13:19 This means that the dead are not anywhere except in the grave, 13:24 so the state of the dead is involved. 13:27 Basically the first angel's message tells us that the dead 13:32 are in the grave until Jesus comes, so there's no such thing 13:36 as the immortality of the soul. 13:39 So you would have to find a people in the world who are 13:42 teaching that now we are in the hour of God's judgment, 13:46 a people who teach that we're supposed to honor and glorify 13:49 God by what we eat and what we drink, a people whose passion is 13:53 to reveal the character of God, a people who are teaching 13:57 that we need to keep all of God's commandments, 14:00 because we fear Him, because we respect Him, because we stand 14:04 in awe of Him, and a people who teach that the 14:07 dead know nothing. 14:09 But there's another thing that is brought to view 14:13 in the first angel's message, and that is a call to worship 14:18 the Creator, the One who made the heavens, the earth, 14:22 the seas, and the fountains of waters. 14:25 Now we've studied that to recognize the Creator, 14:31 God gave us a sign, and that sign of the Creator 14:35 was the holy Sabbath. 14:37 You see, you can't separate worship of the Creator 14:41 from the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is the sign of 14:45 worship to the Creator. 14:46 And so the first angel's message calls us to worship the Creator 14:52 on the day which He has established, 14:55 which is the seventh day Sabbath. 14:56 So if you're looking for a people who are proclaiming 14:59 the first angel's message, you must look for a people who are 15:03 keeping God's Holy Sabbath day. 15:06 Let me ask you, does the first angel's message identify 15:11 God's remnant people on this earth? 15:14 It most certainly does. 15:15 They are people who have a deep respect and awe for God, 15:20 and they keep His commandments. 15:22 They are a people who say we're supposed to care for our minds, 15:25 and for our bodies. 15:26 They are a people who say that we need to reflect the wonderful 15:30 character of God to the world. 15:32 They are a people who say that we are now in the 15:36 hour of God's judgment; nothing that people are judged 15:39 when they die or when Jesus comes. 15:42 The judgment is taking place now. 15:44 There are people who say that the dead know nothing 15:47 until the moment of the resurrection. 15:49 There are people who teach that we're supposed to keep 15:51 the Sabbath in honor of the Creator. 15:53 This is the first angel's message. 15:56 But then we have a second message: 16:00 the second angel's message. 16:03 The second angel's message actually speaks about Babylon, 16:10 and Babylon is the opposite of the first angel's message. 16:14 Now we're going to discover, as we study along, 16:19 that Babylon has three parts. 16:21 And a little bit later on in this lecture we're going to 16:24 review what these three parts represent. 16:28 The Bible tells us that Babylon is composed of the dragon, 16:32 the beast, and the false prophet. Revelation 16:13. 16:39 Now Revelation 17 presents it with different terminology. 16:43 Revelation 17, instead of the beast, speaks about the harlot. 16:48 Instead of speaking about the false prophet, 16:51 it speaks about the daughters of the harlot. 16:58 And instead of speaking about the dragon, it speaks about 17:02 the kings of the earth with which the harlot fornicates, 17:06 or has illicit relations. 17:09 And so the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are spoken 17:13 of in Revelation 17 as the harlot, her daughters, 17:17 and the kings of the earth. 17:20 And the second angel's message tells us that Babylon, 17:24 this three fold system is fallen, and it tells us 17:30 the reason why Babylon fell. 17:32 It says there in Revelation 14: 8 that Babylon is fallen because 17:40 she has given all nations to drink of the wine 17:44 of the wrath of her fornication. 17:48 Her fall is due to the fact that she gave the nations her wine. 17:54 Now we've studied what the wine of Babylon represents. 18:00 In fact we dedicated a whole lecture just to talk about 18:05 the wine of Babylon. 18:07 And we noticed that the wine of Babylon represents her false 18:12 practices, and her counterfeit doctrines; doctrines such as 18:17 the idea that Sunday is holy. 18:21 Doctrines such as the idea that it's possible for the living 18:25 to speak to the dead, or to pray for the dead. 18:30 Such as the idea that it doesn't matter what you eat, 18:34 or what you drink. 18:35 Such as the idea that saying that God's law was 18:39 nailed to the cross. 18:41 Such as the idea that God throws the wicked into an 18:46 eternally burning hell. 18:48 We studied all of this from the Bible when we dealt 18:54 with the wine of Babylon. 18:55 In other words, what I am saying is that the wine of Babylon 18:59 is the opposite of the first angel's message. 19:02 You see, the first angel's message presents, if you please, 19:06 the wine of God, the unfermented wine of God. 19:09 You see the wine of God doesn't make people drunk. 19:13 The wine of God makes people sober. 19:16 And so when you drink God's wine, you assimilate His 19:22 doctrines, and the practices that are found in Scripture. 19:25 But Babylon gives the nations fermented wine. 19:30 She makes them drunk, which means her false doctrines, 19:34 and her false teachings make people drunk. 19:36 And so, folks, the second angel's message is the 19:41 opposite of the first. 19:42 In the first angel's message you have a people who practice the 19:45 things that are mentioned in that message. 19:47 The second message, in contrast, speaks about Babylon, 19:51 who teaches just the opposite of what is taught 19:54 in the first angel's message. 19:56 In fact, do you know that in the book of Revelation we have 20:01 two groups of three angels? 20:05 You say, Now wait a minute, we have two groups of three angels? 20:08 Absolutely. The first group is the one that we're studying now. 20:14 Let me ask you, What is the purpose of these three angels? 20:18 Folks if you continue reading you'll notice that the purpose 20:21 of the three angel's messages is to gather the whole 20:24 world on God's side. 20:26 It's a message to the world to tell people, Hey, 20:30 come over to God's side. 20:32 But there are three counterfeit angels. 20:35 They also go to all of the world to gather the world 20:40 on the side of the beast; on the side of Satan. 20:45 You say, Where are those three counterfeit angels? 20:49 They're found in Revelation 16: 13, where it speaks about three 20:54 evil spirits like frogs. 20:58 Who are these evil spirits? 21:00 The evil spirits that Jesus cast out were fallen angels folks. 21:04 And so it says that these three evil spirits like frogs, 21:09 come out of the mouth of the dragon. 21:11 Let me ask you, What is it that comes out of your mouth? words. 21:15 And so out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth 21:19 of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet, 21:22 come these teachings that are inspired by three counterfeit 21:27 angels to gather the world on the side of the beast, 21:31 on the side of Satan. 21:32 So basically you have to decide whether you accept 21:36 the three angels' message of God, or whether you accept 21:40 the wine of Babylon. 21:43 And then, of course, we have the third angel's message. 21:48 It is the most dire and severe warning that we find 21:54 in all of the Bible. 21:55 And you know some people say, Well, talk to me about 21:59 the love of Jesus. 22:00 This third message is a message of love from Jesus. 22:05 You see, warnings are also messages of love, 22:09 even if they are drastic and strong warnings. 22:13 You know, some times you need strong medicine. 22:15 You know, it doesn't exactly, you know when it's bitter 22:19 in the mouth, you know, you say, Oh, this is terrible! 22:24 But I'll tell you what, the disease is worse. 22:25 And so sometimes God gives us a message which is strong, 22:31 which hits us hard. 22:33 But the purpose of the third angel's message is that we do 22:37 not end up worshipping the beast, 22:38 and worshipping his image, and receiving his mark 22:43 and the number of his name. 22:44 Because those who worship the beast and his image, 22:47 and receive the mark, and the number of his name, 22:50 are going to receive the unmixed wrath of God. 22:53 And God does not want anyone to suffer His wrath. 22:56 And so He sends this message. 22:59 He says, Babylon is fallen. 23:01 Don't receive the mark of the beast. 23:04 Don't worship the beast. 23:06 Don't worship his image. 23:07 Because you will receive the unmitigated wrath of God. 23:12 Now the third angel's message mentions several powers. 23:16 It mentions the beast, worshipping the beast. 23:22 Now we dedicated a whole lecture to talk about the beast, 23:26 and we noticed Biblically, without a shadow of a doubt, 23:30 that the beast represents the Roman Catholic system. 23:35 I'm not talking about the individuals in the system. 23:38 There's a lot of God's true people in Babylon. 23:40 In fact we're going to notice that before we 23:44 draw this to an end. 23:45 Many of God's true people are in Babylon. 23:48 They belong to the beast, or they're within the beast power. 23:53 I shouldn't say they belong to the beast power, 23:55 but now they are part of that system. 23:57 There are many people who are in this system, which is called 24:02 the false prophet. 24:03 There are many of God's true people among the kings 24:06 of the earth, the secular powers of the earth. 24:08 And we're going to notice that God gives these people 24:12 a call to come out. 24:15 And so we notice that the beast power represents 24:18 the Roman Catholic Papacy as a system, a power that ruled 24:23 for time, times, and the dividing of time, or 1260 years, 24:29 from 538 to 1798, and a power who received a deadly wound, 24:33 but whose deadly wound is going to be healed. 24:36 And everyone on Planet Earth who is not on God's side 24:40 will worship this system. 24:43 But we also noticed in the third angel's message 24:47 that there is a second beast. 24:49 This is a beast that rises from the earth, has two horns like a 24:53 lamb, which we noticed represents two kingdoms; 24:56 one nation that recognizes two kingdoms that Jesus recognized, 25:01 because they're two horns like a lamb, 25:03 and horns represent kingdoms. 25:06 We identified this power, beyond any shadow of a doubt, as 25:12 the United States of America, who in it's founding documents 25:17 taught, and still teaches to this day, that in the United 25:22 States of America there are two separable kingdoms. 25:26 There's the kingdom of the church, and there is the 25:29 kingdom of the state, and they exist in the same nation, 25:33 but they are to be kept separate one from another. 25:36 Render therefore unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, 25:40 and unto God that which is God's. 25:42 But this beast that rises from the earth will have these two 25:45 horns like a lamb. 25:46 It will confess, externally, that it believes in two 25:50 kingdoms, but we're told in the prophecy that it will end up 25:55 speaking like a dragon, which means that it will make an image 25:59 to the first beast. 26:01 It will have a love relationship with the Roman Catholic Papacy, 26:04 and it will implement in the United States 26:07 the principles of the Papacy. 26:09 It will no longer separate church and state. 26:11 It will join church and state. 26:13 It will make an image of the first beast. 26:15 Now if you look at the first beast, what characterized it 26:18 is that during the 1260 years, it used the power of the sword, 26:24 or the power of the state, to persecute those who were not 26:27 in harmony with her. 26:29 So if this beast from the earth is going to make an image of 26:33 that first beast, it must mean that she's going to join church 26:37 and state, and she's going to enforce the principles 26:41 of the first beast. 26:44 And then, of course, we noticed in the third angel's message 26:49 about the mark of the beast. 26:51 We actually had two lectures on the mark of the beast. 26:54 And we noticed that the mark of the beast is in contrast 26:57 to the seal of God. 26:58 The seal of God is found in the fourth commandment of His law. 27:02 You need three things for a seal: the name of the person, 27:07 his office, and the territory over which he rules. 27:11 There's only one commandment in God's law that has those three 27:15 characteristics, and that is the fourth commandment 27:17 of God's holy law. 27:19 In other words, the seal of God is the seventh day Sabbath, 27:23 which means that the mark of the beast must be an opposite sign 27:28 that the beast has of his power and his authority. 27:32 And we noticed that the beast, the Roman Catholic Papacy, 27:36 claims that its sign of authority is Sunday 27:42 as the day of rest. 27:45 Then we studied about the number of the beast. 27:49 We noticed that the number is connected with his name; 27:52 it's the number of his name. 27:53 And we noticed that his name is Vicarious Filii Dei. 27:58 We dedicated a whole lecture to this. 28:00 It was quite a while ago. 28:01 But we noticed that Vicarious Filii Dei, the number value 28:05 of those Latin letters is 666. 28:09 And, by the way, that name, according to the Papacy, 28:13 is what gives it authority to do things on earth 28:18 in the name of Jesus, such as the idea that it has the power 28:23 to change God's law. 28:25 You ask the Papacy, Who gave you the power to change God's law? 28:29 They'll say, Because we have on earth 28:32 the Vicar of the Son of God. 28:34 He represents the Son of God, therefore he can 28:37 do what Jesus does. 28:39 So you see the name and number is related to his claim 28:44 to having power to change God's holy law. 28:48 Beware of receiving his number. 28:53 Then we noticed at the end of the third angel's message 28:56 that whoever drinks the wine of Babylon, whoever worships 29:01 the beast and his image, and receives his mark, 29:05 and the number of his name, will suffer the outpouring of the 29:10 unmitigated, unmixed wrath of God upon those who did not 29:17 receive the gospel, and who did not receive 29:20 the three angel's message. 29:23 And we noticed in the third angel's message that there's a 29:27 reference to being tormented with fire and brimstone 29:31 before the angels, and before the Lamb, 29:34 and not having rest day or night. 29:37 Those who worship the beast and his image, 29:40 and received his mark, and the number of his name. 29:43 And we did a full study of what this is really saying. 29:47 You see most churches teach that those who are in apostasy 29:52 against God in the end time are going to burn in the fires 29:57 of hell forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, 30:01 and they're never going to go out. 30:03 But we studied this very carefully, and we noticed 30:07 that even though the torment is going to be long, 30:10 the suffering is going to be long, eventually the suffering 30:14 will come to an end. 30:17 In other words, hell fire is not a place where God tortures 30:20 people throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. 30:23 People will be punished in the lake of fire according to their 30:28 works according to Scripture. 30:31 And then, of course, we have the conclusion of the 30:34 third angel's message. 30:35 Do you know the conclusion of the third angel's message 30:38 brings to view the remnant of Jesus Christ. 30:41 Notice the characteristics of the remnant. 30:46 Revelation 14:12 speaks about those who have what? 30:51 the patience of the saints. 30:54 Why are we going to need patience? 30:56 Folks we studied a whole lecture on the patience of the saints. 31:01 God's people are going to go through the tribulation. 31:04 It's going to be the worst period in human history. 31:08 Even the most fertile imagination cannot imagine 31:12 what the tribulation is going to be like. 31:13 It's going to be like the time when the three young men 31:17 were thrown into the fiery furnace. 31:19 Well let me make it clear, God's people will not 31:23 suffer the wrath of God. 31:24 They will live on the earth when God is pouring out His wrath, 31:28 but they will be shielded by divine power, 31:31 just like the three young men were shielded by divine power. 31:34 But they will have to be on earth, and their faith will 31:38 be severely tested, but they will stand. 31:41 They will have the perseverance... 31:44 Which is a better translation. 31:45 They will have the perseverance of the saints. 31:48 They will hang on, and they will not give up. 31:52 God's remnant will have the patience of the saints. 31:56 But then the last part of the third angel's message also says 32:00 that they keep the commandments of God. 32:03 And we studied a whole lecture on the commandments of God, 32:05 and we noticed that the expression, 32:07 keeping the commandments of God, 32:09 refers to the ten commandments. 32:11 In other words, God's people are going to keep 32:15 the ten commandments. 32:16 So much for the people who say that the ten commandments 32:19 were nailed to the cross, or that Jesus was the one who kept 32:23 the commandments, so we don't have to keep them, 32:25 or that we don't have to keep the commandments because we're 32:28 not under law, but we're under grace. 32:30 That we don't have to keep the commandments; 32:32 that's just the letter, but we live by the Spirit. 32:35 You're making a liar out of God, because God says that He will 32:41 have a remnant that have the patience of the saints, 32:44 and keep the commandments of God. 32:46 It is possible to keep God's commandments, 32:49 according to Revelation 14:12. 32:52 And then another characteristic is given of the remnant. 32:57 It says that they have the faith of Jesus, which when we studied 33:03 we noticed that it is faith in Jesus. 33:07 That's the correct translation: faith in Jesus. 33:11 You see, if you had only that they keep the commandments 33:14 of God, you might reach the conclusion 33:16 that this is legalism. 33:18 But, see, you can't keep the commandments of God unless you 33:22 have faith in Jesus. 33:24 We dealt about this issue of faith and works. 33:28 Keeping the commandments of God would be the works. 33:31 But you can't keep the commandments of God unless 33:34 you have faith in Jesus. 33:37 In other words, faith in Jesus is what empowers you to keep 33:42 God's holy commandments. 33:45 And so God will have a people that have the patience of the 33:48 saints; a people who keep the commandments of God. 33:52 But they don't keep them legalistically 33:54 like the Pharisees. 33:55 They keep the commandments of God because they 33:57 have faith in Jesus. 34:00 And then there's another characteristic, 34:04 which is not found in the third angel's message, 34:06 but it is found in Revelation 12:17, which is a parallel 34:11 verse, and it's also found in Revelation 19:10. 34:15 The remnant of God also have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 34:22 And we noticed that the testimony of Jesus Christ 34:25 is the gift of prophecy. 34:26 In other words, God's remnant people will have a prophetic 34:30 voice in their midst; not to add to the Bible, but a prophet that 34:35 will enlighten, amplify, explain, correct those who go 34:40 astray from Bible truth. 34:42 The remnant will have the testimony of Jesus, 34:46 which is the Spirit of Prophecy. 34:49 So God's people will have definite characteristics. 34:54 If you want to find the true church you have to find a church 34:59 that teaches that we're supposed to fear God to the point of 35:01 keeping His commandments, a church that teaches that we're 35:05 supposed to be careful with what we put in our bodies, 35:08 and what we put in our minds, a church that teaches that we need 35:12 to reflect the glorious character of God. 35:14 In other words, it's not enough to just believe what Jesus did, 35:17 we need to reveal His character. 35:19 We need to have a sanctified life, 35:21 not just justified, but also sanctified. 35:24 It has to be a people that believe we're in 35:30 the hour of God's judgment. 35:31 It has to be a people who believe that the dead are dead 35:35 until the resurrection. 35:36 It has to be a people that proclaim that Babylon is fallen, 35:41 and they teach contrary to the wine of Babylon. 35:44 It has to be a people who teach that we're supposed 35:47 to keep God's commandments, a people who have faith in Jesus, 35:51 a people who have the patience of the saints, 35:54 a people who have the prophetic voice in their midst. 35:57 I'll tell you, there's not very many options out there 36:01 if you're looking for a church that has all 36:03 of these characteristics. 36:06 Now you say, Pastor, why does the message of Babylon appeal 36:15 to so many people? 36:16 Because we must admit that most people are not on God's side, 36:21 most people are on the Devil's side. 36:24 What is it that appeals to Babylon that would lead most 36:31 people to embrace the teachings and the practices of Babylon? 36:36 I have this interesting statement that's found in this 36:41 classic book on Bible prophecy, The Great Controversy, Page 572. 36:46 Listen carefully to what it says. 36:48 Remember, the third angel's message has a balance between 36:51 having faith in Jesus, and keeping the commandments of God. 36:56 Listen folks, it's dangerous to go to either extreme 36:59 without the other. 37:01 If you teach that you have to keep the commandments of God, 37:04 but don't have faith in Jesus, you're a legalist. 37:07 But if you teach, I've got faith in Jesus; 37:10 I don't have to keep the commandments, 37:12 then you believe that you can be saved in your sins. 37:17 So you have to have both. 37:18 Do you know what really appeals to people's minds? 37:21 What really appeals is the idea that they can be saved by their 37:27 works, or they can be saved in their sins. 37:30 That's the genius of Babylon. 37:32 Let me read this statement. 37:34 A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants... 37:43 Because they're playing with fire, folks. 37:45 Protestants in the United States are playing with fire when they 37:48 draw close to the Roman Catholic Papacy. 37:50 They don't have any idea what they're doing. 37:52 They'll only wake up when it's too late. She says: 38:14 You know, that they think, I'm right. 38:58 The apostle Paul described this as people who will have a form 39:03 of Godliness, but they will not have the power 39:07 of Godliness in their lives. 39:09 In other words, people who go to church, people who go through 39:12 all of the forms of religion. 39:14 It looks like they're very religious, but they're lacking 39:18 the power that transforms and changes the life. 39:22 So she says, What they desire is a method of forgetting 39:25 God which shall... 39:33 Not the needs, but the wants. 39:34 Notice their terminology 40:05 Are you catching the picture? 40:08 This is exactly contrary to the third angel's message. 40:12 The third angel's message says you have faith in Jesus, 40:16 and you keep His commandments. 40:18 This system says all you need is to profess faith in Jesus, 40:24 or you don't have to keep the commandments, 40:26 or keep the commandments, but you don't have to 40:29 have faith in Jesus. 40:31 In other words, it's a system that appeals to the desires, 40:36 and to the wants of most everybody in the world, 40:39 because people would love to have their cake and eat it, too. 40:43 And that's exactly what this is talking about. 40:47 Now do you know that towards the end of human history 40:51 the message of the second angel is going to be 40:55 proclaimed again with power? 40:57 And I believe that now we have arrived at that time. 41:02 The second angel's message basically proclaimed that 41:07 Babylon was fallen, was fallen. 41:09 We read it in Revelation 14:8. 41:12 But the Bible tells us that very close to the close of probation 41:16 this message is going to be proclaimed again. 41:20 And there are going to be some additional things said 41:25 when the message is proclaimed again. 41:28 Now let me say that the three angels' messages began to be 41:32 proclaimed around the year 1844. 41:35 You know, a people arose that began proclaiming all of the 41:39 things that are in the three angels' messages. 41:42 That church is the Seventh-day Adventist church, by the way. 41:46 These messages have been proclaimed practically from the 41:49 origin of the Seventh-day Adventist church. 41:52 But at the end of time these messages are going to be 41:55 proclaimed again to the world in power. 42:01 I'd like you to notice how the Bible describes this warning. 42:06 Before we read it in Revelation 18:1-5, allow me to tell you 42:11 that this passage that we're going to read is in a 42:15 very special context. 42:16 If you look at what comes immediately before 42:21 Revelation 18:1-5 you're going to find Revelation 17. 42:25 There it speaks about the harlot sitting on many waters. 42:29 She's controlling the nations of the world. 42:33 She fornicates with the kings of the earth. 42:36 She's clothed in purple and scarlet. 42:39 She is decked with gold, and silver, and precious stones. 42:43 And everything's going well. 42:48 Her, and the kings of the earth are all on the same page. 42:53 Her daughters do what she says. 42:55 The kings of the earth do what she says. 42:58 The multitudes upon whom she sits do her biddings. 43:01 Everything is going well. 43:04 But then there's this pesky group who are the fly in the 43:11 ointment, the feather rufflers who are actually saying 43:17 that this system is fallen, and that people need to come out 43:21 out from this system. 43:22 You see, Revelation 17 presents the harlot, and her dominion 43:28 over the earth, which is the same as the beast 43:30 and his dominion over the earth. 43:31 Revelation 18 says when this time comes make sure you're 43:36 not in this system. 43:37 It's an end time warning, because the plagues are going to 43:41 fall on this system. 43:42 Now the interesting thing is that immediately before you have 43:46 Revelation 17, which is speaking about the condemnation of the 43:50 harlot at the very end of time, when God's wrath falls upon 43:53 the harlot, her daughters, and the kings. 43:55 Immediately after... Listen to this. 43:59 Immediately after Revelation 18:1-5, you have the description 44:05 of the fall of Babylon. 44:06 You see, she had illicit relations, not only with the 44:09 kings of the earth, but also with the merchants of the earth. 44:12 In other words, she controlled the commercial 44:15 transaction of the earth. 44:17 And you read those verses and it speaks about the fall of 44:21 Babylon from a commercial perspective. 44:23 Revelation 17 speaks about the fall of Babylon from a religious 44:28 and political perspective. 44:30 And in between those two perspectives that speak about 44:35 the final outpouring of God's wrath upon Babylon, 44:39 who fornicates with the kings, and fornicates with the 44:41 merchants of the earth, is this warning to Get Out! 44:45 before that time comes. 44:47 Let's read it: Revelation 18:1. 45:04 And then notice in verse 2 what this angel has to say. 45:27 ...unclean and hated bird. 45:30 Now my question is, Does this sound like a place that you 45:33 would want to be in? Obviously not. 45:36 Because Revelation tell us that the wrath of God is going to 45:40 fall upon those who are within this system, which according 45:44 to the Bible, at the very end of time will be filled with demons. 45:48 It would be filled with evil spirits. 45:50 Now the question is, Why will it be filled with evil spirits? 45:55 Verse 3 explains the reason. 45:59 For,... That means because... 46:16 So notice that the reason why Babylon falls, the reason why 46:21 she's filled with every foul spirit, she's filled with 46:25 demons, according to Revelation 18, is because she gave her wine 46:31 to all of the nations: to the kings, to the peoples, 46:34 and to the merchants of the earth. 46:36 Now we've studied previously what the wine represents. 46:39 The wine represents false practices and false 46:44 doctrines that Babylon has. 46:47 In other words, what leads to the fall of Babylon 46:50 is her false doctrines. 46:52 Now what I want you to notice is that the three angels' 46:57 messages are in contrast to the wine of Babylon. 47:00 In other words, the three angels' messages proclaim 47:04 what we might call the wine of God, but it's not fermented 47:09 wine, it's unfermented wine, whereas Babylon presents false 47:14 doctrines, adulterated doctrines, which means that 47:17 this wine is fermented. 47:19 And this fermented wine deranges the minds of people so that they 47:24 cannot grasp and understand the truth as it is in Jesus. 47:28 And now I want you to notice there in Revelation 18:4 47:34 that even though Babylon gives her wine to all of the nations, 47:38 and the merchants, and the inhabitants, and the kings of 47:41 the earth, God has a faithful people there within Babylon. 47:48 You say, How do we know that God has a faithful 47:51 people inside Babylon? 47:52 The reason is very simple. 47:54 Notice what we find in verse 4. 48:10 Notice that God says here, Come out of Babylon My people. 48:16 Now if God says, Come out of her My people, it must be that 48:22 God has people within these systems. 48:25 Now we've studied about Babylon. 48:27 We've noticed that Babylon represents apostate religion. 48:32 Babylon includes the kings of the earth. 48:35 Babylon includes the merchants of the earth. 48:37 So what God is saying is that among all of these groups are to 48:42 be found faithful children of God who love the Lord, 48:46 who don't know any better. 48:48 And when this message is proclaimed for these people 48:51 to come out of Babylon, they will gladly embrace this truth, 48:56 and they will come out of Babylon. 48:58 And I want you to notice that if they don't come out of Babylon, 49:02 the wrath of God will fall upon them without mixture of mercy. 49:08 So this is a message which is extremely urgent, 49:13 because whoever does not respond to this call and come out of 49:17 Babylon will not only be lost, but will suffer the terrible 49:22 outpouring of the wrath of God. 49:24 In fact that's what we notice in verse 5. 49:47 So she's going to drink the cup of the wine of the wrath of God 49:52 without mixture of mercy. 49:54 In other words double strength according to this. 49:58 And then when this message is finished the whole human race 50:05 will be divided into two distinct groups. 50:09 One group will have the seal of God, and the other group 50:14 will have the mark of the beast. 50:16 And this is where we have the scene of Revelation 14, 50:21 and beginning with verse 14, where Jesus is seated on a 50:26 cloud, and He has a cycle in his hand, and He's going to reap 50:31 the harvest of the earth, which represent the righteous. 50:34 He's going to reap them, and He's going to take them into 50:39 the city of Jerusalem, spiritually speaking, Jerusalem, 50:42 as we've already studied. 50:43 In other words, they will be members of God's remnant, 50:46 God's remnant church. 50:48 But then the Bible tells us that there's another harvest; 50:51 the harvest of the grapes, which represents the wicked. 50:54 They also will be harvested. 50:57 In other words, you will have two groups: those who have the 50:59 seal of God, and those who have the mark of the beast. 51:04 Those who have the seal of God will be gathered within the 51:07 spiritual city of Jerusalem, within the remnant 51:10 all over the world. 51:11 And they will be shielded from the wrath of man, and they will 51:14 be shielded from the wrath of God. 51:16 But those who are spoken about as grapes will suffer the 51:21 terrible outpouring of the wrath of God without mixture of mercy. 51:26 Now Revelation 14:14-17 speaks about these two harvests: 51:33 the righteous and the wicked. 51:34 And then in verses 18 to 20 we have the grapes representing 51:41 the wicked gathered around Jerusalem. 51:44 This is not talking about literal Jerusalem 51:46 in the Middle East, according to what we've studied. 51:48 Being in Jerusalem is a spiritual state. 51:51 It means that God's people are with the Lord. 51:54 They have the seal of God. 51:55 They keep God's Sabbath. 51:56 They worship the Creator. 51:58 In other words, they're on God's side. 52:00 And even though they're all over the earth, 52:02 they're spoken of as being in the city of Jerusalem, 52:06 whereas all of the wicked are gathered outside 52:09 the city of Jerusalem. 52:11 In other words, they've surrounded God's people 52:13 all over the earth. 52:15 Now the question is, why have they surrounded God's people? 52:18 Have they surrounded God's people on friendly terms, 52:22 or on unfriendly terms? 52:23 When we go back to the book of Joel, which we've studied, 52:27 we noticed that the nations gathered in the Valley of 52:30 Jehoshaphat to attempt to attack and destroy God's people. 52:35 And so after humanity has been divided into these two groups, 52:38 God's faithful people will be in this world during the 52:44 outpouring of God's wrath, and the wicked will surround them 52:47 with the intention of destroying them. 52:49 But God will place upon them His protecting hand. 52:55 In other words, they will not suffer the wrath of God, 52:58 and they will not suffer the wrath of man. 53:02 They will be protected in the midst of this terrible 53:06 time in human history. 53:08 Folks the most fertile imagination cannot grasp 53:13 what this time is time is going to be like. 53:15 The Bible tells us that it's the greatest tribulation that has 53:20 existed in the history of the world since the beginning 53:23 of time, when the wrath of man, and the wrath of God 53:26 are manifested at the same time on planet Earth. 53:30 And God knows that this is going to be a very trying time, 53:33 and that's why He sends this message: 53:35 Come out of Babylon My people. 53:39 Receive the seal of God. 53:41 Reject the mark of the beast. 53:43 Don't worship the beast. 53:44 Don't worship His image. because if you do you will be among 53:46 Because if you do you will be among those who are 53:49 lost, eternally lost. 53:52 And then, of course, in Revelation 15:2-4, after the crisis is over 53:58 after the crisis is over we find this group, 54:02 which is called the 144,000; those who are alive when Jesus 54:08 comes; those who remain alive during the tribulation. 54:11 The Bible tells us that they will stand victorious, 54:15 finally on the sea of glass. 54:17 Let's read Revelation 15 as we draw this to a close. 54:22 Revelation 15:2-4. 54:33 Notice they have the victory! 54:45 See, they're standing victorious now on the sea of glass. 54:49 They're with the Lord in heaven! 54:50 And then it says in verse 3: 55:06 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? 55:11 for You alone are holy: for all nations shall come and 55:15 worship before You; for Your judgments have been manifested. 55:20 And so we have this final scene of the victorious living saints 55:26 that will stand on the sea of glass with the Lamb, 55:29 with Jesus Christ, having gained the victory over the beast, 55:34 which represents this worldwide Roman system, 55:37 Roman Catholic system. 55:38 The victory over his image, which represents 55:42 the United States of America making this image, 55:46 or this reflection of what the Papacy was like 55:49 during the Middle Ages. 55:51 They will be victorious over the mark of the beast, 55:54 which we've already shown is the counterfeit day of worship. 55:57 And they will be victorious over his number, and, of course, 56:01 his number is linked, or connected with his name. 56:05 And that name supposedly gives him authority, even to the point 56:10 of changing God's holy law, which no human system, 56:14 and no human being can do. 56:16 And so God calls His faithful people in Babylon, 56:22 those who belong to the political powers of the world, 56:27 those who belong to the system which is called the beast, 56:31 those who belong to the system of this second beast that 56:35 rises from the earth. 56:36 God calls upon them before His wrath is poured out 56:41 to come out of Babylon, and to join His remnant people 56:46 who keep the commandments of God, including the fourth 56:51 commandment, who have faith in Jesus, who possess the patience 56:58 of the saints, and who also have the guidance of the 57:02 testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the Spirit of Prophecy. 57:07 I pray to the Lord that as we've studied this very important 57:13 series that those who are watching this series of 57:16 presentations on television will make their decision 57:21 to leave Babylon, and to join the remnant people of God. |
Revised 2016-01-28