¤
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¤
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[ "Fairest Lord Jesus" begins ]
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[ "He Lives" begins ]
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[ "We Have This Hope" begins ]
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[ Applause ]
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>> Good morning.
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Our Scripture this morning
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comes from
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Book of Jeremiah 51:9-10.
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Again, Book of Jeremiah 51:9-10.
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I'm reading from the
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New International version.
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I give you just a moment
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to look up in your Bibles
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and find the text.
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Again, it's Jeremiah 51:9-10.
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"We would have healed Babylon.
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But she cannot be healed.
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Let us leave her
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and each go to our own land,
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for her judgment
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reaches to the skies.
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It rises as high as the heavens.
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The Lord has vindicated us.
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Come, let us tell in Zion
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what the Lord our God has done."
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>> ¤ Caritas abundat in omnia
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¤ De imis excellentissima
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¤ Super sidera
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¤ Super sidera
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¤ Sidera
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¤ Atque amantissima in omnia
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¤ Caritas abundat in omnia
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¤ De imis excellentissima
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¤ Super sidera
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¤ Super sidera
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¤ Quia summo Regi
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¤ Quia summo Regi
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¤ Quia summo Regi
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¤ Osculum pacis dedit
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¤ Caritas
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¤ Caritas
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[ Applause ]
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>> Our thanks to the University
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Chorale and Symphony Strings
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and guest conductors Janelle
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and Nicole and Dr. Elysée.
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Thank you for leading us
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marvelously here
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in worship today.
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We appreciate it.
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Welcome to part three of our
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continuing series, entitled
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"Why We Are Here."
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We are on a journey, seeking to
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discover the unique mission of
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the Seventh-day Adventist
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Church.
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If you missed parts one
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and two, alas,
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I do not have time to go back
00:12:39.12\00:12:40.29
through or do a careful review.
00:12:40.39\00:12:42.06
You can go to pmchurch.org.
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We have our archives there.
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We're also archived on YouTube
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and other
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social-media platforms.
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I encourage you to see
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where we have been
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that you might better understand
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where we are going.
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Very briefly, we said,
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"What is the mission of the
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Seventh-day Adventist Church?"
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And we made a stop briefly
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at the Great Commission
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of Matthew 28:18-20,
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this commission to make
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disciples.
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Indeed,
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that is a very important part
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of our mission -- to make
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disciples for Jesus Christ.
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Absolutely.
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And we said that
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we take the Great Commission
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and go one final step further.
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That one final step further
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is the three angels' messages
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of Revelation 14:6-12.
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If you take away the three
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angels' messages from the
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Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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our reason for being,
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missiologically speaking,
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crumbles to the ground.
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It is intricate.
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It is the core reason
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why Jesus went through
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the trouble of raising up
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this end-time movement
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to proclaim
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the three angels' messages,
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the Gospel of Jesus Christ
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in the context
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of the three angels' messages
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of Revelation 14:6-12.
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Now, last week we looked
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at the first angel's message,
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and we summed it up.
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We kind of gave it a nutshell
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at the end.
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The summary of it,
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what it means is this -- "Honor
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and worship the Creator,
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for justice is coming,
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and time is running out."
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So, justice is on its way.
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This final judgment process --
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October 22nd, 1844,
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when it began.
00:14:06.74\00:14:07.21
It is nearing
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its ending stages here.
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Evil will soon come to an end.
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Amen?
00:14:11.51\00:14:12.11
>> Amen.
00:14:12.21\00:14:13.38
>> Amen. That's a great thing.
00:14:13.48\00:14:14.25
That's a great part of a message
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to have if you're part of the
00:14:15.78\00:14:16.95
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:14:17.05\00:14:17.85
Evil is coming to an end.
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Time is running out.
00:14:19.15\00:14:20.32
Jesus is at last going to usher
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in His kingdom fully
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and completely with His second
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coming.
00:14:24.53\00:14:25.19
That's a great thing,
00:14:25.29\00:14:26.26
which brings us
00:14:26.36\00:14:28.26
to angel number two.
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Would you turn in your Bibles,
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please, to Revelation 14:8.
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Revelation 14:8.
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It's found on page
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830 in the red pew Bible
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that is somewhere around
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where you are at.
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Page 830, Revelation 14,
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beginning with verse 8.
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This is the second angel.
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It says this.
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"A second angel followed
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and said, 'Fallen, fallen is
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Babylon the Great,
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which made all the nations
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drink the maddening wine
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of her adulteries.'"
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And I'll tell you what.
00:15:03.50\00:15:05.20
That sounds like such good news.
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I cannot wait to tell
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my neighbor Bob.
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[ Laughter ]
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"Hey, Bob? Bob. It's me, Shane."
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For those of you that
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weren't here last week, Bob is
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all of our next-door neighbor.
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He's in his 20s, 30s, and 40s.
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He's not religious, but he's
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kind of open to spiritual things
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every now and then.
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And we talk to him
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about the first angel,
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and we want to tell him about
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the second now.
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"Bob? Bob? It's me. Listen.
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Yeah.
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So, there's another message.
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Can I come in?"
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And because Bob's a nice guy,
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he lets me in.
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"Hey, Bob. Listen, uh,
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so you know that message,
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you know, that I talked to you
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about last time, remember?
00:15:40.84\00:15:41.64
Kind of got it wrong the first
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time, but then I came back.
00:15:42.67\00:15:43.34
It was good news."
00:15:43.44\00:15:44.11
And Bob's like,
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"Uh-huh, that was pretty good.
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I like that. Yeah. Okay."
00:15:45.94\00:15:46.34
"Guess what?
00:15:46.44\00:15:47.38
There's a second one.
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And this is just before
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you know, all this.
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The time comes to an end.
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God has
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a special message for you,
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and it goes like this.
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Uh...uh...
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All right, let's see. 'Fallen.
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Fallen is Babylon the Great.
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Made all the nations drink
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the maddening
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wine of their adulteries.'
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All right, so, Bob,
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I'm not exactly sure
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what the message is, all right?
00:16:07.83\00:16:08.70
But it's for you, and, Bob,
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have you been drinking?
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Have you been drinking?
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Because if you have,
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God is onto it.
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And stepping out on your wife?
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I mean, like, on a global scale.
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You've been all over the world
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doing this kind of stuff, right?
00:16:20.84\00:16:22.08
God knows about it.
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And He's coming for you.
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Are you ready?
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Now, Bob, we still have that
00:16:27.35\00:16:28.18
Bible study on Thursday nights.
00:16:28.28\00:16:29.08
We study exactly
00:16:29.18\00:16:30.12
this kind of stuff.
00:16:30.22\00:16:30.89
Would you like to join me?"
00:16:30.99\00:16:32.79
Bob is not sure that he ever
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wants to be at a Bible study
00:16:37.16\00:16:38.16
where I am in charge, okay?
00:16:38.26\00:16:40.16
Because Bob
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has no idea what I just said.
00:16:41.83\00:16:45.10
And truth be told, it's possible
00:16:45.20\00:16:48.47
that maybe some of us
00:16:48.57\00:16:50.67
don't know, either.
00:16:50.77\00:16:53.31
Because in my experience,
00:16:53.41\00:16:54.11
many Christians,
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including many Seventh-day
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Adventists, you know,
00:16:56.11\00:16:56.98
when it comes to
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the first angel, at least
00:16:58.21\00:16:59.41
we understand the verbiage.
00:16:59.51\00:17:00.85
You know, we may not
00:17:00.95\00:17:01.65
totally understand right off
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the bat all the symbolism there.
00:17:02.82\00:17:04.15
But, you know, the idea,
00:17:04.25\00:17:05.15
you know, our judgment
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and Creator
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and those kinds of things,
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we kind of understand it.
00:17:08.69\00:17:10.29
But when you get to the
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second angel, all bets are off.
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I mean, adultery,
00:17:12.79\00:17:13.93
maddening wine?
00:17:14.00\00:17:15.03
I mean, what is being
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said here?
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And yet this is core,
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absolutely core,
00:17:20.44\00:17:22.74
to the unique mission of the
00:17:22.84\00:17:24.11
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:17:24.21\00:17:26.11
So, we need to figure it out.
00:17:26.21\00:17:27.74
Let's do some digging.
00:17:27.84\00:17:28.91
And as I said before,
00:17:29.01\00:17:30.61
in previous
00:17:30.71\00:17:31.45
installments of this series,
00:17:31.55\00:17:32.71
I am going to cut some corners.
00:17:32.81\00:17:34.32
I don't have time.
00:17:34.42\00:17:35.72
As an Adventist,
00:17:35.82\00:17:36.35
all times are short,
00:17:36.45\00:17:37.22
including for my sermon,
00:17:37.32\00:17:38.12
so I'm going
00:17:38.22\00:17:39.22
to cut some corners.
00:17:39.32\00:17:40.46
If I reach a conclusion, and
00:17:40.56\00:17:41.66
you're wondering, "How in the
00:17:41.76\00:17:42.39
world did he get that?"
00:17:42.49\00:17:43.32
Come and see me afterwards.
00:17:43.43\00:17:44.56
Love to have a chance to discuss
00:17:44.66\00:17:45.79
these things with you.
00:17:45.89\00:17:46.56
So, if we're going to start
00:17:46.66\00:17:48.50
at the end here, let's find out
00:17:48.60\00:17:49.83
what this angel is saying.
00:17:49.93\00:17:50.60
Let's start
00:17:50.70\00:17:51.63
with the word "adultery."
00:17:51.73\00:17:52.83
This is not talking about
00:17:52.93\00:17:54.07
physical adultery here.
00:17:54.17\00:17:55.44
This is instead
00:17:55.54\00:17:56.14
a spiritual application.
00:17:56.24\00:17:57.61
It is when God's people
00:17:57.71\00:17:59.74
turn away from Him to other gods
00:17:59.84\00:18:02.54
or other ways of living.
00:18:02.64\00:18:04.48
Okay? That's
00:18:04.58\00:18:05.45
what spiritual adultery is.
00:18:05.55\00:18:06.31
God's people turning away
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from Him to other gods
00:18:07.58\00:18:09.55
or to other ways
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of living than what
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God has commanded them to do.
00:18:12.15\00:18:13.92
Now, in the Bible, the idea that
00:18:14.02\00:18:15.59
God is married to His people,
00:18:15.69\00:18:17.36
there's actually quite a few
00:18:17.46\00:18:18.16
examples of that in both
00:18:18.26\00:18:19.23
the Old and the New Testament.
00:18:19.33\00:18:20.46
God is pictured
00:18:20.56\00:18:21.66
as the groom.
00:18:21.76\00:18:22.76
God's people is pictured
00:18:22.86\00:18:23.70
as the bride.
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They are wed in what is
00:18:24.60\00:18:26.74
to be this holy ceremony.
00:18:26.84\00:18:30.01
And adultery means that
00:18:30.11\00:18:31.37
you were married first, right?
00:18:31.47\00:18:32.51
You can't commit "adultery"
00:18:32.61\00:18:33.78
unless you were first married.
00:18:33.88\00:18:35.91
And so, here we have
00:18:36.01\00:18:37.38
this idea of spiritual adultery.
00:18:37.48\00:18:39.01
At one point,
00:18:39.11\00:18:40.42
whoever Babylon is, they
00:18:40.52\00:18:41.78
were with Christ,
00:18:41.88\00:18:42.82
and they turn away.
00:18:42.92\00:18:44.75
And at the end of time --
00:18:44.85\00:18:45.82
because, remember,
00:18:45.92\00:18:47.06
that's the context of the three
00:18:47.16\00:18:47.82
angels' messages --
00:18:47.92\00:18:49.09
at the end of time,
00:18:49.19\00:18:50.23
how does the church
00:18:50.33\00:18:51.53
do this turning away?
00:18:51.63\00:18:52.96
Well, they do it by drinking
00:18:53.06\00:18:55.26
and by serving to others
00:18:55.36\00:18:57.60
Babylonian "wine."
00:18:57.70\00:19:01.77
Well, what's this "wine" about?
00:19:01.87\00:19:04.71
Well, wine is simply teaching.
00:19:04.81\00:19:06.44
Wine is teaching,
00:19:06.54\00:19:07.84
spiritually speaking,
00:19:07.94\00:19:08.71
is teaching its doctrine,
00:19:08.81\00:19:09.81
its values, its beliefs.
00:19:09.91\00:19:10.81
We're not talking
00:19:10.91\00:19:11.91
about rotten grapes.
00:19:12.01\00:19:12.91
So, the devil's not setting up
00:19:13.01\00:19:13.72
a champagne
00:19:13.82\00:19:14.62
stand at the end of time
00:19:14.72\00:19:16.02
and serving it to the world.
00:19:16.12\00:19:17.42
This is spiritual things,
00:19:17.52\00:19:18.49
teachings, doctrines --
00:19:18.59\00:19:19.49
values, and beliefs.
00:19:19.59\00:19:20.36
So, notice carefully.
00:19:20.46\00:19:21.96
When it refers
00:19:22.06\00:19:23.36
to unfaithful human beings
00:19:23.46\00:19:25.43
and their "wine,"
00:19:25.53\00:19:27.10
when the Bible references
00:19:27.20\00:19:27.96
that, it is a reference
00:19:28.03\00:19:29.33
to what those unfaithful people
00:19:29.43\00:19:31.13
are teaching others
00:19:31.23\00:19:32.53
to believe and do.
00:19:32.63\00:19:36.14
So, let this sink in.
00:19:36.24\00:19:37.24
And if you're a guest with us
00:19:37.34\00:19:38.67
today, and you've never heard
00:19:38.77\00:19:39.64
this before, this might be a
00:19:39.74\00:19:40.91
little startling.
00:19:41.01\00:19:43.18
Whomever this Babylon
00:19:43.28\00:19:44.75
is at the end of time,
00:19:44.85\00:19:48.32
Babylon started at some time
00:19:48.42\00:19:53.05
as the faithful bride of Christ.
00:19:53.15\00:19:56.89
They were God's people
00:19:56.99\00:19:57.66
at some point,
00:19:57.76\00:19:59.29
but then at some point
00:19:59.39\00:20:00.66
they turn away from Christ
00:20:00.76\00:20:03.50
and follow after Satan
00:20:03.60\00:20:04.87
and his teachings.
00:20:04.97\00:20:06.87
And through false teaching,
00:20:06.97\00:20:08.54
particularly again at the end
00:20:08.64\00:20:09.80
of time, Babylon leads others,
00:20:09.90\00:20:12.17
even the nations of the world --
00:20:12.27\00:20:13.38
this is a global thing
00:20:13.48\00:20:14.48
that's being described here --
00:20:14.58\00:20:15.61
to also "commit adultery"
00:20:15.71\00:20:17.81
and leave Christ behind.
00:20:17.91\00:20:20.58
And here's the kicker --
00:20:20.68\00:20:21.85
all the while looking like
00:20:21.95\00:20:24.82
the true bride of Christ.
00:20:24.92\00:20:26.29
Well, knowing that, who
00:20:30.29\00:20:34.00
is Babylon?
00:20:34.10\00:20:35.93
It's kind of important,
00:20:36.03\00:20:36.93
isn't it, here?
00:20:37.03\00:20:38.20
I mean, it's right at the core
00:20:38.30\00:20:39.07
of the three angels' messages.
00:20:39.17\00:20:40.10
"Babylon is fallen, is fallen."
00:20:40.20\00:20:42.67
Hmm. Who is Babylon?
00:20:42.77\00:20:44.51
Well, as it turns out,
00:20:44.61\00:20:46.64
the Old Testament is going
00:20:46.74\00:20:47.48
to help us out here.
00:20:47.58\00:20:48.31
You know, many times
00:20:48.41\00:20:49.28
in the Book of Revelation,
00:20:49.38\00:20:50.28
the symbols that are all there,
00:20:50.38\00:20:51.55
the key to understanding them
00:20:51.65\00:20:52.65
is in the Old Testament.
00:20:52.75\00:20:54.05
There are many Christians
00:20:54.15\00:20:54.95
these days
00:20:55.05\00:20:56.02
that refer to themselves
00:20:56.12\00:20:57.02
as New Testament Christians.
00:20:57.12\00:20:58.22
And they don't follow --
00:20:58.32\00:20:59.85
they don't pay any attention
00:20:59.95\00:21:00.76
to the Old Testament,
00:21:00.86\00:21:01.86
which is a little bit odd
00:21:01.96\00:21:02.86
because the first Christians
00:21:02.96\00:21:04.06
in the first century
00:21:04.16\00:21:04.99
only had the Old Testament
00:21:05.09\00:21:05.96
as their Bible,
00:21:06.06\00:21:06.96
and they were pleased about it.
00:21:07.03\00:21:08.66
It was a good thing.
00:21:08.76\00:21:09.73
Okay? So, the Old Testament,
00:21:09.83\00:21:11.37
just as inspired as the New.
00:21:11.47\00:21:12.53
Let's look for some keys.
00:21:12.63\00:21:14.60
Genesis 11:1, please.
00:21:14.70\00:21:16.34
It's on page seven in your
00:21:16.44\00:21:18.67
red Bible.
00:21:18.77\00:21:20.44
Genesis 11,
00:21:20.54\00:21:23.08
beginning with verse one.
00:21:23.18\00:21:25.35
Now, while you're looking that
00:21:25.45\00:21:26.15
up, Babylon, in
00:21:26.25\00:21:29.22
the second angel's message,
00:21:29.32\00:21:30.25
cannot refer to literal Babylon.
00:21:30.35\00:21:32.92
You know, literal Babylon
00:21:33.02\00:21:33.76
actually existed.
00:21:33.86\00:21:34.56
They were basically
00:21:34.66\00:21:35.19
in two phases.
00:21:35.29\00:21:36.16
There was the Babylonian Empire,
00:21:36.26\00:21:36.83
then there was
00:21:36.93\00:21:37.89
the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
00:21:37.99\00:21:39.09
King Nebuchadnezzar,
00:21:39.19\00:21:39.79
he was part of the
00:21:39.89\00:21:40.53
Neo-Babylonian Empire,
00:21:40.63\00:21:42.16
end of the seventh century,
00:21:42.26\00:21:43.10
sixth century B.C., etcetera.
00:21:43.20\00:21:45.37
Second angel is not referring
00:21:45.47\00:21:46.23
to them because literal
00:21:46.33\00:21:48.20
Babylon at the time
00:21:48.30\00:21:49.84
when this is written in the
00:21:49.94\00:21:50.74
second angel was a dust heap.
00:21:50.84\00:21:51.94
You know, this is in Iraq,
00:21:52.04\00:21:53.64
current-day Iraq,
00:21:53.74\00:21:55.04
where Babylon used to be,
00:21:55.14\00:21:57.15
and it was just a dust
00:21:57.25\00:21:57.91
heap then.
00:21:58.01\00:21:59.05
So, it can't be referring
00:21:59.15\00:21:59.61
to that.
00:21:59.71\00:22:00.48
It can also not be
00:22:00.58\00:22:02.58
referring exclusively to Rome.
00:22:02.68\00:22:05.45
You know, the Christians
00:22:05.55\00:22:06.96
in the early Christian church
00:22:07.06\00:22:07.99
did refer to Rome as Babylon.
00:22:08.09\00:22:09.89
And some have said, "Well,
00:22:09.99\00:22:10.79
that's the total extent
00:22:10.89\00:22:11.69
of this message."
00:22:11.79\00:22:12.63
No, no, no, no, no.
00:22:12.73\00:22:13.86
That's not the total extent.
00:22:13.96\00:22:14.83
In fact, it proves the point.
00:22:14.93\00:22:16.43
You see, Babylon
00:22:16.53\00:22:18.27
early in its history -- we'll
00:22:18.37\00:22:19.90
see this in just a moment --
00:22:20.00\00:22:21.67
became a persecutor
00:22:21.77\00:22:23.00
of God's people
00:22:23.10\00:22:25.04
and opposed to God's purposes.
00:22:25.14\00:22:27.98
So, any nation that came along
00:22:28.08\00:22:29.94
to oppress the Jews could easily
00:22:30.05\00:22:31.98
be called Babylon,
00:22:32.08\00:22:33.35
including Rome.
00:22:33.45\00:22:35.05
And so, because most Christian
00:22:35.15\00:22:36.15
converts were converts
00:22:36.25\00:22:37.45
from Judaism, the name stuck,
00:22:37.55\00:22:41.22
and it was an ancient one.
00:22:41.32\00:22:43.09
To find out who Babylon is
00:22:43.19\00:22:45.59
in the second angel,
00:22:45.69\00:22:47.23
we need to go back past Rome.
00:22:47.36\00:22:49.36
We need to go back past,
00:22:49.46\00:22:50.00
actually,
00:22:50.10\00:22:51.13
the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
00:22:51.23\00:22:53.00
We need to go back to where
00:22:53.10\00:22:55.00
we find the first reference to
00:22:55.10\00:22:56.50
the root of the word "Babylon."
00:22:56.60\00:22:58.54
We're going to read a story here
00:22:58.64\00:22:59.51
in Genesis 11 about something
00:22:59.61\00:23:01.08
called the Tower of...
00:23:01.18\00:23:04.35
Babel...Babelon...Babylon.
00:23:04.45\00:23:08.32
This is where the same root word
00:23:08.42\00:23:09.68
is in common here.
00:23:09.78\00:23:11.15
Babylon to the pagans
00:23:11.25\00:23:12.35
meant gate of the gods.
00:23:12.45\00:23:13.56
Doesn't that sound fancy?
00:23:13.66\00:23:14.92
I mean, imagine if you told your
00:23:15.02\00:23:16.26
neighbor, "You know, we call
00:23:16.36\00:23:17.43
it -- I'm going to the gate
00:23:17.53\00:23:18.53
of the gods this morning."
00:23:18.63\00:23:19.56
Ooh, that sounds great.
00:23:19.66\00:23:21.63
The idea was
00:23:21.73\00:23:22.80
that the gods would come down,
00:23:22.90\00:23:24.13
and they would converse with men
00:23:24.23\00:23:25.40
and mankind, and mankind would
00:23:25.50\00:23:26.77
become wealthy and wise,
00:23:26.87\00:23:27.87
etcetera.
00:23:27.97\00:23:28.90
Well, after the Tower of Babel,
00:23:29.00\00:23:30.34
the Jews kind of got
00:23:30.44\00:23:31.24
a little soured on that idea,
00:23:31.34\00:23:32.47
and they actually matched
00:23:32.57\00:23:33.51
the root word here
00:23:33.61\00:23:34.68
to another Hebrew word
00:23:34.78\00:23:36.24
that meant confusion.
00:23:36.34\00:23:38.15
And so,
00:23:38.25\00:23:39.21
that's the meaning that stuck.
00:23:39.31\00:23:40.42
Babylon came to mean
00:23:40.52\00:23:41.78
spiritual confusion.
00:23:41.88\00:23:43.85
And it all started here,
00:23:43.95\00:23:44.79
Genesis 11:1.
00:23:44.89\00:23:47.12
"Now, the whole world had one
00:23:47.22\00:23:48.72
language and a common speech.
00:23:48.82\00:23:50.33
As men moved eastward,
00:23:50.43\00:23:51.76
they found a plain in Shinar
00:23:51.86\00:23:53.43
and settled there.
00:23:53.53\00:23:54.86
They said to each other,
00:23:54.96\00:23:55.90
'Come, let's make bricks
00:23:56.00\00:23:57.33
and bake them thoroughly.'
00:23:57.43\00:23:59.00
They used brick instead of stone
00:23:59.10\00:24:00.14
and tar for mortar.
00:24:00.24\00:24:01.57
Then they said, 'Come,
00:24:01.67\00:24:03.00
let us build ourselves
00:24:03.10\00:24:04.51
a city with a tower
00:24:04.61\00:24:06.14
that reaches to the...'"
00:24:06.24\00:24:07.31
What?
00:24:07.41\00:24:08.61
"To the heavens."
00:24:08.71\00:24:09.91
Oh, that's interesting.
00:24:10.01\00:24:10.78
"'A tower that reaches
00:24:10.88\00:24:11.51
to the heavens so that
00:24:11.61\00:24:12.85
we may make a name for ourselves
00:24:12.95\00:24:14.58
and not be scattered over
00:24:14.68\00:24:16.52
the face of the whole earth.'"
00:24:16.62\00:24:19.69
Huh. Why would they be concerned
00:24:19.79\00:24:21.69
about being scattered over
00:24:21.79\00:24:22.79
the face of the whole earth?
00:24:22.89\00:24:24.89
What had happened just a few
00:24:24.99\00:24:25.59
chapters earlier?
00:24:25.69\00:24:26.59
>> The flood.
00:24:26.70\00:24:27.66
>> The flood -- exactly.
00:24:27.76\00:24:28.70
So, in other words,
00:24:28.80\00:24:29.66
the implication here
00:24:29.76\00:24:30.40
is quite clear.
00:24:30.50\00:24:31.33
They did not believe
00:24:31.43\00:24:32.83
when God said, "I will never
00:24:32.93\00:24:34.27
flood the entire planet again."
00:24:34.37\00:24:36.04
They said, "No, no, we can't
00:24:36.14\00:24:37.11
trust what God's going to say.
00:24:37.21\00:24:38.07
We are going to have to" -- key
00:24:38.17\00:24:39.94
phrase here -- "save ourselves.
00:24:40.04\00:24:43.65
We're going to work our way
00:24:43.75\00:24:45.08
to heaven one brick at a time."
00:24:45.18\00:24:50.02
This may be the first recorded
00:24:50.12\00:24:51.25
scriptural incidence of someone
00:24:51.35\00:24:52.75
trying to earn their way
00:24:52.85\00:24:54.39
into heaven.
00:24:54.49\00:24:58.09
Now follow me carefully here.
00:24:58.19\00:25:00.16
As it turns out,
00:25:00.26\00:25:02.40
there are at least three
00:25:02.50\00:25:03.50
distinct sides
00:25:03.60\00:25:05.10
of spiritual Babylon.
00:25:05.20\00:25:07.37
We're going to look at two
00:25:07.47\00:25:07.97
this morning,
00:25:08.07\00:25:09.54
and each of these three
00:25:09.64\00:25:10.77
are sufficiently strong
00:25:10.87\00:25:12.94
that if someone or an entity
00:25:13.04\00:25:14.44
has even one of these
00:25:14.54\00:25:16.38
characteristics of Babylon,
00:25:16.48\00:25:17.85
it is sufficient to qualify them
00:25:17.95\00:25:19.25
as a member of Babylon.
00:25:19.35\00:25:21.62
We're about to look at the first
00:25:21.72\00:25:22.52
side here.
00:25:22.62\00:25:24.69
You see, as it turns out,
00:25:24.79\00:25:26.79
Babylon, at the end of time,
00:25:26.89\00:25:29.09
has a gospel -- a "gospel."
00:25:29.19\00:25:32.53
Now, we read in the first
00:25:32.63\00:25:33.46
angel's message, didn't we?
00:25:33.56\00:25:34.46
So, the first angel's message,
00:25:34.56\00:25:35.03
"Christ is love."
00:25:35.13\00:25:36.16
He has the eternal gospel
00:25:36.26\00:25:37.23
to give to every nation, tribe,
00:25:37.33\00:25:38.23
language, tongue, etcetera,
00:25:38.33\00:25:39.20
of the true gospel.
00:25:39.30\00:25:41.07
The devil sees that at the end
00:25:41.17\00:25:41.90
of time and says, "No, no, no,
00:25:42.00\00:25:42.34
no, no.
00:25:42.44\00:25:43.37
We're not going to let this go
00:25:43.47\00:25:44.24
without some competition.
00:25:44.34\00:25:45.21
I have a gospel, too."
00:25:45.31\00:25:46.88
It's Babylon's gospel --
00:25:46.98\00:25:48.61
"gospel" -- and it is spelled
00:25:48.71\00:25:51.85
"d-o," because it's about what
00:25:51.95\00:25:54.12
you do to appease a God
00:25:54.22\00:25:57.15
you know that you have offended.
00:25:57.25\00:25:59.02
Okay? So, we humans, you know,
00:25:59.12\00:25:59.85
we have this sense
00:25:59.95\00:26:00.96
of guilt, right?
00:26:01.06\00:26:02.06
Some sort of sense of separation
00:26:02.16\00:26:02.56
from God,
00:26:02.66\00:26:03.63
and so we want to get
00:26:03.73\00:26:04.73
back into His good graces again.
00:26:04.83\00:26:05.99
So, we get on the good works
00:26:06.09\00:26:08.16
treadmill, right?
00:26:08.26\00:26:09.20
Hit the little button,
00:26:09.30\00:26:10.13
and we start to go.
00:26:10.23\00:26:11.30
We start to crank up
00:26:11.40\00:26:12.50
the good stuff, right?
00:26:12.60\00:26:13.50
We give some money to charity,
00:26:13.60\00:26:14.84
maybe some offering to the
00:26:14.94\00:26:15.90
children's offering at Pioneer.
00:26:16.00\00:26:17.51
We help elderly ladies
00:26:17.61\00:26:18.77
across the street.
00:26:18.87\00:26:19.91
We don't cheat on our taxes,
00:26:20.01\00:26:20.71
right?
00:26:20.81\00:26:21.61
But we never quite feel like
00:26:21.71\00:26:22.48
we've done enough.
00:26:22.58\00:26:23.35
And so, we crank up the score
00:26:23.45\00:26:24.18
a little bit more,
00:26:24.28\00:26:25.41
and we not only go to church,
00:26:25.51\00:26:26.72
we also go to Sabbath school.
00:26:26.82\00:26:28.05
And if we're really feeling
00:26:28.15\00:26:29.05
pious, we'll actually study
00:26:29.15\00:26:30.02
our lesson, too.
00:26:30.12\00:26:31.45
And we're doing all these things
00:26:31.55\00:26:32.29
and we're going up, we're
00:26:32.39\00:26:33.22
cranking the score.
00:26:33.32\00:26:34.26
The trouble is, is that we never
00:26:34.36\00:26:35.22
feel satisfied because it's like
00:26:35.32\00:26:36.42
a salesman that's been said,
00:26:36.52\00:26:37.53
"Meet your quota," but you're
00:26:37.63\00:26:38.46
never told what the quota is.
00:26:38.56\00:26:39.83
And you keep going,
00:26:39.93\00:26:40.86
and you keep going, and you
00:26:40.96\00:26:41.90
keep going and you keep going.
00:26:42.00\00:26:43.30
And finally you say, "Enough!
00:26:43.40\00:26:47.14
I can't do it."
00:26:47.24\00:26:49.40
And you get sick and tired
00:26:49.50\00:26:50.07
of trying
00:26:50.17\00:26:51.07
to earn the love of a God
00:26:51.17\00:26:52.87
who never seems to quite have
00:26:52.97\00:26:54.58
enough goodness out of you.
00:26:54.68\00:26:56.54
And you bail out
00:26:56.64\00:26:57.81
on that quote "gospel."
00:26:57.91\00:27:01.05
And many people bail on God
00:27:01.15\00:27:02.52
and church
00:27:02.62\00:27:03.42
and the whole nine yards,
00:27:03.52\00:27:04.55
and they don't come back.
00:27:04.65\00:27:07.16
That's Babylon's gospel.
00:27:07.26\00:27:09.02
It's spelled "d-o,"
00:27:09.12\00:27:11.33
and I'm not into that.
00:27:11.43\00:27:13.90
And neither is Jesus.
00:27:14.00\00:27:16.97
However,
00:27:17.07\00:27:19.70
I am in to the true Gospel,
00:27:19.80\00:27:23.71
the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
00:27:23.81\00:27:24.87
because the Gospel of
00:27:24.97\00:27:26.07
Jesus Christ is spelled
00:27:26.17\00:27:29.58
"d-o-n-e," because it's about
00:27:29.68\00:27:33.52
what Jesus has done
00:27:33.62\00:27:35.92
when He came down to this planet
00:27:36.02\00:27:37.25
in the form of a man,
00:27:37.35\00:27:38.32
and He stretched out His arms,
00:27:38.42\00:27:39.32
and He was crucified
00:27:39.42\00:27:40.92
as a substitute for me
00:27:41.02\00:27:42.12
dying for my sins
00:27:42.22\00:27:43.26
and you dying for yours.
00:27:43.36\00:27:45.29
And for everybody that accepts
00:27:45.39\00:27:46.03
Jesus Christ
00:27:46.13\00:27:47.30
as their Lord and Savior,
00:27:47.40\00:27:48.80
they get at least two things.
00:27:48.90\00:27:49.86
Number one, in heaven's records,
00:27:49.96\00:27:51.57
they move from being guilty
00:27:51.67\00:27:52.57
to being forgiven,
00:27:52.67\00:27:54.17
from being lost to being found,
00:27:54.27\00:27:56.27
from living in darkness
00:27:56.37\00:27:57.21
to living in the light
00:27:57.31\00:27:58.14
of Jesus Christ. Amen?
00:27:58.24\00:27:59.17
>> Amen!
00:27:59.27\00:28:00.34
>> And they also get a second
00:28:00.44\00:28:00.84
gift.
00:28:00.94\00:28:01.68
This is like winning
00:28:01.78\00:28:02.44
the spiritual lottery.
00:28:02.54\00:28:03.31
They get this second gift.
00:28:03.41\00:28:04.35
The second gift is the power
00:28:04.45\00:28:05.51
of God's Holy Spirit.
00:28:05.61\00:28:07.08
And we can finally
00:28:07.18\00:28:07.98
have the power
00:28:08.08\00:28:09.18
to become the kind of person
00:28:09.28\00:28:10.82
that God has always dreamed
00:28:10.92\00:28:12.15
we could be -- a person of love
00:28:12.25\00:28:13.52
and honor
00:28:13.62\00:28:14.32
and respect and obedience
00:28:14.42\00:28:15.66
and goodness and kindness
00:28:15.76\00:28:16.73
and all of these things.
00:28:16.83\00:28:18.09
We can at last become those
00:28:18.19\00:28:19.23
things.
00:28:19.33\00:28:21.10
That's the true Gospel
00:28:21.20\00:28:22.10
of Jesus Christ.
00:28:22.20\00:28:23.03
It's spelled "d-o-n-e"
00:28:23.13\00:28:25.17
and, praise the Lord,
00:28:25.27\00:28:26.47
I get to be a part of that.
00:28:26.57\00:28:28.07
And you can, too.
00:28:28.17\00:28:29.14
>> Amen. Amen.
00:28:29.24\00:28:30.87
>> I want to be super,
00:28:34.41\00:28:35.38
super clear about something.
00:28:35.48\00:28:36.85
Let me put some stuff up here
00:28:36.95\00:28:38.61
on the screen for you.
00:28:38.71\00:28:41.85
"Good works are the fruit,
00:28:41.95\00:28:44.72
not the root of salvation."
00:28:44.82\00:28:47.89
Roll that one around a little
00:28:47.99\00:28:48.36
bit.
00:28:48.46\00:28:49.66
"Good works are the fruit,
00:28:49.76\00:28:50.69
not the root of salvation."
00:28:50.79\00:28:51.89
Now, this is not my verbiage.
00:28:51.99\00:28:53.36
This is actually from the book
00:28:53.46\00:28:54.13
"Great Controversy."
00:28:54.23\00:28:55.10
Again, you can pick up a copy,
00:28:55.20\00:28:56.13
the last 14 chapters of it,
00:28:56.23\00:28:57.23
when you leave today.
00:28:57.33\00:28:58.37
"Good works are the fruit,
00:28:58.47\00:28:59.67
not the root of salvation."
00:28:59.77\00:29:00.87
Now, this comes
00:29:00.97\00:29:01.80
from "Great Controversy,"
00:29:01.90\00:29:02.64
page 256.
00:29:02.74\00:29:04.51
Ellen White wrote these words.
00:29:04.61\00:29:05.77
She was one of the founders of
00:29:05.87\00:29:06.74
the Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:29:06.84\00:29:07.74
and a true prophet of God.
00:29:07.84\00:29:09.38
She wrote this about the life
00:29:09.48\00:29:10.98
of John Wesley.
00:29:11.08\00:29:12.55
Now, John Wesley
00:29:12.65\00:29:13.35
was one of the main leaders
00:29:13.45\00:29:14.52
of one of the greatest
00:29:14.62\00:29:15.82
revivals that took place there
00:29:15.92\00:29:16.75
in the 19th century.
00:29:16.85\00:29:18.19
And prior to his encounter with
00:29:18.29\00:29:19.99
Christ, he was very meticulous.
00:29:20.09\00:29:22.72
I mean, he claimed Christianity.
00:29:22.82\00:29:24.46
He sought to keep God's law
00:29:24.56\00:29:25.79
and to do
00:29:25.89\00:29:26.59
all the right stuff in there.
00:29:26.70\00:29:27.46
But he hadn't really met
00:29:27.56\00:29:28.26
Jesus yet.
00:29:28.36\00:29:30.47
And when he did,
00:29:30.57\00:29:32.13
it was transformational.
00:29:32.23\00:29:33.64
Let me just put a quote up here.
00:29:33.74\00:29:35.60
"Great Controversy," page 256.
00:29:35.70\00:29:37.11
"Through long years of wearisome
00:29:37.21\00:29:38.87
and comfortless striving --
00:29:38.97\00:29:40.41
years of rigorous self-denial,
00:29:40.51\00:29:42.18
of reproach and humiliation --
00:29:42.28\00:29:43.91
John Wesley had steadfastly
00:29:44.01\00:29:45.65
adhered to his one purpose
00:29:45.75\00:29:47.65
of seeking God.
00:29:47.75\00:29:48.98
Now" -- this is when he met
00:29:49.08\00:29:49.85
Jesus.
00:29:49.95\00:29:51.22
"Now he had found Him;
00:29:51.32\00:29:53.12
and he found that the grace
00:29:53.22\00:29:55.06
which he had toiled to win
00:29:55.16\00:29:56.76
by prayers and fasts, by
00:29:56.86\00:29:58.46
almsdeed and self-abnegation,
00:29:58.56\00:30:00.06
was a" what?
00:30:00.16\00:30:01.23
"A gift 'without money and
00:30:01.33\00:30:02.80
without price.'
00:30:02.90\00:30:05.00
Once established in the
00:30:05.10\00:30:06.07
faith of Christ,
00:30:06.17\00:30:07.14
his whole soul burned with
00:30:07.24\00:30:08.90
the desire to spread everywhere
00:30:09.00\00:30:10.31
a knowledge of the glorious
00:30:10.41\00:30:11.54
gospel of God's free grace."
00:30:11.64\00:30:13.31
Now, notice
00:30:13.41\00:30:14.18
what's going to come here next.
00:30:14.28\00:30:15.41
There are many today that,
00:30:15.51\00:30:17.75
in hearing
00:30:17.85\00:30:18.58
about a story like this,
00:30:18.68\00:30:20.08
might say something like this.
00:30:20.18\00:30:21.38
"And then Wesley felt
00:30:21.48\00:30:23.08
comfortable doing whatever he
00:30:23.18\00:30:24.89
wanted to do.
00:30:24.99\00:30:26.39
Left the law keeping
00:30:26.49\00:30:28.09
and doing good things.
00:30:28.19\00:30:29.19
Left all that behind
00:30:29.29\00:30:30.29
and just kind of walked
00:30:30.39\00:30:31.13
in the grace of Jesus Christ."
00:30:31.23\00:30:31.83
Notice carefully
00:30:31.93\00:30:33.06
what actually happened.
00:30:33.16\00:30:34.00
"He," Wesley, "continued his
00:30:34.10\00:30:36.36
strict and self-denying life,
00:30:36.46\00:30:38.80
not now as the ground,
00:30:38.90\00:30:41.20
but the result of faith;
00:30:41.30\00:30:43.34
not the root,
00:30:43.44\00:30:44.84
but the fruit of holiness.
00:30:44.94\00:30:47.61
The grace of God in Christ
00:30:47.71\00:30:48.81
is the foundation
00:30:48.91\00:30:49.71
of the Christian's hope,
00:30:49.81\00:30:50.58
and that grace will be
00:30:50.68\00:30:52.08
manifested in obedience."
00:30:52.18\00:30:55.08
But this is powerful stuff here,
00:30:55.18\00:30:56.99
which helps support at least
00:30:57.09\00:30:58.09
two further conclusions.
00:30:58.19\00:30:59.52
"Good works are the fruit,
00:30:59.62\00:31:00.59
not the root of salvation."
00:31:00.69\00:31:01.66
Secondly, "We don't do
00:31:01.76\00:31:03.12
good things to be saved.
00:31:03.22\00:31:04.63
We do good things because
00:31:04.73\00:31:05.53
we have been saved."
00:31:05.63\00:31:07.86
And, lastly,
00:31:07.96\00:31:08.76
notice this.
00:31:08.86\00:31:10.10
"Good works therefore do not
00:31:10.20\00:31:11.43
establish the Remnant.
00:31:11.53\00:31:12.37
They simply reveal it."
00:31:12.47\00:31:15.54
Chew on that one over potluck
00:31:15.64\00:31:16.24
this afternoon.
00:31:16.34\00:31:17.57
The Bible is crystal clear
00:31:17.67\00:31:18.31
about this.
00:31:18.41\00:31:19.37
Ephesians 2:8-9.
00:31:19.47\00:31:20.64
My guess is many of you
00:31:20.74\00:31:21.44
have that memorized.
00:31:21.54\00:31:22.31
"For it is by grace that you
00:31:22.41\00:31:24.18
have been saved through faith."
00:31:24.28\00:31:26.11
And this is not from yourselves.
00:31:26.21\00:31:27.08
It is the...?
00:31:27.18\00:31:28.35
"Gift of God."
00:31:28.45\00:31:29.48
Not by what?
00:31:29.58\00:31:30.82
"Not by works,
00:31:30.92\00:31:32.25
so that no one can boast."
00:31:32.35\00:31:33.25
And then comes verse 10.
00:31:33.36\00:31:34.96
Says, "For we are God's
00:31:35.06\00:31:35.62
workmanship,
00:31:35.72\00:31:36.36
created in Christ Jesus
00:31:36.46\00:31:37.69
to do good works,
00:31:37.79\00:31:40.40
which God prepared in advance
00:31:40.50\00:31:41.56
for us to do."
00:31:41.66\00:31:43.23
We're finally set free, again,
00:31:43.33\00:31:44.57
to become the people
00:31:44.67\00:31:45.60
that God has always dreamed
00:31:45.70\00:31:46.23
we could be.
00:31:46.33\00:31:48.10
Doing what God has asked us to
00:31:48.20\00:31:49.44
do is the result of salvation
00:31:49.54\00:31:51.54
from Him, not the cause.
00:31:51.64\00:31:55.34
And, again, Babylon says, "No.
00:31:55.44\00:32:00.08
You must earn your keep."
00:32:00.18\00:32:04.79
In fact, this is the first side
00:32:04.89\00:32:07.42
of Babylon -- trying to earn my
00:32:07.52\00:32:08.09
salvation.
00:32:08.19\00:32:09.39
There's three sides, remember --
00:32:09.49\00:32:10.19
at least these three sides.
00:32:10.29\00:32:11.09
This is the first one,
00:32:11.19\00:32:12.53
trying to earn my salvation.
00:32:12.63\00:32:13.56
Now, this is extraordinarily
00:32:13.66\00:32:14.30
harmful.
00:32:14.36\00:32:15.16
Again, very discouraging
00:32:15.26\00:32:15.93
to who knows how
00:32:16.03\00:32:17.20
many people throughout history
00:32:17.30\00:32:18.50
when they fall into this part
00:32:18.60\00:32:19.53
of Babylon's "gospel."
00:32:19.63\00:32:21.34
There is a second side
00:32:21.44\00:32:22.54
of Babylon.
00:32:22.64\00:32:24.01
And to get at it,
00:32:24.11\00:32:25.74
we need to go back
00:32:25.84\00:32:26.57
and dig a little bit deeper with
00:32:26.68\00:32:27.74
this idea of spiritual adultery.
00:32:27.84\00:32:29.41
You remember what the text said,
00:32:29.51\00:32:30.21
the second angel -- "Fallen,
00:32:30.31\00:32:31.28
fallen is Babylon the Great,
00:32:31.38\00:32:32.91
which made all the nations drink
00:32:33.01\00:32:33.88
the maddening wine
00:32:33.98\00:32:34.72
of her adulteries."
00:32:34.82\00:32:35.58
Well, let's get
00:32:35.68\00:32:36.82
a little more specific about
00:32:36.92\00:32:38.45
what spiritual adultery entails.
00:32:38.55\00:32:39.62
I want to put this up
00:32:39.72\00:32:40.36
on the screen.
00:32:40.46\00:32:41.59
This is Jeremiah 3:6-9.
00:32:41.69\00:32:44.76
God here is again
00:32:44.86\00:32:46.13
represented as the husband.
00:32:46.23\00:32:47.86
Israel is his faithless wife
00:32:47.96\00:32:49.96
in this particular scenario.
00:32:50.07\00:32:51.67
"During the reign of
00:32:51.77\00:32:52.53
King Josiah, the Lord said
00:32:52.63\00:32:53.70
to me" -- to Jeremiah --
00:32:53.80\00:32:54.94
'Have you seen what faithless
00:32:55.04\00:32:56.20
Israel has done?
00:32:56.30\00:32:57.71
She has gone up
00:32:57.81\00:32:58.34
on every high hill
00:32:58.44\00:32:59.61
and under every spreading tree
00:32:59.71\00:33:00.38
and has committed
00:33:00.48\00:33:01.31
adultery there.'"
00:33:01.41\00:33:02.51
This is spiritual adultery.
00:33:02.61\00:33:03.68
"'I thought that after
00:33:03.78\00:33:04.81
she had done all this,
00:33:04.91\00:33:06.25
she would return to me,
00:33:06.35\00:33:07.35
but she did not.
00:33:07.45\00:33:08.72
And her unfaithful sister
00:33:08.82\00:33:09.75
Judah saw it.
00:33:09.85\00:33:11.32
I gave faithless Israel
00:33:11.42\00:33:13.12
her certificate of divorce
00:33:13.22\00:33:14.92
and sent her away because
00:33:15.02\00:33:16.06
of all her adulteries.
00:33:16.16\00:33:17.29
Yet I saw
00:33:17.39\00:33:18.13
that her unfaithful sister
00:33:18.23\00:33:19.19
Judah had no fear;
00:33:19.29\00:33:20.90
she also went out
00:33:20.96\00:33:22.16
and committed adultery.
00:33:22.26\00:33:23.80
Because Israel's immorality
00:33:23.90\00:33:25.53
mattered so little to her,
00:33:25.63\00:33:26.94
she defiled the land
00:33:27.04\00:33:28.47
and committed adultery'" --
00:33:28.57\00:33:30.21
and notice the last part --
00:33:30.31\00:33:31.41
"'with wood and stone.'"
00:33:31.51\00:33:34.08
What did they use wood and stone
00:33:34.18\00:33:35.68
in those days to do?
00:33:35.78\00:33:38.51
Yeah. To make idols.
00:33:38.61\00:33:40.72
They would carve idols.
00:33:40.82\00:33:41.78
You know, statues of supposed
00:33:41.88\00:33:43.49
"deities," etcetera, like that.
00:33:43.59\00:33:44.65
That's what's
00:33:44.75\00:33:45.42
being referred to here.
00:33:45.52\00:33:46.05
So, in other words,
00:33:46.15\00:33:47.86
Israel was engaging in idolatry,
00:33:47.96\00:33:50.76
and that was referred
00:33:50.86\00:33:51.73
to as spiritual adultery.
00:33:51.83\00:33:53.60
Now, you tell me -- simple
00:33:53.70\00:33:54.36
question.
00:33:54.46\00:33:55.00
Is there a commandment
00:33:55.10\00:33:55.96
that deals with idolatry?
00:33:56.06\00:33:58.27
Yeah, yeah. "Don't make
00:33:58.37\00:33:59.33
any graven images," right?
00:33:59.43\00:34:00.37
Don't bow down to them,
00:34:00.47\00:34:01.30
etcetera, etcetera, very, very
00:34:01.40\00:34:02.14
clearly.
00:34:02.24\00:34:03.74
And, of course, all that's based
00:34:03.84\00:34:04.64
on the first commandment, "Thou
00:34:04.74\00:34:05.17
shalt have
00:34:05.27\00:34:05.91
no other gods before me."
00:34:06.01\00:34:07.21
In other words,
00:34:07.31\00:34:09.24
Israel took God's law,
00:34:09.34\00:34:11.21
in this case against idolatry,
00:34:11.31\00:34:12.78
and replaced it
00:34:12.88\00:34:13.78
with something else.
00:34:13.88\00:34:17.82
The second side of Babylon
00:34:17.92\00:34:19.79
sets aside God's law
00:34:19.89\00:34:21.69
and replaces it
00:34:21.79\00:34:22.86
with something else.
00:34:22.96\00:34:25.33
And, sadly, this represents
00:34:25.43\00:34:26.43
a huge portion
00:34:26.53\00:34:27.60
of the Christian world today,
00:34:27.73\00:34:29.13
who have done one of at least
00:34:29.23\00:34:30.23
two things
00:34:30.33\00:34:31.07
when it comes to God's law.
00:34:31.17\00:34:32.63
Number one, they sincerely
00:34:32.73\00:34:34.17
believe and teach that the law
00:34:34.27\00:34:35.40
of God was done away with
00:34:35.50\00:34:37.17
at the what?
00:34:37.27\00:34:38.74
At the cross.
00:34:38.84\00:34:40.14
Yeah, they go to Colossians 2,
00:34:40.24\00:34:41.64
and they think
00:34:41.74\00:34:42.61
that what they are reading there
00:34:42.71\00:34:43.58
is that the Ten Commandments
00:34:43.68\00:34:44.41
were nailed to the cross,
00:34:44.51\00:34:45.31
and therefore we are no longer
00:34:45.41\00:34:46.68
under those things.
00:34:46.78\00:34:47.42
We're under grace.
00:34:47.52\00:34:48.92
Jesus Himself
00:34:49.02\00:34:50.39
prohibits that interpretation.
00:34:50.49\00:34:52.52
I don't have time
00:34:52.62\00:34:53.82
to go into it today.
00:34:53.92\00:34:54.52
But if you look at
00:34:54.62\00:34:55.26
Matthew 5:17-19,
00:34:55.36\00:34:57.39
Jesus there very clearly says,
00:34:57.49\00:34:58.16
"Until heaven
00:34:58.26\00:34:59.16
and earth disappear,
00:34:59.26\00:35:00.36
not the least stroke of a pen,
00:35:00.46\00:35:01.70
not one jot, not one tittle
00:35:01.80\00:35:03.20
from the law will disappear
00:35:03.30\00:35:04.73
until all is fulfilled."
00:35:04.83\00:35:06.74
Now, what that means is, if you
00:35:06.84\00:35:07.90
look up and you see a sky,
00:35:08.00\00:35:09.84
if you look down
00:35:09.94\00:35:11.21
and you see the earth,
00:35:11.31\00:35:12.07
the law of God
00:35:12.17\00:35:12.84
is still in effect.
00:35:12.94\00:35:14.24
Those Ten Commandments
00:35:14.34\00:35:14.91
are still there.
00:35:15.01\00:35:16.38
It's something that
00:35:16.48\00:35:17.81
the Christian, that the world
00:35:17.91\00:35:18.55
should pay attention to.
00:35:18.65\00:35:20.88
We'll talk more about these
00:35:20.98\00:35:21.45
another time.
00:35:21.55\00:35:23.18
Secondly,
00:35:23.28\00:35:25.35
the second side of Babylon
00:35:25.45\00:35:26.45
is expressed through the fact
00:35:26.55\00:35:27.22
that there are millions
00:35:27.32\00:35:28.36
of professing Christians today
00:35:28.46\00:35:29.99
who will take some parts
00:35:30.09\00:35:31.33
of God's law as it is written,
00:35:31.43\00:35:33.93
but then they will take
00:35:34.00\00:35:35.23
other parts of God's law
00:35:35.33\00:35:36.70
and attempt to change it and
00:35:36.80\00:35:38.07
replace it with something else.
00:35:38.17\00:35:40.07
Just briefly,
00:35:40.17\00:35:40.84
two classic examples
00:35:40.94\00:35:42.30
that are very prevalent today.
00:35:42.40\00:35:43.57
The fourth commandment,
00:35:43.67\00:35:44.47
you know, the fourth
00:35:44.57\00:35:45.44
of the Ten Commandments.
00:35:45.54\00:35:46.27
"Remember the Sabbath day
00:35:46.37\00:35:47.04
to keep it holy.
00:35:47.14\00:35:47.84
Six days shalt thou labor
00:35:47.94\00:35:48.74
and do all thy work.
00:35:48.84\00:35:49.58
But the seventh day is the
00:35:49.68\00:35:50.51
Sabbath of the Lord thy God."
00:35:50.61\00:35:52.41
The Sabbath only occurs
00:35:52.51\00:35:53.85
in a certain spot,
00:35:53.95\00:35:55.52
not because I said so,
00:35:55.62\00:35:56.32
but because God said so.
00:35:56.42\00:35:57.59
It's only in that place.
00:35:57.69\00:35:58.52
We can pretend about other
00:35:58.62\00:35:59.82
things, but it only is right
00:35:59.92\00:36:01.06
there.
00:36:01.16\00:36:02.22
And in Jewish reckoning,
00:36:02.32\00:36:03.29
that went from Friday
00:36:03.39\00:36:04.59
sundown to Saturday sundown.
00:36:04.69\00:36:06.03
That's the only place that
00:36:06.13\00:36:07.03
the holy hours of the Sabbath
00:36:07.13\00:36:07.93
are found.
00:36:08.00\00:36:09.26
Yet today, there are
00:36:09.36\00:36:11.17
untold millions of Christians
00:36:11.27\00:36:12.63
that believe that Sunday
00:36:12.73\00:36:13.70
is the day of worship.
00:36:13.80\00:36:15.10
Some of them believe
00:36:15.20\00:36:16.20
that Sunday is the new Sabbath.
00:36:16.30\00:36:17.44
Others just simply believe
00:36:17.54\00:36:18.64
that the whole idea of a Sabbath
00:36:18.74\00:36:19.47
was done away with,
00:36:19.57\00:36:20.71
and in honor of the resurrection
00:36:20.81\00:36:21.78
they worship on Sunday.
00:36:21.88\00:36:23.24
Here's the challenge.
00:36:23.35\00:36:24.28
The Bible says absolutely
00:36:24.38\00:36:25.55
nothing about that.
00:36:25.65\00:36:27.28
There's no command to do that.
00:36:27.38\00:36:29.05
But the command to follow
00:36:29.15\00:36:30.15
the true Sabbath
00:36:30.25\00:36:30.95
is still in force.
00:36:31.05\00:36:32.22
Jesus kept
00:36:32.32\00:36:33.12
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:36:33.22\00:36:34.16
The disciples kept the
00:36:34.26\00:36:35.39
seventh-day Sabbath both before
00:36:35.49\00:36:36.73
and after the resurrection
00:36:36.83\00:36:37.86
of Jesus.
00:36:37.96\00:36:39.23
The early Christians all kept
00:36:39.33\00:36:40.83
the seventh-day Sabbath.
00:36:40.93\00:36:41.86
In fact, they went to church in
00:36:41.96\00:36:43.33
the synagogue with their Jewish
00:36:43.43\00:36:44.57
counterparts because, again,
00:36:44.67\00:36:45.77
most converts to Christianity
00:36:45.87\00:36:47.27
were from Judaism.
00:36:47.37\00:36:51.31
Another example is the first
00:36:51.41\00:36:52.57
commandment -- "Thou shalt have
00:36:52.67\00:36:53.51
no other gods before me."
00:36:53.61\00:36:55.41
And yet there are millions of
00:36:55.51\00:36:56.31
Christians today that will
00:36:56.41\00:36:57.71
essentially worship saints --
00:36:57.81\00:37:00.12
now, the idea that, you know,
00:37:00.22\00:37:01.15
somehow these good people
00:37:01.25\00:37:02.38
from the past have died,
00:37:02.48\00:37:03.32
and now they're still able
00:37:03.42\00:37:04.29
somehow to hear your requests
00:37:04.39\00:37:05.59
and that miracles can happen
00:37:05.69\00:37:06.52
through them, etcetera.
00:37:06.62\00:37:07.72
The Bible is not only not
00:37:07.82\00:37:08.52
in favor of that.
00:37:08.62\00:37:09.72
It actually
00:37:09.82\00:37:11.19
speaks specifically against it.
00:37:11.29\00:37:12.83
And yet there are millions
00:37:12.93\00:37:13.50
that do it.
00:37:13.60\00:37:15.60
Now, notice carefully here.
00:37:15.70\00:37:17.27
I would say the great majority
00:37:17.37\00:37:18.50
of these Christians
00:37:18.60\00:37:19.27
that do these things
00:37:19.37\00:37:20.27
are doing them sincerely.
00:37:20.37\00:37:22.80
In other words, they don't know.
00:37:22.90\00:37:25.07
They have not heard the truth
00:37:25.17\00:37:25.87
for this time.
00:37:25.97\00:37:27.61
And so, they, I mean,
00:37:27.71\00:37:29.71
they are waiting for someone
00:37:29.81\00:37:31.51
to reveal these things to them.
00:37:31.61\00:37:33.52
But I want you to notice
00:37:33.62\00:37:34.55
carefully what happens,
00:37:34.65\00:37:36.12
whether we are sincerely
00:37:36.22\00:37:37.22
doing it or deviously doing it.
00:37:37.32\00:37:38.82
What happens when we set aside
00:37:38.92\00:37:41.22
God's law and put something
00:37:41.32\00:37:42.42
else in its place?
00:37:42.52\00:37:44.09
We harm ourselves
00:37:44.19\00:37:45.93
when we do that.
00:37:46.03\00:37:48.56
Because, after all,
00:37:48.66\00:37:49.70
what is the law of God for?
00:37:49.80\00:37:52.27
What's it for?
00:37:52.37\00:37:54.27
I mean, we know that it's not to
00:37:54.37\00:37:55.27
earn us our salvation.
00:37:55.37\00:37:56.40
We've already talked about that.
00:37:56.50\00:37:57.61
And it's not only there
00:37:57.71\00:37:58.71
to convict us of sin.
00:37:58.81\00:38:00.14
As important as that is,
00:38:00.24\00:38:01.74
there is still something deeper
00:38:01.84\00:38:02.78
at work
00:38:02.88\00:38:03.68
when it comes to the law of God.
00:38:03.78\00:38:05.05
And it is this -- the law of God
00:38:05.15\00:38:07.08
is given that we might know Him,
00:38:07.18\00:38:13.56
that we might know Him.
00:38:13.66\00:38:16.46
Remember what Jesus said?
00:38:16.56\00:38:17.19
John 17:3.
00:38:17.29\00:38:18.69
Remember, Jesus is praying
00:38:18.79\00:38:20.10
to His Father, and He says,
00:38:20.20\00:38:21.73
"And this is eternal life."
00:38:21.83\00:38:23.30
He gives this definition --
00:38:23.40\00:38:24.53
"That they may know you,"
00:38:24.63\00:38:25.70
pointing to His Father
00:38:25.80\00:38:26.74
in heaven, "the one true God,
00:38:26.84\00:38:27.74
and Jesus Christ,
00:38:27.84\00:38:28.84
whom you have sent."
00:38:28.94\00:38:30.31
Salvation -- the purpose
00:38:30.41\00:38:31.67
of salvation is to know God.
00:38:31.77\00:38:32.97
The essence of salvation
00:38:33.07\00:38:34.08
is to know God.
00:38:34.18\00:38:34.88
And notice this.
00:38:34.98\00:38:35.68
The law of God
00:38:35.78\00:38:36.85
is from the mind of God.
00:38:36.95\00:38:39.75
It is based on His heart.
00:38:39.85\00:38:42.72
It is therefore an excellent
00:38:42.82\00:38:43.95
reflection of who He is.
00:38:44.05\00:38:45.59
Now, God cannot be reduced
00:38:45.69\00:38:46.86
to His law.
00:38:46.96\00:38:47.66
No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:38:47.76\00:38:48.76
But, nonetheless, the law
00:38:48.86\00:38:49.89
is an excellent reflection
00:38:49.99\00:38:50.89
of who He is.
00:38:50.99\00:38:53.03
And if we throw out God's law,
00:38:53.13\00:38:54.20
we cannot know Him
00:38:54.30\00:38:55.80
in the deep way that He intends.
00:38:55.90\00:38:58.80
No wonder that James in the book
00:38:58.90\00:39:01.60
that has his name on it,
00:39:01.70\00:39:02.50
James 1:25, he invites us to
00:39:02.60\00:39:04.87
look intently into the perfect
00:39:04.97\00:39:05.87
law that gives -- what's that
00:39:05.97\00:39:08.51
word?
00:39:08.61\00:39:09.61
>> Freedom.
00:39:09.71\00:39:10.35
>> Freedom -- that gives
00:39:10.45\00:39:11.05
freedom.
00:39:11.15\00:39:12.21
And he says, "If we do this,
00:39:12.31\00:39:13.28
we will be blessed,"
00:39:13.38\00:39:15.28
not because the law saves us,
00:39:15.38\00:39:17.19
but because it constantly
00:39:17.29\00:39:18.42
points us back to Jesus.
00:39:18.52\00:39:21.99
You see,
00:39:22.09\00:39:23.46
prior to accepting Jesus,
00:39:23.56\00:39:25.53
the law is our sworn enemy.
00:39:25.63\00:39:27.13
Make no mistake.
00:39:27.23\00:39:28.33
It condemns us.
00:39:28.43\00:39:29.63
We've broken God's law.
00:39:29.73\00:39:30.87
The law stands there proclaiming
00:39:30.97\00:39:32.00
our condemnation.
00:39:32.10\00:39:33.64
But after accepting Jesus,
00:39:33.74\00:39:35.37
the law is transformed,
00:39:35.47\00:39:37.17
as far as our relationship
00:39:37.27\00:39:38.11
to it.
00:39:38.21\00:39:38.77
The law becomes candy
00:39:38.87\00:39:39.71
for the soul.
00:39:39.81\00:39:40.51
It is sweet in the mouth
00:39:40.61\00:39:41.41
and in the life.
00:39:41.51\00:39:42.64
It is the essence of the path
00:39:42.74\00:39:43.81
to freedom.
00:39:43.91\00:39:45.71
Is this not part of the miracle
00:39:45.81\00:39:47.65
of salvation, of righteousness
00:39:47.75\00:39:49.22
by faith in Jesus Christ?
00:39:49.32\00:39:51.32
This is why before
00:39:51.42\00:39:53.09
we accept Christ,
00:39:53.19\00:39:54.56
keeping God's law can seem
00:39:54.66\00:39:55.86
empty and dry.
00:39:55.96\00:39:58.23
But after we accept Christ,
00:39:58.33\00:39:59.89
there is a change of attitude
00:40:00.00\00:40:01.36
inside of us.
00:40:01.46\00:40:03.16
God creates in us a clean heart.
00:40:03.26\00:40:05.37
He renews a right attitude,
00:40:05.47\00:40:07.20
a right spirit within us.
00:40:07.30\00:40:08.84
We have new cravings
00:40:08.94\00:40:09.87
and new desires,
00:40:09.97\00:40:11.07
not for that which is evil,
00:40:11.17\00:40:12.31
but for that which is good.
00:40:12.41\00:40:13.48
This is why,
00:40:13.58\00:40:14.91
after we accept Jesus
00:40:15.01\00:40:16.01
as our Lord and Savior,
00:40:16.11\00:40:17.21
He invites us to passionately
00:40:17.31\00:40:18.85
pursue obedience to His law.
00:40:18.95\00:40:21.95
Obedience without Christ
00:40:22.05\00:40:23.49
is legalism and damning.
00:40:23.59\00:40:26.25
But obedience with Jesus,
00:40:26.35\00:40:28.29
as James said,
00:40:28.39\00:40:29.39
is a path of freedom.
00:40:29.49\00:40:31.43
In fact --
00:40:31.53\00:40:32.76
listen carefully, please.
00:40:32.86\00:40:35.10
Anyone who claims to be
00:40:35.20\00:40:36.83
a Christian
00:40:36.93\00:40:38.70
and does not passionately seek
00:40:38.80\00:40:40.30
full conformity to the will
00:40:40.40\00:40:41.77
and the law of God
00:40:41.87\00:40:43.94
is either spiritually sick
00:40:44.04\00:40:47.68
or not a Christian.
00:40:47.78\00:40:50.85
This is how solid
00:40:50.95\00:40:51.85
the transformation inside of us
00:40:51.95\00:40:52.88
is to be.
00:40:52.98\00:40:54.25
What did Jesus say?
00:40:54.35\00:40:55.72
"By their fruits
00:40:55.82\00:40:57.55
you shall know them."
00:40:57.65\00:40:59.25
What did Jesus say?
00:40:59.35\00:41:00.22
"If you love me,
00:41:00.32\00:41:01.26
keep my commandments."
00:41:01.36\00:41:04.46
Not to be saved,
00:41:04.56\00:41:06.43
but because we already have been
00:41:06.53\00:41:07.76
saved, and the change
00:41:07.86\00:41:09.40
inside of us has begun.
00:41:09.50\00:41:11.33
And we long to know Jesus better
00:41:11.43\00:41:13.27
and better and better.
00:41:13.37\00:41:17.77
And Babylon says, "No!
00:41:17.87\00:41:22.81
No, you can't have it because
00:41:22.91\00:41:26.61
the law has been done away with.
00:41:26.72\00:41:28.15
It's been changed and replaced
00:41:28.25\00:41:29.28
with something else.
00:41:29.38\00:41:30.09
And thus you cannot know God
00:41:30.19\00:41:31.65
to the depths He calls you to.
00:41:31.75\00:41:33.15
You cannot walk fully
00:41:33.25\00:41:34.26
in the freedom
00:41:34.36\00:41:35.06
He longs for you to have."
00:41:35.16\00:41:37.83
And millions of honest,
00:41:37.93\00:41:39.19
God-loving people suffer because
00:41:39.29\00:41:40.96
of this every single day.
00:41:41.03\00:41:46.30
And now we're ready to sum up
00:41:46.40\00:41:47.87
the second angel's message.
00:41:47.97\00:41:49.80
The first angel said,
00:41:49.90\00:41:50.74
"Honor and worship the Creator,
00:41:50.84\00:41:52.01
for justice is coming, and time
00:41:52.11\00:41:52.94
is running out."
00:41:53.04\00:41:53.98
The second angel essentially
00:41:54.08\00:41:54.68
says this.
00:41:54.78\00:41:55.98
Best way I know to put it today.
00:41:56.08\00:41:57.21
May change as I grow over time.
00:41:57.31\00:41:58.91
"Trying to earn my salvation,
00:41:59.01\00:42:00.38
or setting aside
00:42:00.48\00:42:01.38
God's law, won't work."
00:42:01.48\00:42:04.55
"Fallen," the text said.
00:42:04.65\00:42:05.42
And just in case
00:42:05.52\00:42:06.32
we miss the point,
00:42:06.42\00:42:07.06
it actually says it twice,
00:42:07.16\00:42:07.76
right?
00:42:07.86\00:42:08.72
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the
00:42:08.82\00:42:09.42
Great."
00:42:09.52\00:42:10.79
She's not out leading the race.
00:42:10.89\00:42:11.93
Babylon's not
00:42:12.03\00:42:12.93
winning all of this out there.
00:42:13.03\00:42:14.00
No, no, no, she's fallen down.
00:42:14.10\00:42:17.23
"Trying to earn my salvation,
00:42:17.33\00:42:18.37
or setting aside
00:42:18.47\00:42:19.43
God's law, won't work."
00:42:19.53\00:42:20.90
And notice this carefully.
00:42:21.00\00:42:22.30
Anyone or any organization
00:42:22.40\00:42:24.44
that says you must
00:42:24.54\00:42:25.47
earn your own salvation,
00:42:25.57\00:42:26.94
or that God's law has been
00:42:27.04\00:42:28.08
altered or done away
00:42:28.18\00:42:29.01
with is Babylon,
00:42:29.11\00:42:32.15
be they Catholic, Protestant,
00:42:32.25\00:42:34.02
pagan, evangelical,
00:42:34.12\00:42:35.68
or Seventh-day Adventist.
00:42:35.78\00:42:37.95
And right now I think we should
00:42:42.92\00:42:43.69
go back to Bob.
00:42:43.79\00:42:48.53
"Hey, Bob. Bob, it's me, Shane,
00:42:48.63\00:42:50.33
your next-door neighbor.
00:42:50.43\00:42:51.73
I know, I know, last time
00:42:51.83\00:42:52.77
wasn't so good.
00:42:52.87\00:42:53.34
Sorry about --
00:42:53.44\00:42:54.17
just give me give me another
00:42:54.27\00:42:55.20
chance here, if you would, Bob."
00:42:55.30\00:42:56.44
And because Bob is a nice guy,
00:42:56.54\00:42:57.61
he lets me in.
00:42:57.71\00:43:01.01
"Hey, Bob.
00:43:01.11\00:43:02.14
Listen -- I apologize.
00:43:02.24\00:43:05.01
You know, I kind of messed up
00:43:05.11\00:43:06.21
with the first message,
00:43:06.31\00:43:07.18
and maybe I've done it again
00:43:07.28\00:43:08.05
with the second.
00:43:08.15\00:43:08.88
I'm real sorry about that.
00:43:08.98\00:43:09.82
Listen -- I did some more study,
00:43:09.92\00:43:11.75
and actually it says something
00:43:11.85\00:43:13.19
different than what I thought.
00:43:13.29\00:43:14.16
You know, Bob,
00:43:14.26\00:43:17.06
there's nothing you can do
00:43:17.16\00:43:19.96
to make God love you any more
00:43:20.06\00:43:22.13
than He already does right now,
00:43:22.23\00:43:25.03
and there's nothing you can do
00:43:25.13\00:43:26.33
to make Him love you
00:43:26.43\00:43:27.50
any less than He does right now.
00:43:27.60\00:43:30.27
He just loves you.
00:43:30.37\00:43:33.27
If you decide to follow Jesus --
00:43:33.38\00:43:34.61
and I hope you do --
00:43:34.71\00:43:35.34
but if you do, you don't
00:43:35.44\00:43:36.44
have to clean yourself up first
00:43:36.54\00:43:38.05
before you come to Him.
00:43:38.15\00:43:38.65
He will
00:43:38.75\00:43:39.48
take you just as you are, Bob.
00:43:39.58\00:43:41.38
And, Bob, did you know
00:43:41.48\00:43:42.48
something?
00:43:42.58\00:43:43.28
If you choose Him
00:43:43.39\00:43:44.35
as your Lord and Savior,
00:43:44.45\00:43:46.82
He won't leave you that way.
00:43:46.92\00:43:48.32
He loves you too much
00:43:48.42\00:43:48.89
to do that.
00:43:48.99\00:43:50.83
You can become at last the kind
00:43:50.93\00:43:52.16
of person that God,
00:43:52.26\00:43:53.40
and, Bob, I'm guessing
00:43:53.50\00:43:54.30
that you have always dreamed
00:43:54.36\00:43:55.60
you could be -- a person of love
00:43:55.70\00:43:58.13
and of justice, of mercy
00:43:58.23\00:44:00.27
and dignity and kindness
00:44:00.37\00:44:02.24
and all of those things.
00:44:02.34\00:44:04.01
He loves you,
00:44:04.11\00:44:05.07
and He gave His life
00:44:05.17\00:44:06.61
that you can become
00:44:06.71\00:44:07.58
that kind of person.
00:44:07.68\00:44:09.04
Bob, what do you think?
00:44:09.14\00:44:09.91
Are you okay with that?"
00:44:10.01\00:44:12.68
And Bob thinks that's
00:44:16.45\00:44:18.05
pretty good.
00:44:18.15\00:44:20.32
He'd like to know more about
00:44:20.42\00:44:21.02
that kind of a God,
00:44:21.12\00:44:23.89
which brings us
00:44:23.99\00:44:25.66
to angel number three.
00:44:25.76\00:44:28.00
Turn in your Bibles, please.
00:44:28.10\00:44:29.86
Page 830. Revelation 14:9.
00:44:29.96\00:44:35.00
It's the last angel.
00:44:35.10\00:44:37.74
We've looked at number one.
00:44:37.84\00:44:39.21
We've looked at number two.
00:44:39.31\00:44:42.64
And now, number three,
00:44:42.74\00:44:43.71
verse 9, Revelation 14.
00:44:43.81\00:44:46.18
"A third angel followed them
00:44:46.28\00:44:47.45
and said in a loud voice,
00:44:47.55\00:44:50.29
'If anyone worships the beast
00:44:50.39\00:44:52.65
and his image
00:44:52.75\00:44:54.56
and receives his mark
00:44:54.66\00:44:55.99
on the forehead or on the hand,
00:44:56.09\00:44:58.59
he, too, will drink of the wine
00:44:58.69\00:45:00.46
of God's fury, which has been
00:45:00.56\00:45:02.23
poured full strength
00:45:02.33\00:45:03.33
into the cup of His wrath.
00:45:03.43\00:45:05.43
He will be tormented with
00:45:05.53\00:45:06.63
burning sulfur in the presence
00:45:06.74\00:45:07.80
of the holy angels
00:45:07.90\00:45:08.57
and of the Lamb,
00:45:08.67\00:45:10.01
and the smoke of their torment
00:45:10.11\00:45:11.14
rises forever and ever.
00:45:11.24\00:45:13.01
There is no rest day or night
00:45:13.11\00:45:14.91
for those who worship the beast
00:45:15.01\00:45:15.94
and his image,
00:45:16.04\00:45:16.98
or for anyone who receives
00:45:17.08\00:45:18.55
the mark of his name.'"
00:45:18.65\00:45:20.95
Well, not a single amen
00:45:27.12\00:45:28.29
in the house of the Lord
00:45:28.39\00:45:29.12
this morning.
00:45:29.22\00:45:29.96
[ Laughter ]
00:45:30.06\00:45:30.79
Right?
00:45:30.89\00:45:33.60
No praises from the lips
00:45:33.70\00:45:34.46
of the saints here.
00:45:34.56\00:45:35.33
I'll tell you what.
00:45:35.43\00:45:36.60
Let's see what Bob thinks,
00:45:36.70\00:45:37.73
shall we?
00:45:37.83\00:45:39.30
Let's try this out.
00:45:39.40\00:45:41.57
"Hey, Bob!
00:45:41.67\00:45:42.64
Bob, it's me again.
00:45:42.74\00:45:43.81
It's your neighbor Shane.
00:45:43.91\00:45:44.87
Yeah, I know,
00:45:44.97\00:45:45.91
I've been here before.
00:45:46.01\00:45:46.64
There's only three angels.
00:45:46.74\00:45:47.74
I'm not coming back after this,
00:45:47.84\00:45:48.44
all right?
00:45:48.54\00:45:49.64
Just one more chance, okay?"
00:45:49.74\00:45:51.35
And because Bob is a nice guy,
00:45:51.45\00:45:53.18
he's going to let me in, so...
00:45:53.28\00:45:55.88
"Hey, Bob, listen.
00:45:55.98\00:45:57.25
You're pretty
00:45:57.35\00:45:58.75
excited after we left last time.
00:45:58.85\00:45:59.89
I know. That was good stuff.
00:46:00.06\00:46:00.86
Well, as it turns out, God has
00:46:00.96\00:46:02.72
just one last final message here
00:46:02.82\00:46:04.29
before He returns, and He
00:46:04.39\00:46:05.96
wants you to know about it.
00:46:06.06\00:46:06.76
I got to tell you, Bob.
00:46:06.86\00:46:07.46
This is the best.
00:46:07.56\00:46:08.20
This is the greatest.
00:46:08.30\00:46:09.16
You're going to love this!
00:46:09.26\00:46:09.63
Listen.
00:46:09.73\00:46:10.47
God is going to have
00:46:10.57\00:46:11.77
a great, big party
00:46:11.87\00:46:13.77
at the end of time.
00:46:13.87\00:46:15.17
And you are not only on the
00:46:15.27\00:46:16.50
guest list -- you are on the
00:46:16.60\00:46:18.34
menu."
00:46:18.44\00:46:19.84
[ Laughter ]
00:46:19.94\00:46:21.68
"God's going to have this great,
00:46:21.78\00:46:22.88
big end-time barbecue,
00:46:22.98\00:46:24.75
and you are going to be
00:46:24.85\00:46:25.71
his shish kebab!
00:46:25.81\00:46:27.18
[ Chuckles ]
00:46:27.28\00:46:28.38
You see what I did there, Bob?
00:46:28.48\00:46:29.35
Like shish 'ka-bob,' right?
00:46:29.45\00:46:29.85
Got that?
00:46:29.95\00:46:31.12
Yeah. See? That kind of thing?
00:46:31.22\00:46:32.29
Right? See? You're going to
00:46:32.39\00:46:33.76
sizzle and fry and never die!
00:46:33.86\00:46:37.99
Now, truly, we do have a spot
00:46:38.09\00:46:39.03
in that Bible study.
00:46:39.13\00:46:39.79
If you want to come,
00:46:39.89\00:46:40.43
I can set you up.
00:46:40.53\00:46:41.36
I'll drop by, pick you up.
00:46:41.46\00:46:42.60
It's not a problem."
00:46:42.70\00:46:44.47
Not only is Bob
00:46:47.94\00:46:49.37
not coming to my Bible study,
00:46:49.47\00:46:52.11
but at this point,
00:46:52.21\00:46:52.94
Bob may not have much interest
00:46:53.04\00:46:54.68
at all in ever
00:46:54.78\00:46:56.14
cracking open the book again.
00:46:56.24\00:46:58.75
Right? And let's be honest.
00:46:58.85\00:47:03.08
Some of you listening right now
00:47:03.18\00:47:06.52
may be in somewhat
00:47:06.62\00:47:08.02
of the same boat.
00:47:08.12\00:47:11.23
You know, we found some
00:47:11.33\00:47:12.33
good news in the first angel,
00:47:12.43\00:47:14.20
and we found some good news
00:47:14.30\00:47:15.10
in the second angel.
00:47:15.20\00:47:16.87
But it kind of seems like
00:47:16.97\00:47:17.70
all bets are off when you get
00:47:17.80\00:47:18.53
to angel number three.
00:47:18.63\00:47:20.57
And let's be clear.
00:47:20.67\00:47:22.27
This is indeed the strongest
00:47:22.37\00:47:25.44
warning in all of Scripture --
00:47:25.54\00:47:28.41
the strongest one.
00:47:28.51\00:47:29.68
I mean, there are other warnings
00:47:29.78\00:47:30.38
that God gives
00:47:30.48\00:47:31.41
sprinkled throughout Scripture.
00:47:31.51\00:47:32.55
This is the granddaddy
00:47:32.65\00:47:33.48
of them all.
00:47:33.58\00:47:34.92
There's nothing that tops
00:47:35.02\00:47:35.45
this one.
00:47:35.55\00:47:38.69
And yet... And yet...
00:47:38.79\00:47:42.76
I believe it is possible
00:47:42.86\00:47:43.79
to find some good news
00:47:43.89\00:47:45.09
even in this third angel.
00:47:45.19\00:47:48.70
But if we're going to find
00:47:48.80\00:47:49.43
this good news, we have to
00:47:49.53\00:47:50.77
understand at least two things.
00:47:50.87\00:47:53.30
Number one, God respects our
00:47:53.40\00:47:56.81
power of choice.
00:47:56.91\00:48:00.71
God respects
00:48:00.81\00:48:02.04
our power of choice.
00:48:02.14\00:48:04.31
You are made
00:48:04.41\00:48:05.01
in the image of God.
00:48:05.11\00:48:05.88
Whether we recognize
00:48:05.98\00:48:06.92
that fact or not is irrelevant.
00:48:07.02\00:48:07.95
We are made in the --
00:48:08.05\00:48:09.02
for this particular point,
00:48:09.12\00:48:09.65
it's irrelevant.
00:48:09.75\00:48:10.65
That means
00:48:10.75\00:48:11.79
that we are free moral agents.
00:48:11.89\00:48:13.22
We have the ability to choose.
00:48:13.32\00:48:15.06
And God looks at us,
00:48:15.16\00:48:16.69
and He says, "You can
00:48:16.79\00:48:18.26
choose for or against me."
00:48:18.36\00:48:19.49
Now let that sink in.
00:48:19.59\00:48:20.73
The most powerful force in the
00:48:20.83\00:48:22.06
universe, the creator of all,
00:48:22.16\00:48:23.57
the Lord of all, will be stopped
00:48:23.67\00:48:25.70
by two letters from your lips.
00:48:25.80\00:48:26.94
N-o.
00:48:27.04\00:48:27.87
If you say no,
00:48:27.97\00:48:29.80
Jesus isn't going to come in.
00:48:29.90\00:48:31.21
Jesus is a gentleman.
00:48:31.31\00:48:32.41
He will not come in
00:48:32.51\00:48:33.44
where He's not wanted.
00:48:33.54\00:48:37.05
He's not interested in twisting
00:48:37.15\00:48:38.25
anybody's arm into the kingdom,
00:48:38.35\00:48:40.22
because someone that is
00:48:40.32\00:48:41.08
convinced against their will
00:48:41.18\00:48:42.48
is of the same opinion still.
00:48:42.58\00:48:44.22
Love to be loved
00:48:44.32\00:48:45.89
must be chosen freely.
00:48:45.99\00:48:48.62
And Jesus knows this.
00:48:48.72\00:48:49.66
And so, He has established
00:48:49.76\00:48:50.89
this rule that He will not
00:48:50.99\00:48:51.96
cross that line.
00:48:52.06\00:48:52.86
He's a gentleman.
00:48:52.96\00:48:53.53
He will not
00:48:53.63\00:48:54.36
come in where He's not wanted.
00:48:54.46\00:48:55.73
He will respect
00:48:55.83\00:48:56.87
your power of choice.
00:48:56.97\00:49:00.07
And secondly, if we're going
00:49:00.17\00:49:01.80
to find any good news
00:49:01.90\00:49:03.00
in the third angel's message,
00:49:03.10\00:49:05.14
we need to know
00:49:05.24\00:49:06.71
about little Johnny.
00:49:06.81\00:49:09.91
I want you to imagine that you
00:49:10.01\00:49:11.21
take your family on a picnic,
00:49:11.31\00:49:13.28
and it's a beautiful spring day,
00:49:13.38\00:49:14.72
and the temperature
00:49:14.82\00:49:15.85
is nice and warm,
00:49:15.95\00:49:16.89
and the sky is blue,
00:49:16.99\00:49:18.29
and the grass is green.
00:49:18.39\00:49:19.72
You lay out your picnic there
00:49:19.82\00:49:20.86
on this beautiful
00:49:20.96\00:49:21.62
picnic blanket, and you
00:49:21.72\00:49:22.72
and your children are there.
00:49:22.82\00:49:23.96
And there's birds
00:49:24.06\00:49:25.06
that are singing in the air,
00:49:25.16\00:49:26.19
but you can't hear
00:49:26.29\00:49:27.40
any of those birds,
00:49:27.50\00:49:29.06
because 100 yards away
00:49:29.16\00:49:31.33
is an eight-lane freeway,
00:49:31.43\00:49:33.97
four lanes in either direction.
00:49:34.07\00:49:35.20
It's heavy traffic time.
00:49:35.30\00:49:36.54
They're all going 80 miles
00:49:36.64\00:49:37.67
an hour, and there are no
00:49:37.77\00:49:39.14
guardrails on the freeway.
00:49:39.24\00:49:42.24
Now, why it is that you chose
00:49:42.34\00:49:43.65
to have a picnic at this place,
00:49:43.75\00:49:44.65
I have no idea, but I respect
00:49:44.75\00:49:45.38
your power of choice.
00:49:45.48\00:49:46.28
So, that's where
00:49:46.38\00:49:47.52
we're going to be, okay?
00:49:47.62\00:49:48.45
So, you've got your picnic there
00:49:48.55\00:49:49.62
and you're eating your sandwich
00:49:49.72\00:49:50.95
and just enjoying
00:49:51.05\00:49:52.15
this beautiful spring day,
00:49:52.25\00:49:53.25
when suddenly you realize
00:49:53.36\00:49:57.46
that little Johnny is not
00:49:57.56\00:49:59.73
where he's supposed to be.
00:49:59.83\00:50:01.16
I mean,
00:50:01.26\00:50:02.50
just a few moments earlier,
00:50:02.60\00:50:03.47
little Johnny was over there,
00:50:03.57\00:50:04.40
eating his sandwich on that
00:50:04.50\00:50:05.80
side of the blanket there,
00:50:05.90\00:50:06.50
and you took
00:50:06.60\00:50:07.27
a bite of your sandwich.
00:50:07.37\00:50:07.90
You look up again,
00:50:08.00\00:50:08.77
and little Johnny is not there,
00:50:08.87\00:50:10.27
and this sense of horror
00:50:10.37\00:50:11.34
comes over you,
00:50:11.44\00:50:12.21
and you think to yourself,
00:50:12.31\00:50:12.91
"Oh, no. Oh, no.
00:50:13.01\00:50:14.21
Surely Johnny is not..."
00:50:14.31\00:50:18.15
And you look up towards
00:50:18.25\00:50:19.28
the freeway, and, sure enough,
00:50:19.38\00:50:21.72
Johnny is.
00:50:21.82\00:50:23.79
Johnny is sprinting
00:50:23.89\00:50:25.05
for all he's worth,
00:50:25.15\00:50:26.62
straight towards that eight-lane
00:50:26.72\00:50:28.79
freeway with no guardrails.
00:50:28.89\00:50:32.43
And because you are a parent
00:50:32.53\00:50:34.20
who loves their children,
00:50:34.30\00:50:36.36
you throw your sandwich
00:50:36.46\00:50:37.40
onto the blanket,
00:50:37.50\00:50:38.23
you jump to your feet,
00:50:38.33\00:50:39.50
you cup your hands to your mouth
00:50:39.60\00:50:40.74
and you say,
00:50:40.84\00:50:43.10
[ Quietly ] "Johnny?
00:50:43.20\00:50:45.57
Johnny?
00:50:45.67\00:50:47.81
Johnny, you stop right now.
00:50:47.91\00:50:50.05
I've told you a dozen times
00:50:50.15\00:50:51.25
not to run and play next
00:50:51.35\00:50:52.21
to the freeway.
00:50:52.31\00:50:53.48
John, Johnny, you stop.
00:50:53.58\00:50:54.98
Johnny, you come...
00:50:55.08\00:50:56.15
Oh, Johnny."
00:50:56.25\00:50:57.85
[ Laughter ]
00:50:57.95\00:51:00.09
"Ooh!
00:51:00.19\00:51:03.53
Oh, well."
00:51:03.63\00:51:05.03
[ Laughter continues ]
00:51:05.13\00:51:07.50
"Dear, do we have
00:51:10.23\00:51:10.93
any more of those chips?
00:51:11.03\00:51:11.80
I don't think this sandwich
00:51:11.90\00:51:12.47
is going to do it."
00:51:12.57\00:51:16.47
Is that what a parent who loves
00:51:16.57\00:51:17.67
their children would do?
00:51:17.77\00:51:19.11
No. Instead,
00:51:19.21\00:51:21.41
a parent who loves their child
00:51:21.51\00:51:23.88
would realize the situation,
00:51:23.98\00:51:25.08
see little Johnny
00:51:25.18\00:51:26.05
sprinting towards destruction,
00:51:26.15\00:51:27.38
throw their sandwich down,
00:51:27.48\00:51:28.45
jump to their feet,
00:51:28.55\00:51:29.18
cup their hands and say...
00:51:29.28\00:51:30.25
[ Screaming ] Stop!
00:51:30.35\00:51:32.19
Stop! Johnny, stop!"
00:51:32.29\00:51:35.26
And then you would start
00:51:35.36\00:51:36.49
sprinting for all your worth
00:51:36.59\00:51:40.23
to try to catch up
00:51:40.33\00:51:41.33
with little Johnny, okay?
00:51:41.43\00:51:43.93
And imagine
00:51:44.03\00:51:45.80
that Mr. and Mrs. Smith
00:51:45.90\00:51:48.20
are about a quarter-mile away.
00:51:48.30\00:51:50.17
They've just had a newborn baby,
00:51:50.27\00:51:51.41
and they're pushing the little
00:51:51.51\00:51:52.27
baby in the carriage there,
00:51:52.37\00:51:53.51
and they see off here
00:51:53.61\00:51:54.68
in the distance, they see you
00:51:54.78\00:51:56.04
shaking your fist and yelling.
00:51:56.14\00:51:56.91
They can't make out what
00:51:57.01\00:51:57.58
you're saying,
00:51:57.68\00:51:58.85
but they know you're yelling,
00:51:58.95\00:51:59.61
and you're running
00:51:59.71\00:52:00.62
and shaking your fist.
00:52:00.72\00:52:01.65
And this little kid is running
00:52:01.75\00:52:02.48
away from you.
00:52:02.58\00:52:03.89
And Mr. Smith says
00:52:03.99\00:52:04.92
to Mrs. Smith,
00:52:05.02\00:52:06.22
"Well, honey, look at those
00:52:06.32\00:52:07.52
abusive parents over there.
00:52:07.62\00:52:08.19
Pfft!
00:52:08.29\00:52:09.62
Probably going to beat the kid
00:52:09.72\00:52:10.56
when he catches him.
00:52:10.66\00:52:12.26
I'm sure glad we're not like
00:52:12.36\00:52:13.50
those parents.
00:52:13.60\00:52:14.60
Aren't you, Mrs. Smith?"
00:52:14.73\00:52:15.83
And Mrs. Smith says, "Oh, yes.
00:52:15.93\00:52:16.87
I'm so glad we're not like
00:52:16.97\00:52:17.97
those parents. Yeah."
00:52:18.07\00:52:20.14
And, of course, the truth
00:52:23.81\00:52:26.01
is exactly the opposite.
00:52:26.11\00:52:28.51
It is because of love
00:52:28.61\00:52:30.68
that the parent does what
00:52:30.78\00:52:31.71
he does, what she does.
00:52:31.81\00:52:34.95
At the end of time,
00:52:35.05\00:52:36.99
God loves people too much
00:52:37.09\00:52:41.06
to just let them slide away
00:52:41.16\00:52:43.56
into destruction.
00:52:43.66\00:52:47.60
He is willing to do almost
00:52:47.66\00:52:49.16
anything to save them,
00:52:49.26\00:52:50.40
even if it means
00:52:50.50\00:52:51.63
raising His voice.
00:52:51.73\00:52:54.57
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:52:54.67\00:52:55.47
never apologize for the tone
00:52:55.57\00:52:57.54
of the third angel's message.
00:52:57.64\00:52:59.14
It may be the only thing
00:52:59.24\00:53:01.54
that brings back your friends
00:53:01.64\00:53:03.04
and mine from the edge
00:53:03.14\00:53:04.61
of oblivion.
00:53:04.71\00:53:08.55
There's much more that we could
00:53:08.65\00:53:09.35
say about this third angel,
00:53:09.45\00:53:10.32
but time prohibits.
00:53:10.42\00:53:11.52
Let's go ahead and sum this up.
00:53:11.62\00:53:14.82
The first angel said,
00:53:14.92\00:53:15.79
"Honor and worship the Creator,
00:53:15.89\00:53:17.16
for justice is coming, and time
00:53:17.26\00:53:18.53
is running out."
00:53:18.63\00:53:19.56
The second angel said,
00:53:19.66\00:53:20.46
"Trying to earn my salvation,
00:53:20.56\00:53:21.83
or setting aside
00:53:21.93\00:53:22.83
God's law, won't work."
00:53:22.93\00:53:24.07
And the best summary
00:53:24.17\00:53:24.77
I know of right now --
00:53:24.87\00:53:25.87
as I grow, I may alter and
00:53:25.97\00:53:26.77
change this -- but right now,
00:53:26.87\00:53:27.57
this is the best way
00:53:27.67\00:53:28.47
I know to say it.
00:53:28.57\00:53:29.47
The third angel says,
00:53:29.57\00:53:30.31
"I can choose my own
00:53:30.41\00:53:31.87
destruction, but God in His love
00:53:31.97\00:53:34.38
will do all He possibly can to
00:53:34.48\00:53:35.98
change my mind."
00:53:36.08\00:53:37.25
>> Amen.
00:53:37.35\00:53:40.55
>> And right now
00:53:40.65\00:53:42.32
we need to go back to Bob.
00:53:42.42\00:53:43.45
"Hey, Bob.
00:53:47.22\00:53:48.86
It's me, your neighbor Shane.
00:53:48.96\00:53:51.53
Just one more time, please.
00:53:51.63\00:53:54.10
Just -- just once. Right?"
00:53:54.20\00:53:56.80
And because Bob is a nice guy,
00:53:56.90\00:53:57.97
he's going to let me in.
00:53:58.07\00:54:00.04
"Hey, Bob. Listen, uh, you know,
00:54:02.27\00:54:03.67
I'm, uh, I'm real sorry
00:54:03.77\00:54:05.44
about how last time went.
00:54:05.54\00:54:06.68
This last,
00:54:06.78\00:54:09.78
you know, this third message
00:54:09.88\00:54:10.75
that God wants you to hear,
00:54:10.85\00:54:11.98
you know, just right here
00:54:12.08\00:54:12.61
at the end of time.
00:54:12.71\00:54:14.02
So, I did some more studying.
00:54:14.12\00:54:15.38
And what God actually is trying
00:54:15.48\00:54:16.62
to say is..."
00:54:16.72\00:54:17.89
And at this point,
00:54:17.99\00:54:18.75
Bob reaches down,
00:54:18.85\00:54:19.89
and he picks up the Bible
00:54:19.99\00:54:20.92
that we gave him
00:54:21.02\00:54:21.66
a couple of weeks ago.
00:54:21.76\00:54:22.66
And he says,
00:54:22.76\00:54:23.79
"Hold on just a moment, Shane.
00:54:23.89\00:54:24.93
Listen. Um, I think
00:54:25.03\00:54:26.43
you might be a little confused
00:54:26.53\00:54:27.73
as to what's actually
00:54:27.83\00:54:28.53
happening here with this whole
00:54:28.63\00:54:29.70
three angels' message stuff.
00:54:29.80\00:54:30.60
You know, you left me
00:54:30.70\00:54:31.43
this Bible,
00:54:31.53\00:54:32.43
and after you left it with me,
00:54:32.53\00:54:34.07
particularly after the last time
00:54:34.17\00:54:35.10
that you were here, man,
00:54:35.20\00:54:36.14
I just thought, 'Pfft, that's
00:54:36.24\00:54:36.91
way out there.
00:54:37.01\00:54:37.67
I got to figure this out.'
00:54:37.77\00:54:38.87
And I began to study, and, man,
00:54:38.97\00:54:39.97
I have been in this thing
00:54:40.08\00:54:41.08
for hours and hours and hours.
00:54:41.18\00:54:43.38
It's got this concordance
00:54:43.48\00:54:44.05
in the back.
00:54:44.15\00:54:44.85
And I'm looking up stuff here
00:54:44.95\00:54:45.81
about spiritual adultery
00:54:45.91\00:54:47.22
and the mark of the beast
00:54:47.32\00:54:48.45
and all this stuff.
00:54:48.55\00:54:49.42
I got to tell you.
00:54:49.52\00:54:50.69
I think you're barking up
00:54:50.79\00:54:51.45
the wrong tree, Shane.
00:54:51.55\00:54:52.82
God is not doing this
00:54:52.92\00:54:53.92
to be mean to me.
00:54:54.02\00:54:54.76
God is saying this
00:54:54.86\00:54:55.66
to try to get my attention.
00:54:55.76\00:54:56.96
I mean, He loves me,
00:54:57.06\00:54:58.69
and He wants to be to be ready
00:54:58.79\00:54:59.86
when He comes back.
00:54:59.96\00:55:01.40
In fact, you know, last night
00:55:01.50\00:55:02.53
after reading
00:55:02.63\00:55:03.47
all these hours in here,
00:55:03.57\00:55:05.20
I asked Jesus to be my Lord
00:55:05.30\00:55:06.70
and Savior,
00:55:06.80\00:55:08.44
and He's the leader of my life.
00:55:08.54\00:55:11.67
You know, Shane,
00:55:11.77\00:55:13.27
you ought to read this book."
00:55:13.38\00:55:14.58
[ Laughter ]
00:55:14.68\00:55:16.81
"It's pretty good."
00:55:16.91\00:55:18.88
And Bob is right.
00:55:21.78\00:55:23.69
It is a good book.
00:55:23.79\00:55:25.32
You know, there's one more
00:55:25.42\00:55:27.42
installment in this series,
00:55:27.52\00:55:28.72
and you might be wondering,
00:55:28.82\00:55:29.99
"Well, that's all three angels.
00:55:30.09\00:55:31.53
What could you possibly put
00:55:31.63\00:55:32.26
for part four?"
00:55:32.36\00:55:33.53
Come on out, and we'll see.
00:55:33.63\00:55:34.63
There's one last thing
00:55:34.73\00:55:36.97
that you need to know
00:55:37.07\00:55:37.90
before we're ready to,
00:55:38.00\00:55:39.27
at least in my opinion,
00:55:39.37\00:55:39.97
fully understand
00:55:40.07\00:55:41.67
the unique mission of the
00:55:41.77\00:55:42.50
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:55:42.60\00:55:43.00
So, I hope
00:55:43.10\00:55:44.31
you can join us next week.
00:55:44.41\00:55:45.84
But until then, let's remember
00:55:45.94\00:55:47.01
something very, very important.
00:55:47.11\00:55:49.01
There are all kinds of neighbor
00:55:49.11\00:55:51.55
Bobs out there,
00:55:51.65\00:55:54.25
by the millions.
00:55:54.35\00:55:56.52
And they're sincerely looking
00:55:56.62\00:55:57.22
for truth.
00:55:57.32\00:55:59.25
They want something better
00:55:59.35\00:56:00.06
than what they have.
00:56:00.16\00:56:01.89
They are looking, if I can
00:56:01.99\00:56:03.02
put it this way, for religion,
00:56:03.12\00:56:05.26
pure and undefiled,
00:56:05.36\00:56:08.26
not meaning religious ceremonies
00:56:08.36\00:56:09.50
and structures
00:56:09.60\00:56:10.60
and all these types of things,
00:56:10.70\00:56:12.00
but religion that is saturated
00:56:12.10\00:56:12.80
in Jesus Christ,
00:56:12.90\00:56:14.20
that has Jesus Christ
00:56:14.30\00:56:15.20
at the center of it,
00:56:15.30\00:56:16.44
that Jesus is the locus.
00:56:16.54\00:56:17.61
He's the hub on the wheel.
00:56:17.71\00:56:18.77
Everything leads back to Christ.
00:56:18.87\00:56:20.84
And we present equally
00:56:20.94\00:56:22.28
the blessings of His grace
00:56:22.38\00:56:23.95
and the blessings of His law
00:56:24.05\00:56:25.05
to help us to become,
00:56:25.15\00:56:26.15
by His grace and His power,
00:56:26.25\00:56:27.58
the people He's always dreamed
00:56:27.68\00:56:28.62
that we could be.
00:56:28.72\00:56:29.68
There are millions
00:56:29.78\00:56:30.92
of our neighbor Bobs out there,
00:56:31.02\00:56:33.66
and they will be blessed
00:56:33.76\00:56:35.46
if we share with them
00:56:35.56\00:56:36.93
the message of Jesus Christ
00:56:37.03\00:56:37.99
and the three angels.
00:56:38.09\00:56:39.66
May each one of us prove
00:56:39.76\00:56:41.06
faithful to the unique mission
00:56:41.16\00:56:43.33
that God is charging us with.
00:56:43.43\00:56:45.77
>> Amen.
00:56:45.87\00:56:47.54
>> Thank you for taking the time
00:56:51.31\00:56:52.11
to join us in worship today.
00:56:52.21\00:56:53.81
I'd like to spend just
00:56:53.91\00:56:55.18
another moment with you here
00:56:55.28\00:56:56.38
at the end of our program
00:56:56.48\00:56:57.58
to share a word of hope.
00:56:57.68\00:57:00.48
In fact, that's what this little
00:57:00.58\00:57:01.58
book is all about.
00:57:01.68\00:57:03.99
In these uncertain times --
00:57:04.09\00:57:05.52
and let's face it, they're
00:57:05.62\00:57:06.86
uncertain all over the planet --
00:57:06.96\00:57:08.66
this book, entitled
00:57:08.76\00:57:09.82
"The Great Hope,"
00:57:09.92\00:57:11.19
will help you understand
00:57:11.29\00:57:12.59
not just what God has planned
00:57:12.69\00:57:13.83
for your future,
00:57:13.93\00:57:15.50
but for the future of the entire
00:57:15.60\00:57:16.43
human race.
00:57:16.53\00:57:18.63
You know, light keeps shining
00:57:18.73\00:57:20.14
on this dark, old world,
00:57:20.24\00:57:21.64
and new truths,
00:57:21.74\00:57:22.74
long forgotten, are being
00:57:22.84\00:57:24.24
constantly rediscovered.
00:57:24.34\00:57:26.47
If you need a fresh dose of hope
00:57:26.57\00:57:28.11
in your life these days,
00:57:28.21\00:57:29.68
or if you know somebody else
00:57:29.78\00:57:30.55
who could sure use
00:57:30.65\00:57:31.38
that gift of hope,
00:57:31.48\00:57:32.85
then I'd like to invite you
00:57:32.95\00:57:33.72
to grab your phone
00:57:33.82\00:57:35.02
and dial our toll-free number.
00:57:35.12\00:57:36.85
877, the two words "HIS WILL."
00:57:36.95\00:57:40.26
That's 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:40.36\00:57:43.06
And at no charge to you,
00:57:43.16\00:57:44.43
we'll get a copy in the mail
00:57:44.53\00:57:45.36
to you right away.
00:57:45.46\00:57:47.76
Till the next time we meet,
00:57:47.86\00:57:49.00
may the peace and hope
00:57:49.10\00:57:50.87
of the Lord Jesus Christ
00:57:50.97\00:57:52.33
be with you always.
00:57:52.43\00:57:53.37
¤
00:58:00.18\00:58:02.01
¤
00:58:02.11\00:58:12.02
¤
00:58:12.12\00:58:22.00
¤
00:58:22.10\00:58:27.04