Welcome to the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting Sabbath School panel. 00:00:40.87\00:00:45.74 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School camp meeting here 00:00:48.44\00:00:51.51 at the 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting. Happy Sabbath! [Happy Sabbath!] 00:00:51.55\00:00:56.85 Haven't we been having an incredible camp meeting so far? 00:00:56.89\00:01:00.06 [Amen!] Talking about the 3 angels' messages, and you know, 00:01:00.09\00:01:03.66 we don't pick the quarterly; that comes from the Seventh-Day 00:01:03.69\00:01:06.59 Adventist church. We are in the midst of our study on 00:01:06.66\00:01:09.36 preparation for the end time. And, incredibly, lesson #10, 00:01:09.40\00:01:15.84 America and Babylon coincides perfectly with 3ABN's theme of 00:01:15.87\00:01:21.18 the 3 angels' messages. So, we are so excited that each one of 00:01:21.21\00:01:24.98 you are here at our spring camp meeting, and to have our panel 00:01:25.01\00:01:28.28 here, but we're also blessed that you are here with us at 00:01:28.32\00:01:31.55 home. We're so thankful that you have joined us for this study of 00:01:31.59\00:01:35.19 the Word of God. I want to encourage you, you can always go 00:01:35.22\00:01:39.19 to the website and download this study guide for yourself. Go to 00:01:39.23\00:01:44.07 ABSG - that stands for "Adult Bible Study Guide" -(.)Adventist 00:01:49.40\00:01:54.54 (.)org. You can download and follow along with our study of 00:01:54.58\00:01:58.01 God's Word. But we also encourage you to visit your 00:01:58.05\00:02:00.88 local Seventh-Day Adventist church. They would welcome you 00:02:00.92\00:02:05.52 with open arms and give you your own quarterly, and you could 00:02:05.55\00:02:09.29 study along with us. I want to introduce our panel at this 00:02:09.32\00:02:12.13 time; to my left is elder Jay Gallimore. He recently retired 00:02:12.16\00:02:15.50 as president of the Michigan conference for 27 years. To his 00:02:15.53\00:02:19.60 left is Mollie Steenson, vice president here of 3ABN. To her 00:02:19.63\00:02:24.61 left, elder Stephen Bohr. He's the president and speaker of 00:02:24.64\00:02:27.84 Secrets Unsealed from Fresno, California. And then last but 00:02:27.88\00:02:31.68 not least, Pastor David Shin. He's the pastor of the Hillside 00:02:31.71\00:02:34.98 O'Malley Seventh-Day Adventist church in Anchorage, Alaska. And 00:02:35.02\00:02:38.39 it is a privilege to be able to sit here at this table with each 00:02:38.42\00:02:43.06 one of you; you're students of the Word of God - men and women 00:02:43.12\00:02:46.33 of God and I'm just thankful for that privilege. Elder Gallimore, 00:02:46.36\00:02:49.80 before we go any further, we want to go to the Lord in 00:02:49.83\00:02:52.03 prayer, and would you pray for us this morning? -Our 00:02:52.07\00:02:55.34 heavenly Father, You've always promised to send the 00:02:55.37\00:02:57.51 spirit of truth; we pray the spirit of truth will be present 00:02:57.67\00:03:00.38 this morning as we talk, we share, that You and the Lord 00:03:00.41\00:03:04.78 Jesus may be elevated and glorified. In Jesus' Name, 00:03:04.81\00:03:07.82 Amen. -Amen. Our study here is lesson #10, "America and 00:03:08.08\00:03:12.85 Babylon." My portion is "The Deadly Wound Healed," but before 00:03:12.89\00:03:17.16 we get to that, I want to talk to you about present truth. Now 00:03:17.19\00:03:21.00 you might say, "What is present truth?" Many people say, 00:03:21.26\00:03:23.37 "Present truth is an end-times message for an end-times 00:03:23.40\00:03:26.27 people," and that is true. But if you think of 1 Peter 1:12, 00:03:26.33\00:03:30.71 what does it say? "For this reason, I will not be negligent 00:03:30.74\00:03:34.21 to remind you always of these things, though you know and are 00:03:34.24\00:03:37.98 established in the present truth." Well, that means, elder 00:03:38.01\00:03:40.38 Gallimore, that present truth existed in Peter's time. Not 00:03:40.42\00:03:43.45 just here at the end of time. If you think about- present truth 00:03:43.49\00:03:47.72 has existed all the way through history - it is a specific 00:03:47.76\00:03:51.46 message for a specific time. There's a command, and with it 00:03:51.49\00:03:56.06 always comes a promise. If you think about 6 snapshots of 00:03:56.13\00:04:00.77 present truth - now this is not comprehensive; there's more than 00:04:00.80\00:04:03.41 that - but 6 snapshots of present truth throughout 00:04:04.07\00:04:06.41 history: you think about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. 00:04:06.44\00:04:09.58 What was their command? "Don't eat of the Tree of Knowledge of 00:04:09.61\00:04:13.38 Good and Evil, because if you do that, you're going to die." But 00:04:13.42\00:04:17.82 there was a promise - remember, they did eat of the fruit, and 00:04:17.85\00:04:20.86 they did sin, but God sent the first promise in Genesis 3:15; 00:04:20.89\00:04:25.03 that was the Messianic promise that there would be a coming 00:04:25.06\00:04:28.03 Messiah, a coming Redeemer. Snapshot #2: Noah. What was HIS 00:04:28.06\00:04:33.37 command? "Get into the boat because there is a coming 00:04:33.44\00:04:36.67 flood." And we know the promise in Genesis chapter 9 was the 00:04:36.71\00:04:40.14 rainbow - that never again would there be a flood to cover the 00:04:40.18\00:04:44.51 earth. Snapshot #3 is Abraham. What was HIS command? "Get out 00:04:44.55\00:04:49.52 from Ur and go to a land that I will show you." What was the 00:04:49.55\00:04:55.32 promise? Genesis chapter 12: "I will make of you a great 00:04:55.36\00:05:00.43 nation, and in you, all the nations of the earth shall be 00:05:00.46\00:05:03.97 blessed." Snapshot #4: I think of Elijah on Mount Carmel. What 00:05:04.00\00:05:08.57 did he say? "Make a decision. How long are you going to hold 00:05:08.60\00:05:12.27 up between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if 00:05:12.31\00:05:15.71 Baal, then follow him." And the promise fell as fire from heaven 00:05:15.74\00:05:20.08 and consumed the altar and sacrifice, showing that the Lord 00:05:20.42\00:05:24.25 Jesus Christ is God. And then of course, the promised rain came. 00:05:24.29\00:05:28.02 Snapshot #5 is John the Baptist, and what was his command? "Get 00:05:28.52\00:05:32.49 ready! Prepare, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent." 00:05:32.53\00:05:39.43 And the promise was what? Jesus is coming. This is the first 00:05:39.47\00:05:43.81 coming of Jesus; He came as Messiah and Redeemer. Then we 00:05:43.84\00:05:47.58 come all the way down to the end of time - snapshot #6. The 00:05:47.91\00:05:51.25 command, again, is "Get ready!" That's what this camp meeting 00:05:51.31\00:05:54.75 has been focused about - the 3 angels' messages - preparing a 00:05:54.78\00:05:58.89 people to meet the coming of the Lord. And the promise is that 00:05:58.95\00:06:02.79 Jesus will come again. We're not looking for the first coming as 00:06:02.82\00:06:06.93 Messiah and Redeemer; we're looking for the second coming as 00:06:06.96\00:06:10.77 Priest and King. So before we go into Sunday's lesson, let's look 00:06:10.80\00:06:16.27 at our memory text. It's going to be on the screen for you. I 00:06:16.30\00:06:19.84 want to see if we can all quote that together. Our memory text 00:06:19.87\00:06:23.21 is Daniel chapter 12 verse 1. Let's say that together. 00:06:23.24\00:06:28.48 Now, we're studying today on America and Babylon; we'll be 00:06:58.08\00:07:02.22 spending our time in Revelation 13, and 17, and 18. My portion 00:07:02.28\00:07:06.76 is Revelation 13, so open up your Bibles and turn with me to 00:07:06.79\00:07:09.92 Revelation 13 verses 1-10. We're looking at the sea beast, so at 00:07:09.96\00:07:15.60 home, please open up your Bibles and join along with us. Verse 1. 00:07:15.66\00:07:19.80 "Then I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising up 00:07:19.83\00:07:23.54 out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns; and on his 00:07:23.57\00:07:27.98 horns, 10 crowns, and on his heads, a blasphemous name." Now, 00:07:28.01\00:07:32.31 notice this beast - this sea beast, we call him - rises up 00:07:32.35\00:07:36.35 out of the sea, symbolizing that he rises up out of a populated 00:07:36.38\00:07:42.12 area. We see that in Revelation 17:15. And the characteristics 00:07:42.16\00:07:47.26 of this sea beast are very similar to the dragon. We see 00:07:47.30\00:07:51.03 that in Revelation 12:3; it talks about the great fiery, red 00:07:51.07\00:07:55.77 dragon. He has 7 heads and 10 horns - the same as the sea 00:07:55.80\00:07:59.97 beast has, and 7 crowns, or diadems, on his heads. 00:08:00.01\00:08:04.88 Similarities between the dragon and the sea beast. Now let's 00:08:06.45\00:08:09.78 look at verse 2. "Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard; 00:08:09.82\00:08:12.55 his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the 00:08:12.59\00:08:15.89 mouth of a lion." Daniel chapter 7- remember the vision that God 00:08:15.92\00:08:21.03 gave Daniel of the beast. It started with the lion which 00:08:21.23\00:08:25.30 represented the kingdom of Babylon. Then it moved to the 00:08:25.33\00:08:28.57 bear which represented Medo-Persia. There was the 00:08:28.60\00:08:31.17 leopard representing Greece. There was the great and terrible 00:08:31.21\00:08:34.64 fourth beast with the 10 horns representing pagan Rome, and 00:08:34.68\00:08:39.28 then the little horn came out of that beast. That little horn is 00:08:39.31\00:08:44.12 synonymous with the sea beast that we're discussing here in 00:08:44.15\00:08:48.12 Revelation chapter 13. Now, Daniel looked at all of these 00:08:48.16\00:08:51.26 beasts moving forward in time, 'cause he lived in the time of 00:08:51.29\00:08:54.06 Babylon, and he saw them moving forward. When John describes 00:08:54.10\00:08:57.77 them, he's looking backward in time, so he describes them in 00:08:57.80\00:09:01.70 reverse order. Now, in my time remaining, I want to look at 6 00:09:01.74\00:09:06.24 characteristics of the sea beast, so if you're taking 00:09:06.27\00:09:10.38 notes, #1: The First Characteristic of the Sea Beast: 00:09:10.75\00:09:14.05 He receives his power from the dragon, which is Satan. We know 00:09:14.68\00:09:19.55 the dragon is Satan; you look at Revelation 12:9, "The great 00:09:19.85\00:09:23.09 dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil 00:09:23.12\00:09:26.56 and Satan." Let's look at Revelation 13:2; we already 00:09:26.59\00:09:30.73 looked at the leopard, and the bear, and the lion - let's look 00:09:30.77\00:09:33.44 at the second part of verse 2. "The dragon gave him his power," 00:09:33.47\00:09:37.67 so the dragon gave the sea beast the dragon's power, the dragon's 00:09:37.71\00:09:42.74 throne, and the dragon's authority - power being 00:09:42.81\00:09:48.12 'dunamis' - miraculous power; inherent power. Authority being 00:09:48.15\00:09:53.82 'exousía,' meaning "power to act; authority." He gave him his 00:09:53.86\00:09:59.76 power. Now when I think about that, the sea beast accepted the 00:09:59.79\00:10:03.63 dragon's power. I think about somebody else who made a 00:10:03.67\00:10:07.34 decision, not to accept the power of Satan; not to accept 00:10:07.37\00:10:11.97 the dragon's power. Turn with me to Luke - Luke chapter 4. This 00:10:12.01\00:10:17.21 is the temptations of Jesus. You know temptation #2. Satan 00:10:17.25\00:10:21.28 brought Jesus up to a high mountain and said, "I will give 00:10:21.32\00:10:24.29 You all of this if you will only," what? "bow down,"- that's 00:10:24.59\00:10:28.09 right, "and worship me." We will discover this week that, really, 00:10:28.12\00:10:31.79 this is all about worship and who we choose to worship. More 00:10:31.83\00:10:37.07 in Luke 4, verse 6, Satan said, "All this authority, I will give 00:10:37.10\00:10:41.10 You in their glory, for it has been delivered to me." Verse 7, 00:10:41.14\00:10:43.97 "Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." 00:10:44.01\00:10:47.84 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind me, Satan; for 00:10:47.88\00:10:51.51 it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God; in 00:10:51.55\00:10:53.68 Him only, you will serve.'" So Jesus refused to accept power 00:10:53.72\00:10:59.32 and authority from Satan, but the sea beast readily accepts 00:10:59.35\00:11:02.92 the power and authority from Satan. Characteristic #2: He 00:11:02.96\00:11:06.73 thinks to change times and laws. Now, it's important to notice 00:11:06.76\00:11:10.40 he does NOT change God's law, but he THINKS to change times 00:11:10.47\00:11:15.10 and laws. Daniel 7:25 talks about the little horn power 00:11:15.14\00:11:19.54 which is synonymous with the sea beast. And it says in Daniel 00:11:19.57\00:11:22.68 7:25, "The little horn shall speak pompous words against the 00:11:22.71\00:11:26.38 most High, shall persecute the saints of the most High, shall 00:11:26.41\00:11:30.49 intend to change times and law, then the saints will be given 00:11:30.55\00:11:33.92 into his hand for a time and times and half a time." The 00:11:33.96\00:11:36.93 conflict described here is not an earthly conflict. It's a 00:11:36.96\00:11:41.03 conflict between Earth and heaven. The little horn intends 00:11:41.06\00:11:45.70 to change God's time and law. Now, if you think about God's 00:11:45.73\00:11:49.74 law - His moral law; the 10 Commandment Law - which 00:11:49.77\00:11:52.57 commandment has been attempted to be changed? The Sabbath; 00:11:52.61\00:11:58.58 that's right - the 4th commandment is the one that is 00:11:58.61\00:12:01.18 attempted to be changed. We know the Sabbath is a sign that God 00:12:01.22\00:12:05.92 is our Creator. That's clear in the 4th commandment. Exodus 00:12:05.95\00:12:11.06 20:8-11, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," why? "for 00:12:11.09\00:12:14.83 in 6 days, the Lord made heaven and Earth, the sea, and all that 00:12:14.86\00:12:18.37 in them is." God is our Creator. We worship on the Sabbath 00:12:18.43\00:12:22.80 because He made us. But we also worship on the Sabbath because 00:12:22.87\00:12:25.84 He redeemed us. You think about- the 4th commandment comes again 00:12:25.87\00:12:30.01 in Deuteronomy chapter 5, and what does it say there? "Observe 00:12:30.05\00:12:33.42 the Sabbath day to keep it holy, and remember you were once a 00:12:33.45\00:12:37.52 slave in the land of Egypt." Have you ever been a slave? Have 00:12:37.59\00:12:40.96 you ever been enslaved by sin and passions? And yet, God came 00:12:40.99\00:12:45.76 to set us free. It says, "Remember God brought you out 00:12:45.79\00:12:50.70 from the land of Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched 00:12:50.73\00:12:53.34 arm." So we worship on the Sabbath because it is a sign 00:12:53.37\00:12:57.64 that God is our Creator; it is a sign that He is our Redeemer. It 00:12:57.67\00:13:02.44 distinguishes Him from all other gods, 'cause no other god could 00:13:02.48\00:13:05.18 create. No other god could save. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. To 00:13:05.21\00:13:09.95 attack the Sabbath is to attack the authority of God Himself. I 00:13:09.98\00:13:15.09 want to read you a quote; this is from the Catholic record of 00:13:15.12\00:13:17.73 London, Ontario, September 1, 1923. "Sunday is our mark of 00:13:17.76\00:13:23.53 authority. The church is above the Bible and its transference 00:13:23.57\00:13:28.44 of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact." Now, I want to 00:13:28.47\00:13:33.84 make it clear- God has His people in every church. We're 00:13:33.88\00:13:38.11 not talking about people; we're talking about a religious system 00:13:38.15\00:13:41.98 that thinks to change times and laws. Characteristic #3: He 00:13:42.48\00:13:49.12 speaks blasphemies. We're back in Revelation 13- Revelation 13 00:13:49.16\00:13:53.63 verse 5, "He, the sea beast, was given a mouth, speaking great 00:13:53.66\00:13:57.47 things and blasphemies." What is blasphemy? Blasphemy is claiming 00:13:57.50\00:14:02.10 to have power to forgive sins. Remember, the paralytic was let 00:14:02.14\00:14:06.44 down to Jesus, and Jesus knew he needed physical healing, but He 00:14:06.47\00:14:10.05 was concerned with spiritual healing, first. And He reached 00:14:10.08\00:14:12.68 out and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." Well, the 00:14:12.71\00:14:15.18 scribes and Pharisees, they kind of had a fit about that. And in 00:14:15.22\00:14:18.25 Luke 5:21, they said, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who 00:14:18.29\00:14:22.22 can forgive sins but God alone?" Blasphemy is also a man claiming 00:14:22.26\00:14:27.40 to be equal with God. John 10:33, "The Jews answered Him, 00:14:27.43\00:14:32.03 Jesus, saying, 'For good work, we don't stone you. But for 00:14:32.07\00:14:35.67 blasphemy, because you being a man make yourself God.'" We know 00:14:35.70\00:14:41.14 the pope has claimed to be God on Earth - claimed that equality 00:14:41.18\00:14:45.95 with the Lord Jesus Christ. So first, the sea beast receives 00:14:46.55\00:14:50.29 his power from the dragon, from Satan. Second, he thinks to 00:14:50.32\00:14:53.82 change times and laws - that would be, he's thinking he can 00:14:53.86\00:14:57.79 change the 4th commandment. Third, he speaks blasphemy; he 00:14:57.83\00:15:01.26 claims he has power to forgive sin. He claims he can be equal 00:15:01.30\00:15:04.80 with God. #4: He demands worship and he persecutes those who do 00:15:04.83\00:15:10.54 not worship him. Revelation 13:4, "They worship the dragon 00:15:10.57\00:15:14.98 who gave authority to the beast, and they worship the beast 00:15:15.01\00:15:18.21 saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with 00:15:18.25\00:15:21.18 him?'" They worshiped him. We jump down to verse 7, and it 00:15:21.25\00:15:25.75 says, "It was granted to him, it was granted to the sea beast, 00:15:25.79\00:15:29.19 to make war with the saints and to overcome them." So he demands 00:15:29.36\00:15:34.26 worship, and when they don't worship, what does he do? He 00:15:34.30\00:15:37.50 begins to persecute. #5, characteristic #5: He has 00:15:37.53\00:15:42.34 unprecedented and unparalleled authority for 42 months. That's 00:15:42.37\00:15:49.01 in verse 5, as well. This is Revelation 13:5, "He was given 00:15:49.04\00:15:53.58 authority to continue for 42 months." Now, I don't want to 00:15:53.62\00:15:56.28 step over on Pastor Gallimore's day, but it says that the 42 00:15:56.32\00:16:00.96 months, and we do not have time to get into this, but it equals 00:16:00.99\00:16:05.19 3 and a half years, which would be 1,260 days; we know the 00:16:05.23\00:16:10.67 day-for-a-year principle, and Ezekiel 4:6 that a day equals a 00:16:10.70\00:16:15.70 year, so that's 1,260 years. From A.D. 538 to 1798, the Roman 00:16:15.74\00:16:23.65 Catholic Church ruled with supremacy, persecuting those 00:16:23.68\00:16:27.75 people who did not choose to worship them. And then #6: He 00:16:27.78\00:16:32.75 lost his authority (the sea beast), but he gained it back. 00:16:32.79\00:16:36.16 Our last scripture, Revelation 13:3, "I saw one of his heads as 00:16:36.46\00:16:40.33 it had been mortally wounded, and the deadly wound was 00:16:40.36\00:16:43.87 healed." The wounding of the papacy really began, you could 00:16:43.90\00:16:47.67 say, with the Protestant Reformation, continued with 00:16:47.70\00:16:50.17 various stabbings over the years, but it culminated in 1798 00:16:50.21\00:16:54.84 when the pope was taken captive. That wound we see is in the 00:16:54.88\00:16:59.75 process of being healed. And we know that, once again, that 00:16:59.88\00:17:05.22 power will reign supreme. History will repeat itself, and 00:17:05.25\00:17:10.89 my appeal is: we have a choice every day who we are going to 00:17:10.93\00:17:14.46 serve. Worship Christ, or worship the beast. Elder 00:17:14.53\00:17:18.57 Gallimore, you have the land beast. 00:17:18.60\00:17:20.20 Well, uh, she doesn't need to be intimidated by any of us. 00:17:22.87\00:17:26.01 [audience laughs] 00:17:26.04\00:17:28.51 That was great. First of all, I want to say that I'm an American 00:17:28.54\00:17:35.78 and I'm proud to be an American. [Amen.] I don't mean this in 00:17:35.82\00:17:40.79 every ethnicity, every nation, is important to the Lord and He 00:17:40.82\00:17:46.13 loves everybody the same, so I want to make sure that's not 00:17:46.19\00:17:48.06 misunderstood; but the United States of America is a unique 00:17:48.13\00:17:52.97 country - there's never been anything like it on the face of 00:17:53.94\00:17:56.84 the earth. It's not only economically the most powerful 00:17:56.87\00:18:04.21 nation - it is militarily the most powerful nation. The world 00:18:04.25\00:18:10.02 knows that; it understands that the United States with its 00:18:10.05\00:18:13.56 allies cannot be overthrown. Cannot be. And they mess with it 00:18:13.62\00:18:22.00 at the peril of their life. And what has made this nation great 00:18:22.03\00:18:29.04 is because of its freedom. Its religious freedom, and its 00:18:29.10\00:18:36.04 political freedom...and I praise God for that. And let me tell 00:18:36.48\00:18:41.48 you, there are plenty of forces around that would love to 00:18:41.52\00:18:43.28 control this nation; and there are plenty of forces that are 00:18:43.32\00:18:47.49 seeking to do that. So I want you to know that I love the 00:18:47.86\00:18:53.73 United States of America. Now, I didn't say it doesn't have 00:18:53.80\00:18:56.50 flaws; I didn't say there's nothing on this world that 00:18:56.53\00:18:58.70 doesn't have flaws; but I'm grateful to be an American. And, 00:18:58.73\00:19:02.94 by the way, there are millions of people around the world that 00:19:03.00\00:19:05.57 would trade places with any of you. Millions. Maybe billions. 00:19:05.61\00:19:10.25 Any moment. "Give me a chance. I'll be glad to trade places 00:19:11.25\00:19:14.85 with you." Let's go back to this-, to the Scripture here, 00:19:14.88\00:19:20.52 and I want to bounce off of what Jill was saying so nicely, and 00:19:20.56\00:19:26.16 that is that this persecuting power, the great, red dragon, 00:19:26.26\00:19:32.33 through his earthly agents, pagan Rome, and then papal Rome, 00:19:32.43\00:19:37.47 and as she said so nicely, "This is not about people. I'm glad 00:19:37.51\00:19:42.11 Jesus loves all of us and He's got people everywhere in every 00:19:42.14\00:19:45.28 church." And like I said the other night, the Book of 00:19:45.31\00:19:49.02 Revelation gets onto everybody really pretty good - is no 00:19:49.05\00:19:52.35 respect or persons; all denominations, including the one 00:19:52.39\00:19:55.19 I'm a part of. But let me focus on Revelation chapter 12 for the 00:19:55.22\00:20:00.96 last part just a moment because this woman who represents the 00:20:01.00\00:20:04.90 church is being persecuted, and in verse 14, she runs to the 00:20:04.93\00:20:10.74 wilderness - I'm going to paraphrase for sake of time 00:20:10.77\00:20:13.34 here - verse 15: the serpent spews out water out of his mouth 00:20:13.38\00:20:19.18 like a flood - why? Because he wants to destroy her, that she 00:20:19.21\00:20:23.45 might be carried away by the flood; and then in verse 16 is a 00:20:23.59\00:20:29.12 very fascinating thing - here's the water coming, and here, the 00:20:29.19\00:20:34.33 earth in opposite (earth and sea are opposites), the earth 00:20:34.36\00:20:39.33 opens up its mouth. Now, I want to tell you that I believe that 00:20:39.87\00:20:43.20 Earth, there, represents the United States of America. The 00:20:43.24\00:20:47.61 United States of America is the result of the Protestant 00:20:47.64\00:20:50.31 Reformation. No Protestant Reformation, no United States of 00:20:50.35\00:20:54.15 America as we know it today. The Constitution of the United 00:20:54.18\00:20:58.29 States (now I say this with sweet kindness), is not a papal 00:20:58.32\00:21:02.42 document. The Constitution of the United States is a 00:21:02.46\00:21:06.90 Protestant document and it reflects the biblical principles 00:21:06.93\00:21:11.13 of Jesus where He said, in the Golden Rule, "Treat others the 00:21:13.44\00:21:17.51 way you'd want to be treated." That's how the Constitution is 00:21:17.54\00:21:19.94 built - it's built on a biblical principle. And so, we have this 00:21:19.97\00:21:25.95 great nation, I think, that's pictured here with the earth 00:21:26.45\00:21:29.32 because the United States of America - everybody knows this; 00:21:29.98\00:21:33.62 everybody knows the Pilgrims' story - it's became the place 00:21:33.92\00:21:36.46 where your forefathers and mothers and mine came here 00:21:36.49\00:21:39.63 because they needed religious freedom! They were being 00:21:39.66\00:21:43.23 persecuted because of the religious faith! That's the 00:21:43.26\00:21:46.74 foundation of who we are and what we are. So the earth opens 00:21:46.77\00:21:51.97 its mouth and it swallows the flood of persecution. If you 00:21:52.01\00:21:59.21 want to go back and do a little research, you can find how the 00:21:59.25\00:22:02.18 papacy- what it thought about the United States and democracy; 00:22:02.22\00:22:07.39 called it a pest, for instance. So it was an enemy of the whole 00:22:08.32\00:22:17.00 concept of democracy and religious freedom, but now the 00:22:17.03\00:22:20.44 United States is the champion of this. We've exported this 00:22:20.47\00:22:24.31 throughout the entire world. Unfortunately, we exported a lot 00:22:24.34\00:22:28.24 of other things, like rock music and so forth, but the best thing 00:22:28.28\00:22:31.88 that we've exported is our principles of religious and 00:22:31.91\00:22:35.35 civil freedom, and democracy. Now, chapter 13 is a repeat and 00:22:35.38\00:22:41.42 enlargement, if you please, of these last few verses. We get 00:22:41.46\00:22:46.29 down into the next part and we have this beast from the earth. 00:22:46.33\00:22:51.40 This beast from the earth is very unique - it's nothing like 00:22:53.17\00:22:56.84 it in Scripture. Verse 11 (chapter 13): "And I saw another 00:22:56.87\00:23:01.71 beast coming up out of the earth." Now some people say, 00:23:01.74\00:23:04.61 "Well, well; listen, North America was populated. I did a 00:23:04.65\00:23:07.78 little research on that and, in my best southern English, that 00:23:07.82\00:23:11.22 ain't true." It's not true. By 1630, just a little over 115 00:23:11.25\00:23:18.23 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the wall, there 00:23:18.26\00:23:22.60 were only just a few 100,000 people in Canada, for instance. 00:23:22.66\00:23:26.53 Some of the estimates for North America was maybe 2-20 million - 00:23:26.57\00:23:32.27 maybe. And they said it's very difficult to get that down. 00:23:32.31\00:23:36.61 Well, today, there's 350 million people in the United States of 00:23:36.64\00:23:40.58 America, so you can see the vast difference. The 2-20 million, 00:23:40.62\00:23:43.92 many times, included the populations of the Aztecs and 00:23:44.45\00:23:47.62 South America and all of that, so it was like for the entire 00:23:48.56\00:23:51.36 Americas. This was a vast wilderness by enlarge, unlike 00:23:51.39\00:23:55.86 Europe with all of its population, and so the United 00:23:56.36\00:24:00.50 States is unique. The other thing is - that Jill pointed out 00:24:00.54\00:24:05.07 so nicely - is the 23- oh, not 2,300 days; the 1,260-day year 00:24:05.11\00:24:10.41 prophecy - the 42 months - and when you come to chapter 13, 00:24:10.45\00:24:16.28 this leopard-like beast that has 7 heads and 10 horns - it reigns 00:24:16.32\00:24:24.16 for this 42 months. Now, we know that, as she pointed out so 00:24:24.19\00:24:28.53 nicely, the Protestant Reformation started nailing the 00:24:28.56\00:24:30.87 nails, but it was Napoleon's General Berthier that took him 00:24:30.90\00:24:35.94 down in 1798, and everybody said "The papacy is dead." This was 00:24:35.97\00:24:40.58 the mortal wound, and the Bible emphasizes, now, in chapter 13- 00:24:40.61\00:24:45.31 focuses on this, that this wound would be healed and that all the 00:24:46.01\00:24:50.05 world would wander after the beast. The last part of chapter 00:24:50.09\00:24:54.46 13 says it's going to get help to do that - healing of that 00:24:54.49\00:24:58.09 wound - and the help comes from this beast from the earth that 00:24:58.13\00:25:03.00 has horns like a lamb. I want to tell you that I believe that the 00:25:03.06\00:25:08.60 Lord Jesus Christ Himself raised up the United States of America. 00:25:08.64\00:25:12.81 [Amen.] That the Lord Jesus raised it up. There's never been 00:25:13.34\00:25:17.05 a nation like it; I mean, instead of conquering our 00:25:17.08\00:25:19.68 enemies and taking their territory, we turn around and 00:25:19.71\00:25:22.08 spend our time and wealth and TREASURE to rebuild them. The 00:25:22.12\00:25:26.25 reason Europe is what it is today, and I say this kindly, is 00:25:26.32\00:25:29.26 because the United States turned around after World War II and 00:25:29.29\00:25:31.83 rebuilt it. I was just looking at... D-Day will be 75 years 00:25:31.89\00:25:39.70 next year. My father was in World War II; fortunately, he 00:25:39.73\00:25:43.27 didn't have to fight directly, but it's very sobering - you 00:25:43.30\00:25:51.31 look at those 10,000 crosses and Stars of David that decorate the 00:25:51.35\00:25:56.89 hills of Normandy, and you don't realize the American young men.. 00:25:56.95\00:26:01.92 their families. Pretty sobering. But it says there's going to be 00:26:01.96\00:26:10.67 a change. This breaks my heart. It's going to be a change from 00:26:10.70\00:26:18.11 those lamb horns - those principles of religious freedom 00:26:19.71\00:26:25.25 and civil freedom; it's what's made this nation great - and 00:26:25.31\00:26:29.68 nation ends up speaking like a dragon. Listen - the devil is 00:26:29.72\00:26:34.82 trying to pollute everything he's ever to come in touch with. 00:26:34.86\00:26:37.73 You go back to the beginning and the antediluvian world and he 00:26:39.03\00:26:43.06 polluted them, turned them in to nature worship - you take the 00:26:43.10\00:26:44.97 Jewish people and he turned that into legalism. You take the 00:26:45.13\00:26:48.00 early church and he turned that into the medieval apostasy. You 00:26:50.34\00:26:54.11 take the Protestant Reformation. And today, the Protestant 00:26:54.18\00:26:56.98 Reformation is just a shell of its former self. And 1994, the 00:26:57.05\00:27:01.65 evangelicals - (which was the biblical people) they've 00:27:01.68\00:27:04.89 embraced the papacy, hoping to be able to stop some of the 00:27:04.92\00:27:09.79 political- not political, but the deterioration of morals in 00:27:09.82\00:27:14.93 this country, and were they able to accomplish that? Now, 00:27:15.36\00:27:18.17 alliance, no - what they did is they made the pope the great 00:27:18.20\00:27:20.84 religious figure in America today. It's not- Billy Graham, 00:27:21.40\00:27:25.97 of course, just passed away, but it wasn't Billy Graham, anymore, 00:27:26.01\00:27:29.74 that spoke for the nation at Christmas time and Easter time 00:27:29.78\00:27:32.95 and so forth; it was the pope. It was unheard of. It's an 00:27:32.98\00:27:36.75 amazing thing that's really, really happened. And so today, 00:27:36.79\00:27:40.92 we have the presidents of the United States that go to the 00:27:40.96\00:27:45.16 airport to welcome the pope- now that's unprecedented. Normally, 00:27:45.19\00:27:48.86 the heads of states, they come to the airport and they go to 00:27:48.90\00:27:51.60 the White House and they greet at the White House. The 00:27:51.63\00:27:53.80 president of the United States doesn't go to the airport to 00:27:53.84\00:27:56.20 meet them... But only the pope gets that. And I watched 3 at 00:27:56.24\00:28:00.98 the death of one of the popes - I watched three United States 00:28:01.38\00:28:03.65 presidents and their wives kneeling in front of a dead 00:28:03.68\00:28:05.91 pope. Republican AND Democrat. That's unprecedented. Now, we 00:28:05.98\00:28:13.99 love everybody, but the pope doesn't have priority over our 00:28:14.02\00:28:19.49 nation. At least, it shouldn't, by the grace of God. This great 00:28:19.53\00:28:26.17 nation has been on a course that is embracing- the Jesuits are 00:28:26.20\00:28:32.64 very, very active in the United States. If you don't do, just do 00:28:32.67\00:28:38.31 a little research on who occupies the CIA and the FBI. I 00:28:38.35\00:28:43.62 hope they don't go knocking on my door, now, but... [laughter] 00:28:43.69\00:28:47.36 You'll find something very, very interesting going on. The nation 00:28:49.22\00:28:55.10 is changing, and not only that we have all the secularization - 00:28:56.06\00:29:00.47 we can blame Hollywood and the media for pushing agendas that 00:29:00.54\00:29:05.84 are absolutely, terribly, not only unbiblical, but they're 00:29:05.87\00:29:11.31 against nature. It's against society. No society ever 00:29:11.38\00:29:17.05 survives, embracing this kind of craziness. In fact, if you 00:29:17.09\00:29:23.19 watch the Supreme Court ruling this past week, thank the Lord 00:29:23.22\00:29:25.39 they still protected religious freedom. You can just check on 00:29:25.43\00:29:29.66 that; this just happened this past week. You can still bake a 00:29:29.70\00:29:32.60 cake according to the dictates of your own conscience, 00:29:32.63\00:29:36.94 hallelujah. There were two of those justices that voted that 00:29:36.97\00:29:40.48 would've shut that down. I mean, and I wanted to say to those two 00:29:40.51\00:29:43.71 justices, "What were you thinking?" This nation was 00:29:44.35\00:29:47.38 BUILT- thank God for the other 7 that supported that. But tough 00:29:47.42\00:29:52.95 times are going to come. This nation so great, so wonderful, 00:29:52.99\00:29:57.23 so powerful - it's done so much good! It's going to make a 00:29:57.29\00:30:03.60 change. May God help us. -How many of you believe we are 00:30:04.07\00:30:11.61 living in the end-of-the-end times? [Amen.] These are very 00:30:11.64\00:30:15.21 sobering thoughts that Pastor Gallimore has just shared with 00:30:15.24\00:30:20.32 us. This is a very sobering time. That's why it's so vitally 00:30:20.35\00:30:24.62 important that we learn how to be prepared for these end times- 00:30:24.65\00:30:30.26 the very title of our quarterly. The area that I'm looking at 00:30:30.29\00:30:35.36 today is an issue of worship. You see, we know- how many of 00:30:35.40\00:30:41.37 you want the Lord to return? [Amen!] And we know that He's 00:30:41.40\00:30:44.51 going to return. Things are going to get better; but they're 00:30:44.54\00:30:48.84 going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. That's 00:30:48.88\00:30:52.21 what we have to be prepared for to be able to walk through that. 00:30:52.25\00:30:57.05 To go through that, we've got to be prepared. On Tuesday, we look 00:30:57.09\00:31:01.99 at an issue of worship, and Jill touched on it. Pastor CA - I 00:31:02.02\00:31:08.33 believe it was Thursday, and his- he touched on it, it's just 00:31:08.36\00:31:11.63 not something we can- the whole concert that we had last 00:31:11.67\00:31:16.60 evening; oh, it was worship unto the Lord. You know, I think the 00:31:16.64\00:31:23.08 foundation I want to lay for this is the 1st commandment. So 00:31:23.11\00:31:28.38 if you will look at Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 and 2. 00:31:28.45\00:31:32.99 Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 and 2. The Scripture says, "I am the 00:31:33.05\00:31:39.93 Lord your," [God.] "God, Who brought you out of the land of 00:31:39.96\00:31:44.57 Egypt, out of the house of bondage; you shall have no other 00:31:44.60\00:31:50.41 gods before me." Now, He continues through verse 6; God 00:31:50.44\00:31:54.21 is very specific. We are to worship only Him. This is the 00:31:54.24\00:32:00.72 bedrock that we build on. We worship only God. We are to only 00:32:00.78\00:32:06.69 give our reverence and our adoration to Him. Let me give 00:32:06.72\00:32:11.16 you the definition of worship - "expression of reverence and 00:32:11.19\00:32:17.37 adoration for a deity." That's what our worship is. It's always 00:32:17.40\00:32:24.71 been an issue of worship. Who will we give our worship and 00:32:24.74\00:32:30.55 allegiance to? See, we can be in the worst situation we can 00:32:30.58\00:32:35.85 imagine. But in our heart, we can be totally liberated and 00:32:35.88\00:32:41.19 free because of Who we are worshiping - Who our worship and 00:32:41.22\00:32:45.83 allegiance goes to. Throughout the Bible, we repeatedly read 00:32:45.86\00:32:50.67 how God's remnant church, those that He calls His own - He has 00:32:50.73\00:32:58.34 to deal with them because they fall into idolatry and forms of 00:32:58.37\00:33:04.78 false worship. Have you noticed that in- the consistency of that 00:33:04.81\00:33:08.45 in the Bible? He refers to that as fornication and idolatry. 00:33:08.48\00:33:14.89 False worship and false ideas are the currency of Satan's 00:33:14.92\00:33:20.63 kingdom. That's what we must have nothing to do with. Now, 00:33:20.66\00:33:26.47 Jill touched on this. What was the real issue in the 00:33:27.07\00:33:30.81 wilderness? She read out of (I believe it was) Mark (that you 00:33:30.84\00:33:35.44 read out of). I want to read this out of Matthew - 00:33:35.48\00:33:38.71 Matthew 4:8-10. 00:33:38.75\00:33:41.48 It says, "Again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high 00:33:41.52\00:33:45.52 mountain and showed Him-" Who is the Him here? [Jesus.] It's 00:33:45.55\00:33:49.46 the Lord Jesus Christ. "and showed Him all the kingdoms of 00:33:49.62\00:33:52.49 the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these 00:33:52.56\00:33:56.53 things, I will give You if You will do something." "If You 00:33:56.63\00:34:01.20 will..." So what was the issue in the wilderness? What was the 00:34:01.24\00:34:04.37 real issue in the wilder- it was worship. Then Jesus said to him, 00:34:04.41\00:34:09.04 "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the 00:34:09.64\00:34:14.08 Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" Now, in a 00:34:14.12\00:34:19.45 previous lesson, we had looked at some Hebrew children. That 00:34:19.49\00:34:25.29 would be Daniel 3, and we're going to go to Daniel 3; but 00:34:25.33\00:34:28.70 before we go to Daniel 3, I believe Pastor Gallimore already 00:34:28.73\00:34:32.33 had us in Revelation 13. Now, what were the children - the 00:34:32.37\00:34:39.41 Hebrew children - what were they commanded to do? They were 00:34:39.44\00:34:44.48 commanded to worship a golden image. Or what would happen to 00:34:44.51\00:34:48.92 them? They would be put to death in a fiery furnace. That's back 00:34:48.95\00:34:55.49 in Daniel. Now, I want us to fast-forward before we go and 00:34:55.52\00:35:01.76 look deeper into Daniel; let's fast-forward to where Pastor 00:35:01.83\00:35:05.53 Gallimore had us, looking at the beast of the earth. I want us to 00:35:05.57\00:35:10.64 read Revelation 13:15 again. "He was granted power-" who was 00:35:10.67\00:35:17.35 granted power? Now this- the beast of the earth was granted 00:35:17.38\00:35:21.38 power to give breath to the image of the beast that the 00:35:21.45\00:35:25.35 image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would 00:35:25.39\00:35:29.16 not worship the image of the beast to be- what? To be killed. 00:35:29.19\00:35:34.36 Does that sound like the same thing that happened to Shadrach, 00:35:34.40\00:35:38.87 Meshach, and Abednego? You will either worship this image OR 00:35:38.93\00:35:43.97 you're going to be killed. Now, we are being told because this 00:35:44.61\00:35:47.81 is for the church of the end time; this is for an end-time 00:35:47.84\00:35:51.48 people. How many of you are an end-time people? This is for us- 00:35:51.51\00:35:55.18 this is where our preparation must be - we must be prepared 00:35:55.25\00:35:59.92 for this to hap- we must know ahead of time how we're going to 00:35:59.95\00:36:04.99 respond and have the biblical basis to stand. How did the 00:36:05.03\00:36:11.53 young- what did the young Hebrew children do? What did they do? 00:36:13.00\00:36:16.97 They refused to worship the golden image, did they not? They 00:36:17.01\00:36:22.04 stood in obedience to God's commandments. They chose to give 00:36:22.11\00:36:27.48 their worship and allegiance to God; and what happened to them? 00:36:27.52\00:36:31.42 Okay, now this is where I want you to turn to Daniel. Turn to 00:36:31.45\00:36:35.82 Daniel chapter 3. We're going to look at verses 17 and 18. Now, 00:36:35.86\00:36:43.87 what happened to the Hebrew children? They made a stand- 00:36:43.90\00:36:46.84 they took a stand, but this is what happened to them. Now, what 00:36:46.87\00:36:52.67 happened was, King Nebuchadnezzar came to Shadrach, 00:36:52.71\00:36:55.98 Meshach, and Abednego and said, "When all of these musical 00:36:56.01\00:36:59.51 instruments play, you will bow down and you will worship the 00:36:59.58\00:37:05.09 golden image, OR I will throw you into- you will be thrown 00:37:05.12\00:37:09.36 into a fiery furnace. What will your God do for you?" Remember 00:37:09.39\00:37:14.60 that scripture? Here is how they responded. "If that is the case, 00:37:14.66\00:37:19.97 our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning. 00:37:20.00\00:37:26.37 fiery furnace; and He will deliver us from your hand, O 00:37:26.41\00:37:30.41 King." But here is where the rubber meets the road. This is 00:37:30.45\00:37:35.85 the attitude - the heart's response - that we must all 00:37:35.88\00:37:39.92 have. Verse 18: "But if not, let it be known to you, O King, that 00:37:39.95\00:37:47.93 we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the golden image 00:37:47.96\00:37:53.20 which you have set up." They drove their stake into the 00:37:53.23\00:37:58.97 bedrock. They drove their stake into, "We will worship God and 00:37:59.01\00:38:04.71 only God. Do with us what- if God delivers us, so be it! But 00:38:04.75\00:38:10.05 if He doesn't, we're still going to serve Him." Now, I want to 00:38:10.09\00:38:15.89 read to you verses 25 and 27. I encourage you to read the whole 00:38:15.92\00:38:21.20 chapter; it's just an- amazing. King Nebuchadnezzar asked his 00:38:21.23\00:38:26.40 counselors about these 3 Hebrew children - these 3 young men who 00:38:26.43\00:38:33.24 had made their stand that "We will not worship and bow down to 00:38:33.27\00:38:39.25 a golden image." King Nebuchadnezzar asked his 00:38:39.28\00:38:42.48 counselors about them. Now, this burning fiery furnace- what did 00:38:42.52\00:38:47.56 King Nebuchadnezzar have them do with the heat of the furnace? 00:38:47.99\00:38:51.53 Turned it up 7 times hotter than it normally was! What happened 00:38:52.79\00:38:58.37 to the men that took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the 00:38:58.40\00:39:01.54 fiery furnace? It was so hot it killed them. Okay. Verse- Daniel 00:39:01.57\00:39:06.78 chapter 3 verse 25: "'Look!' he answered. 'I see 4 men loose, 00:39:06.81\00:39:13.28 walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt! And the 00:39:13.31\00:39:18.45 form of the 4th is-'" what? "'likened to the Son of God.'" 00:39:18.49\00:39:22.96 Verse 27: "And they saw these men of whose bodies the fire had 00:39:22.99\00:39:28.83 no power, the hair of their head was not singed nor were their 00:39:28.86\00:39:34.00 garments affected; and the smell of fire was not on them." Now, 00:39:34.04\00:39:40.38 that, to me, is a beautiful example of God keepin' His Word. 00:39:41.64\00:39:47.42 You know the word that God has given us? God gave us His word 00:39:48.38\00:39:53.46 that He would never leave us nor forsake us. Now, they chose to 00:39:54.16\00:39:59.03 obey God and not man, and Jesus was right there with them. Now, 00:39:59.06\00:40:04.93 Jill made this statement. History repeats itself; so we 00:40:06.33\00:40:11.17 have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - thousands of years 00:40:11.21\00:40:14.74 ago - being told, "You will worship- bow down and worship 00:40:14.78\00:40:19.95 this golden image or you'll be killed." It's no different today 00:40:19.98\00:40:26.82 for us. Am I saying we won't suffer persecution? We can't say 00:40:26.86\00:40:35.06 that, can we? That would be contrary to the scripture of us. 00:40:35.10\00:40:39.10 There's a very good chance that many of us will be persecuted- 00:40:39.13\00:40:44.27 there's persecution goin' on all over the world, isn't there? We, 00:40:44.31\00:40:48.64 here in these United States, because of the very facts that 00:40:48.68\00:40:52.85 Pastor Gallimore has laid out, we don't know anything about 00:40:52.88\00:40:57.49 religious persecution. Some nations, some- if you are known 00:40:57.52\00:41:03.53 to be a Christian, they will persecute you and they will- we 00:41:03.56\00:41:06.80 are blessed in this nation. Some of us (there's a very good 00:41:06.83\00:41:12.77 chance) - we'll be persecuted, and there's a very good chance 00:41:12.80\00:41:15.84 that some of us will die for our faith. But again, God gave us 00:41:15.87\00:41:21.04 His word. What was the word that God gave us? "I will never leave 00:41:21.11\00:41:25.85 you; I will never forsake you." Just like Shadrach, Meshach, and 00:41:25.88\00:41:31.12 Abednego, in the midst of the fiery furnace, there was the 4th 00:41:31.15\00:41:35.49 man in that fiery furnace. He will be there with us. We have 00:41:35.52\00:41:40.50 an assurance of an eternity in the very presence of God. This 00:41:40.53\00:41:46.17 life is but a vapor. It's the preparation that we make on this 00:41:46.20\00:41:51.44 side of eternity that determines our entry into the presence of 00:41:51.47\00:42:00.05 Almighty God for an eternity. We can't be short-sighted; this 00:42:00.08\00:42:04.35 isn't all there is. There is an eternity to be gained. Okay, 00:42:04.42\00:42:11.06 history repeating itself. Let me reread Revelation 13:15. "He was 00:42:11.09\00:42:17.63 granted power to give breath to the image of the beast if the 00:42:17.67\00:42:20.67 image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would 00:42:20.70\00:42:23.84 not worship the image of the beast to be killed." Now, who is 00:42:23.91\00:42:29.08 this word for? This is for us. Revelation 14:9-10; look at 00:42:29.11\00:42:36.48 that. "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a 00:42:36.52\00:42:38.95 loud voice, 'If anyone worship the beast and his image and 00:42:38.99\00:42:43.12 receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he 00:42:43.19\00:42:46.66 himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God which 00:42:46.70\00:42:50.43 is poured out full-strength into the cup of his indignation. 00:42:50.47\00:42:53.64 He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone and the presence 00:42:53.67\00:42:57.47 of the holy angels and in the presence of God.'" We need to 00:42:57.51\00:43:01.44 dig into the bedrock of worshiping God and God only. 00:43:01.51\00:43:05.35 Nothing has changed in these closing moments of Earth's 00:43:05.41\00:43:08.78 history. The question for each of us is, "Who do we choose to 00:43:08.82\00:43:14.06 worship?" And I think I'm going to stand with Joshua - I think 00:43:14.09\00:43:17.93 he expressed it so well. Joshua 24:15, "And if it seems evil to 00:43:17.96\00:43:24.17 you to serve the Lord, choose for yourself this day whom you 00:43:24.20\00:43:28.44 will serve. But as for me and my house,"- say it with me, "we 00:43:28.47\00:43:33.21 will serve the Lord." Pastor Bohr. -Well, I just want to 00:43:33.24\00:43:39.68 piggy back on what Molly just shared with us. We did not talk 00:43:39.71\00:43:45.25 before... [laughter] But they say "all great minds run in the 00:43:45.29\00:43:50.73 same track." [more laughter] I just want us to focus on Daniel 00:43:50.79\00:43:55.86 3 for a few moments again. Just a few details here; there are- 00:43:55.90\00:44:01.87 there's a key word that links Daniel 3, Daniel 6, and Daniel 00:44:01.90\00:44:07.94 12:1 which is the memory verse that we have for today. The only 00:44:07.98\00:44:15.85 places in Daniel where the word 'deliver' appears is in Daniel 00:44:15.88\00:44:20.76 3, Daniel 6, and Daniel 12:1. There's another commonality 00:44:20.79\00:44:26.03 between all three, and that is that in all three cases, the 00:44:26.06\00:44:32.33 angel delivers God's people. That's what I want to focus on. 00:44:32.37\00:44:38.51 First of all, let's notice Daniel 3:8. Those who accused 00:44:39.44\00:44:43.14 the three friends of Daniel were the religious leaders of 00:44:44.51\00:44:48.48 Babylon. In other words, it's the religion that entices the 00:44:48.52\00:44:53.46 civil power to make this image. It says there, "Therefore, at 00:44:53.49\00:44:57.63 that time, certain Chaldeans came forward and accused the 00:44:57.66\00:45:00.66 Jews," so they're the accusers. And then I want us to go down to 00:45:00.90\00:45:06.47 verse 13. "Then, Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the 00:45:06.50\00:45:11.41 command to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, so they 00:45:11.44\00:45:14.48 brought these men before the king." Now, in verse 15, we find 00:45:14.54\00:45:20.85 for the first time in chapter 3 the word 'deliver.' Let's read 00:45:20.88\00:45:24.59 that verse. "Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the 00:45:24.62\00:45:27.89 sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery in symphony 00:45:27.92\00:45:32.29 with all kinds of music and you fall down and worship the image 00:45:32.33\00:45:36.26 which I have made, good; but if you do not worship, you shall be 00:45:36.30\00:45:40.20 cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace," and 00:45:40.24\00:45:43.71 now comes the question, "and who is the God Who will deliver you 00:45:43.74\00:45:48.21 from my hands?" Notice verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 00:45:49.21\00:45:54.95 answered and said to the king, "O, Nebuchadnezzar, we have no 00:45:54.98\00:45:59.05 need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our 00:45:59.09\00:46:02.22 God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning 00:46:02.26\00:46:07.40 fiery furnace and He will deliver us from your hand, O 00:46:07.46\00:46:13.54 King." Then we find in verse 19, it says that the expression of 00:46:13.57\00:46:17.94 Nebuchadnezzar's face changed. Ellen White comments on this; 00:46:17.97\00:46:21.01 she says that his face looked like the face of a demon. And 00:46:21.04\00:46:25.81 then, you know the story of how these three young men are thrown 00:46:25.85\00:46:30.32 into the fiery furnace, heated 7 times more than ever before; 00:46:30.35\00:46:34.62 this symbolizes the time of trouble, such as never has been 00:46:34.66\00:46:38.26 seen. Ellen White, in fact- in the chapter on the time of 00:46:38.29\00:46:41.90 trouble in Great Controversy says that the fires of the 00:46:41.93\00:46:45.33 furnace are about to consume God's people, but they shall 00:46:45.37\00:46:49.04 come forth from the furnace as pure gold; so she's applying 00:46:49.07\00:46:52.61 this spiritually - what happened in Daniel chapter 3. Then, in 00:46:52.67\00:46:57.61 verse 25, it says, "'Look!' he answered." (This is 00:46:57.65\00:47:00.55 Nebuchadnezzar.) "'I see 4 men loose, walking in the midst of 00:47:00.75\00:47:03.92 the fire and they are not hurt; and the form of the 4th is like 00:47:03.99\00:47:08.02 the Son of God.'" Now, some 00:47:08.06\00:47:10.83 versions translate "the son of the gods." 00:47:12.16\00:47:13.70 Not a good translation. Ellen White states that Daniel 00:47:13.73\00:47:18.40 and his friends had told the king what the Son of God looked 00:47:18.43\00:47:23.44 like. And, of course, the Son of God in the Old Testament is the 00:47:23.47\00:47:27.28 angel of the Lord. Now, I want you to notice something very 00:47:27.31\00:47:30.65 interesting in verse 28. Nebuchadnezzar's just said that 00:47:30.68\00:47:34.12 the form of the 4th is like the Son of God, but now notice what 00:47:34.15\00:47:38.65 Nebuchadnezzar says in verse 28. "Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, 00:47:38.72\00:47:43.43 'Bless be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who sent 00:47:43.46\00:47:48.26 His angel..." Now, wait a minute; was it the Son of God? 00:47:48.30\00:47:52.83 Or was that His angel? "He sent His angel," and what? There's 00:47:52.87\00:47:59.77 the word again, "and delivered His servants who," what? 00:47:59.81\00:48:03.55 "trusted in Him." There's the key. After Nebuchadnezzar is 00:48:03.58\00:48:09.65 wowed by what happened, in verse 29, we find the keyword again. 00:48:09.68\00:48:14.89 "Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or language 00:48:14.92\00:48:18.23 which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, 00:48:18.26\00:48:21.50 Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses 00:48:21.53\00:48:24.53 shall be made an ash heap;" of course, he didn't understand yet 00:48:24.57\00:48:28.37 that you cannot enforce- can't force people to worship a false 00:48:28.40\00:48:32.41 god OR the true God. But anyway, it says, "because there is no 00:48:32.44\00:48:37.61 other god who can deliver like this." So what is the central 00:48:37.65\00:48:43.45 theme of Daniel 3? Is it the crisis or the deliverance? It's 00:48:43.49\00:48:47.72 the deliverance from the power of Babylon. Then we go to Daniel 00:48:47.76\00:48:51.69 6. This is really interesting. And, of course, this is dealing 00:48:51.73\00:48:55.26 with the Medes and Persians, but the principles are the same. The 00:48:55.30\00:48:58.20 issue in Daniel 3 is worship. The issue in Daniel chapter 6 is 00:48:58.23\00:49:03.27 ALSO the law and worship. Because Daniel's being told that 00:49:03.30\00:49:07.91 he can't kneel and worship his God. In fact, his enemies say, 00:49:07.94\00:49:12.38 "We won't find anything against this Daniel unless we find it 00:49:12.41\00:49:15.38 regarding the law of his God." So in both chapters, it's the 00:49:15.42\00:49:19.35 law and worship. Now, I want you to notice the key word again 00:49:19.39\00:49:22.56 that appears. Only in Daniel 3, Daniel 6, and Daniel 12:1 do we 00:49:22.62\00:49:27.43 find this key word. Daniel chapter 6; and let's read verse 00:49:27.46\00:49:32.57 14. "And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly 00:49:32.60\00:49:38.44 displeased with himself,"- the words that Daniel was praying 00:49:38.47\00:49:43.08 to his God -"and set his heart on Daniel to...deliver him. And 00:49:43.11\00:49:50.39 he labored till the going down of the sun to...deliver him." 00:49:50.42\00:49:54.59 And then, let's notice verse 16. "So the king gave the command 00:49:55.79\00:50:00.10 and they brought Daniel and cast him into the lion's den, but the 00:50:00.13\00:50:04.17 king spoke to Daniel, 'Your God Whom you serve occasionally...'" 00:50:04.20\00:50:09.10 Oh, thank you. "Whom you serve continually, He will deliver 00:50:09.90\00:50:16.01 you." There it is again. Let's notice verse 20. This is after 00:50:16.04\00:50:22.08 spending a night of insomnia, where the king doesn't sleep, he 00:50:22.12\00:50:27.82 doesn't eat, he doesn't bring the musicians; and it says in 00:50:27.86\00:50:31.19 verse 20: "And when he came to the den, he cried out with a 00:50:31.23\00:50:34.20 lamenting voice to Daniel - the king spoke, saying to Daniel, 00:50:34.23\00:50:37.70 'Daniel, Servant of the living God, has your God, Whom you'll 00:50:37.73\00:50:42.14 serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?' 00:50:42.17\00:50:48.64 Then, Daniel said to the king, 'O, King, live forever. My God 00:50:49.54\00:50:53.88 sent His...'" [angel.] Interesting. "'His angel, and 00:50:53.92\00:51:00.16 shut the lions mouths so that they have not hurt me because I 00:51:00.19\00:51:03.46 was found innocent before Him and also, O King, I've done no 00:51:03.49\00:51:07.60 wrong before you.'" And then it says at the last part of verse 00:51:07.63\00:51:11.97 23 that Daniel was delivered because he believed in his God. 00:51:12.00\00:51:15.90 In other words, he trusted in his God - continually. I want 00:51:15.94\00:51:20.61 you to notice the king gives a decree; Darius did not 00:51:20.64\00:51:23.21 understand the full- that you can't really command people to 00:51:23.24\00:51:27.65 fear the God of heaven, because that's not the legitimate task 00:51:27.68\00:51:31.35 of a king; but anyway, in verse 27, Darius says, "He delivers 00:51:31.39\00:51:38.86 and rescues, and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on 00:51:38.89\00:51:43.30 Earth who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." So 00:51:43.33\00:51:49.07 the central theme of Daniel 3 and Daniel 6 is when the issue 00:51:49.10\00:51:52.67 of worship comes up and there's a death decree against God's 00:51:52.71\00:51:55.91 people. If we are faithful, if we serve God continually, if we 00:51:55.94\00:52:00.28 trust in Him, we will be delivered. And, you know, I 00:52:00.32\00:52:03.82 found some Adventists, wherever I go, that they say, "Oh, 00:52:03.85\00:52:06.92 that's going to be a terrible time of trouble; I hope the Lord 00:52:06.96\00:52:08.99 lays me to rest before then." Well, what a privilege it will 00:52:09.02\00:52:12.56 be not to be laid to rest, but to remain faithful to the Lord, 00:52:12.59\00:52:16.23 and vindicate the character of God before the universe. And 00:52:16.26\00:52:20.74 then, we need to go to Daniel chapter 12:1 where we find the 00:52:20.80\00:52:24.54 name of the angel, by the way, in Daniel 3, it's the Son of 00:52:24.57\00:52:29.98 God, the angel. In Daniel chapter 6, it's the angel. Now 00:52:30.05\00:52:35.62 in chapter 12:1, we're going to find the name of the angel. This 00:52:35.68\00:52:40.09 name, Michael, appears 5 times. 3 times in the Old Testament; 00:52:40.12\00:52:45.36 twice in the New Testament. The name means "who is like God,"- 00:52:45.39\00:52:50.20 composed of three Hebrew words, 'Mi-ka-el' - "who is like God." 00:52:50.23\00:52:56.14 So, the context of Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1 is that 00:52:56.17\00:53:01.61 the king of the north in the previous verses which represents 00:53:01.64\00:53:04.28 the same as the beast, the same as the little horn, the same as 00:53:04.31\00:53:07.35 the man of sin, the same as the abomination of desolation, the 00:53:07.38\00:53:10.19 same as the harlot, different symbols for the same power, the 00:53:10.25\00:53:13.25 Roman Catholic papacy...will attempt to destroy God's people. 00:53:13.29\00:53:17.86 It says in verse 44, "But news from the north and the east will 00:53:17.89\00:53:22.26 trouble him; therefore, he shall go out with great fury to 00:53:22.30\00:53:26.13 destroy and annihilate many." In other words, he's going to go 00:53:26.17\00:53:29.70 out and try to kill God's people because they're faithful to the 00:53:29.74\00:53:32.54 Lord. But when that's about to happen, we find in Daniel 12:1, 00:53:32.57\00:53:36.91 "At that time, Michael shall stand up, who is like God. The 00:53:36.95\00:53:42.88 Great Prince who stands watch over the sons of your people." 00:53:42.95\00:53:46.76 And it doesn't mean we're going to be spared from the time of 00:53:46.79\00:53:49.82 trouble; the three young men went through their time of 00:53:49.86\00:53:51.63 trouble - and Daniel and the lion's den went through the time 00:53:51.66\00:53:55.50 of trouble. It's going to be a terrible time of trouble, but 00:53:55.53\00:54:00.54 Michael's going to be there to defend us. So it says there, 00:54:00.60\00:54:04.24 "And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since 00:54:04.27\00:54:07.51 there was a nation even to that time; and at that time, your 00:54:07.58\00:54:11.98 people shall be delivered - everyone who is found written in 00:54:12.01\00:54:17.69 the Book." Now, let's go to Revelation chapter 13 and let's 00:54:17.72\00:54:27.23 read verses 3 and 4. What does the name Michael mean? "Who is 00:54:28.06\00:54:35.70 like God." Now, what is the majority of the world going to 00:54:35.74\00:54:40.21 be saying at that time? Verse 3 says, speaking about this beast 00:54:40.28\00:54:45.31 that received the deadly wound, "And I saw one of his heads as 00:54:45.35\00:54:48.68 if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. 00:54:48.75\00:54:52.92 In all..." [the world.] West Frankfort... No, y- West 00:54:52.95\00:54:57.79 Frankfort, too. "And all the world marveled and followed the 00:54:57.83\00:55:02.03 beast." Now notice verse 4. "So they worshiped the dragon who 00:55:02.06\00:55:07.60 gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, 00:55:07.64\00:55:10.91 saying, 'Who is like the beast? And who is able to make war with 00:55:10.94\00:55:18.98 him?'" At that moment, Jesus is going to say, "Who is like God, 00:55:19.01\00:55:25.05 I will make war with you." [Amen.] What a glorious promise 00:55:25.09\00:55:30.03 God gives us. Who is like the beast will be defeated by who is 00:55:30.09\00:55:37.20 like God. [Amen.] So Babylon will fall. We know all about the 00:55:37.23\00:55:42.57 fall of Babylon in chapter 5 and God's people will be delivered. 00:55:42.60\00:55:47.28 They will be- they will live with the Lord forevermore. What 00:55:49.14\00:55:53.08 a glorious promise we have in scripture. We have no reason to 00:55:53.11\00:55:57.09 fear the time of trouble...as long as we serve God continually 00:55:57.12\00:56:01.79 and we trust in our God. [Amen.] David. -Amen. As we have 00:56:01.82\00:56:09.60 expounded on Daniel chapter 3 with Molly and Pastor Bohr's 00:56:09.63\00:56:14.24 presentations, we see that Daniel and his three friends are 00:56:14.94\00:56:19.21 in Babylon; and we see that in Revelation chapter 18, there is 00:56:19.24\00:56:26.08 a call to come out of Babylon. Ancient Babylon no longer exists 00:56:26.11\00:56:31.95 but there is going to be a Neo-Babylon in the end of time. 00:56:31.99\00:56:36.22 Open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 18:1-4. Revelation 00:56:36.26\00:56:43.60 chapter 18 verse 1 through 4. "After these things, I saw 00:56:44.10\00:56:47.84 another angel coming down from heaven having the great 00:56:47.87\00:56:52.47 authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And 00:56:52.51\00:56:57.85 he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the 00:56:57.88\00:57:00.75 great is fallen, is fallen, and is become a dwelling place of 00:57:00.78\00:57:05.75 demons - a prison for every foul spirit in a cage for every 00:57:05.79\00:57:11.99 unclean and hated bird; for all nations have drunk of the wine 00:57:12.03\00:57:16.87 of the wrath of her fornication and the kings of the earth have 00:57:16.93\00:57:20.27 committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth 00:57:20.30\00:57:24.37 have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." In 00:57:24.41\00:57:28.78 verse 4 is the focus of our study for this section: "and I 00:57:28.81\00:57:32.78 heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, my 00:57:32.81\00:57:35.92 people; lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of 00:57:35.95\00:57:41.56 her plagues.'" Let's hone in on that pronoun, 'her.' Notice that 00:57:41.59\00:57:48.73 the Bible did not say, "Come out of it," or it didn't say, "Come 00:57:48.76\00:57:52.90 out of him;" but it says "Come out of her." Remember from 00:57:52.93\00:57:56.91 English class, that's a feminine personal pronoun, if I remember 00:57:57.34\00:58:02.81 correctly; it says, "Come out of her." Now, what is it talking 00:58:02.84\00:58:06.45 about? If you go to verse 7, it's interesting because it 00:58:06.48\00:58:09.08 says, "In the measure that she glorified,"- there's the 00:58:09.12\00:58:11.59 feminine pronoun again; herself, "lived luxury in the measure, 00:58:11.62\00:58:14.66 give her torment and sorrow for she says in her heart," and 00:58:14.69\00:58:17.86 here's the part I want to focus on; it says, "I sit as,"- what 00:58:17.89\00:58:20.90 does it say? "as queen and am no widow, and will see no sorrow." 00:58:20.93\00:58:27.04 Notice that the Bible describes this 'her' as a queen that is in 00:58:27.07\00:58:33.27 the posture of sitting. Now, there's only one place in the 00:58:33.31\00:58:37.91 Book of Revelation where you see a woman sitting on anything; and 00:58:37.95\00:58:41.82 let's go very quickly to Revelation chapter 17. Let's 00:58:41.85\00:58:46.05 start in verse 1, "Then one of the 7 angels who had the 7 bowls 00:58:46.12\00:58:48.79 came and talked with me, saying, 'Come, and I'll show you the 00:58:48.82\00:58:51.66 judgment of the great harlot," so there is the woman who sits 00:58:51.69\00:58:55.83 on many waters. Same identifying mark found in Revelation chapter 00:58:57.07\00:59:02.54 18, "with whom the kings of the earth had committed fornication 00:59:02.60\00:59:06.47 and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk through the wine 00:59:06.51\00:59:10.01 of her fornication; so he carried me away in the spirit in 00:59:10.05\00:59:14.32 the wilderness and I saw a woman in,"- what's the posture again? 00:59:14.35\00:59:17.45 "sitting on a scarlet beast." Now, if you are sitting on an 00:59:17.49\00:59:25.43 animal, are you in control? That is a posture of domination. We 00:59:25.46\00:59:35.00 have a dog and there's an alpha dog posture. If you sit on the 00:59:35.04\00:59:39.41 dog, it shows dominance. Now, we know that in Bible prophecy, the 00:59:39.44\00:59:46.61 woman represents the church, or a church, and a beast represents 00:59:46.65\00:59:51.72 a political power; and notice the relationship between these 00:59:51.75\00:59:54.32 two. These are working in collusion, but it is the church 00:59:54.36\00:59:58.63 that is calling the shots. It is the church's agenda that is 00:59:58.66\01:00:04.90 driving this thing. Go to verse 5, "And on her forehead, a name 01:00:04.93\01:00:11.67 was written, 'Mystery Babylon the Great,' 'The Mother of 01:00:11.71\01:00:17.01 Harlots,' and 'The Abominations of the Earth.'" The Bible 01:00:17.05\01:00:21.25 identifies Babylon as being a mother of harlots. The 01:00:21.28\01:00:29.26 profession of the mother church is the great harlot, but notice 01:00:29.29\01:00:34.10 that the Bible indicates that this is a mother that has 01:00:34.16\01:00:39.50 daughters. It says "The Mother of Harlots;" it didn't say 01:00:40.40\01:00:44.41 "Mother of a Harlot." It says "Mother of Harlots." Now, the 01:00:44.47\01:00:47.94 implication of this is that this is a mother church that has 01:00:47.98\01:00:51.68 daughters. The daughters are holding onto the same practices 01:00:51.71\01:00:58.65 and the same professions as the mother church. They did not 01:00:58.69\01:01:02.92 repudiate the practice and the profession of the mother; they 01:01:02.99\01:01:07.36 held onto it. It says they are the daughters, and these 01:01:07.40\01:01:10.77 daughters are harlots. In other words, they are not identical, 01:01:10.80\01:01:15.70 but they are similar. We know that in Bible prophecy, there is 01:01:15.74\01:01:20.84 a mother church; it is the papacy, and the daughters are 01:01:20.88\01:01:27.35 apostate Protestantism. And the reason why the Bible holds onto 01:01:27.38\01:01:32.52 this idea of mystic Babylon as being comprised as the mother 01:01:32.55\01:01:38.16 and the daughters is because any Protestant church that has not 01:01:38.19\01:01:43.06 repudiated the pagan practices, i.e., idol worship, Sunday 01:01:43.10\01:01:50.51 sacredness, and the immortality of the soul are considered as 01:01:50.54\01:01:55.14 being comprised of Babylon. This is fascinating because there's a 01:01:55.21\01:02:02.58 quotation from John O'Brien, a Catholic priest, in his book 01:02:02.62\01:02:06.76 "The Faith of Millions" and notice how he frames this 01:02:06.79\01:02:10.73 posture specifically in relationship to Sunday 01:02:10.79\01:02:14.06 sacredness. And notice what he calls the Catholic Church. "The 01:02:14.10\01:02:17.90 observance of Sunday sacredness remains as a reminder of the 01:02:17.93\01:02:23.07 mother church from which non-Catholic sex broke away like 01:02:23.10\01:02:29.94 a boy running from home but still carrying in his pocket a 01:02:30.01\01:02:34.88 picture of his mother, or a lock of her hair. They identify 01:02:34.92\01:02:41.32 themselves as the mother and they say, "Look, if you hold 01:02:41.36\01:02:43.66 onto Sunday sacredness, you may no longer be a part of the 01:02:43.73\01:02:47.33 institution; but you haven't run very far." There's still that 01:02:47.36\01:02:52.43 connection. Last year, we celebrated the 500th anniversary 01:02:52.47\01:02:58.31 of the Protestant Reformation. And, we are living in a time 01:02:58.34\01:03:04.91 right now where we're seeing Bible prophecy being fulfilled 01:03:04.95\01:03:08.32 because the Bible indicates that the Protestant Reformation will 01:03:08.35\01:03:13.99 be over; and that the daughter churches will come back to the 01:03:14.06\01:03:20.60 mother church. I shuddered as I read this quotation from the 01:03:20.63\01:03:27.80 Catholic Herald. By the way, the current pope is the first Jesuit 01:03:27.84\01:03:32.44 pope in Catholic history, and the purpose of the Jesuit 01:03:32.47\01:03:36.85 movement was a part of the counter reformation, and the 01:03:36.88\01:03:40.75 counter reformation was to bring the Protestant churches back. 01:03:40.78\01:03:45.75 It's fascinating that the first Jesuit pope, according to this 01:03:45.79\01:03:50.53 article in the Catholic Herald, indicates that he believes that 01:03:50.56\01:03:56.56 the Protestant Reformation is over. I want to read to you this 01:03:56.60\01:04:01.27 quotation somewhere in pope Francis' office is a document 01:04:01.30\01:04:04.67 that could alter the course of Christian history. It declares 01:04:04.71\01:04:09.01 an end to the hostilities between Catholics and 01:04:09.04\01:04:12.41 evangelicals and says that the two traditions are now united in 01:04:12.61\01:04:19.42 a mission because we are declaring the same gospel. "The 01:04:19.45\01:04:25.33 Holy Father is thinking of signing the taxed in 2017, the 01:04:25.36\01:04:29.33 500th anniversary of the Reformation alongside 01:04:29.36\01:04:32.03 evangelical leaders representing roughly 1 in 4 Christians in the 01:04:32.07\01:04:37.21 world today." Notice this part. Francis is convinced that the 01:04:37.24\01:04:43.18 Reformation is already over. He believes it ended in 1999, the 01:04:43.21\01:04:50.79 year the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation issued 01:04:50.82\01:04:54.22 a joint declaration on justification the heart of 01:04:54.26\01:04:59.19 Luther's protest. Right now, we are living in a time where the 01:04:59.23\01:05:07.70 Reformation, according to Pope Francis, is over. I would beg to 01:05:07.74\01:05:17.15 differ on that point, because I believe that Seventh-Day 01:05:17.18\01:05:20.45 Adventism is a continuation of the Reformation; but he's right. 01:05:20.48\01:05:24.45 As an institution, evangelicals have come back into the fold. 01:05:24.49\01:05:29.12 Let's go back to Revelation chapter 18:4. And here is the 01:05:29.16\01:05:35.70 message of hope. "Come out of her, my people." And there is 01:05:35.73\01:05:38.93 the other pronoun, the possessive pronoun, "Come out of 01:05:38.97\01:05:42.27 her, my people." In other words, God's people are in Babylon and 01:05:42.30\01:05:48.54 He is calling them to come out. Babylon is not to be reformed; 01:05:48.58\01:05:55.58 Babylon is not to be revived; Babylon is to be evacuated. You 01:05:55.62\01:06:03.09 are to exit Babylon. You can not stay in Babylon anymore, but God 01:06:03.12\01:06:10.10 says, "My people are in there;" and He says, "you need to come 01:06:10.13\01:06:17.34 out." Now, what is the cost of staying in Babylon? It's in that 01:06:17.37\01:06:23.98 text. Verse 4: "Come out of her, my people,"- there's the 01:06:24.01\01:06:28.18 identification of His people - "you need to come out; you need 01:06:28.22\01:06:31.35 to evacuate; you can't stay in there." Why? "Lest you share in 01:06:31.39\01:06:36.12 her sins;" and here's the second part, "lest you receive of her 01:06:36.16\01:06:39.86 plagues." Let me parse that for you. If you stay in Babylon, you 01:06:39.89\01:06:45.77 will lose your salvation. Remaining in Babylon indicates 01:06:45.80\01:06:52.87 that even though your name may be written in the Lamb's Book of 01:06:52.91\01:06:56.61 Life because you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, that 01:06:56.64\01:07:00.85 you remain at the cost of your eternal salvation. I believe 01:07:00.88\01:07:08.22 that there are many individuals that are in Babylon that God 01:07:08.26\01:07:17.10 considers His people. Amen? And we are facing a time right now 01:07:17.13\01:07:24.71 in which we're going to be witnessing a transition within 01:07:24.74\01:07:30.71 our remnant church. There are going to be people coming in, 01:07:30.75\01:07:35.18 and sadly, there are going to be people going out. Now, it's 01:07:35.22\01:07:42.82 beautiful because there's plenty of room in God's remnant church, 01:07:42.86\01:07:45.33 amen? [Amen!] And I don't want anyone taking my place; there's 01:07:45.36\01:07:48.56 plenty of seats, but there's going to be this transition 01:07:48.60\01:07:50.83 between people that are coming in and other people that are 01:07:50.87\01:07:54.70 leaving; and this quotation from the book "Great Controversy," 01:07:54.74\01:07:58.97 page 608, says, "As the storm approaches, a large class who 01:07:59.01\01:08:03.41 have professed faith in the 3rd angel's message but have not 01:08:03.45\01:08:06.51 been sanctified through obedience to the truth abandon 01:08:06.58\01:08:11.15 their position and join the ranks of the opposition by 01:08:11.19\01:08:16.16 uniting with the world and 01:08:16.19\01:08:17.53 partaking of its spirit, they have come to 01:08:17.56\01:08:19.53 view matters in the same light; and when the test is brought, 01:08:20.16\01:08:23.73 they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side." And 01:08:23.77\01:08:29.87 friends, I fear as I visit our people and witness our beloved 01:08:29.90\01:08:39.38 people watching the same movies, listening to the same music, and 01:08:39.71\01:08:47.02 holding onto the same views as the world without discriminating 01:08:47.06\01:08:50.83 whether it's biblical or not, we are being set up to choose the 01:08:50.86\01:08:57.37 easy, popular side. And when our church becomes so enculturated 01:08:57.40\01:09:03.47 and assimilated with the world that there is no distinction 01:09:04.17\01:09:06.91 between the Seventh-Day Adventist Christian and the 01:09:06.94\01:09:09.14 worldling that when the final test comes, Lord, help us. And 01:09:09.18\01:09:17.22 we need to be faithful to the Lord Jesus and His Word, so when 01:09:17.25\01:09:20.99 this transition happens (and it's already happening) that we 01:09:21.02\01:09:24.73 can be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ and be anchored in 01:09:24.79\01:09:28.10 the Rock. [Amen!] -Amen. Thank you so much. You know, often, we 01:09:28.13\01:09:34.80 think, as Seventh-Day Adventists Christians (I'm not saying us 01:09:34.84\01:09:38.17 here) or even you at home, but there's times we think, "Maybe 01:09:38.21\01:09:42.04 we need to water down the message. Maybe we need to be a 01:09:42.08\01:09:46.65 little more grace-oriented," and we believe in grace; we are 01:09:47.15\01:09:49.98 saved by grace through faith. And we're not talking about 01:09:50.02\01:09:53.32 that, but at the same time, God has given us an urgent message. 01:09:53.36\01:09:57.63 A warning call - thank you for that, Pastor David - that we are 01:09:57.66\01:10:03.33 supposed to take this message to the world and to each one of us 01:10:03.37\01:10:07.54 individually as Seventh-Day Adventist Christians. A couple 01:10:07.57\01:10:10.77 years ago, Greg was driving through Thompsonville and there 01:10:10.81\01:10:13.74 was a house on fire, and he saw the smoke coming out. He stopped 01:10:13.78\01:10:16.88 his pickup and he grabbed a hammer and he ran to the house, 01:10:16.91\01:10:19.65 'cause maybe someone was in there, and maybe someone needed 01:10:19.71\01:10:22.92 to get out. Now, he could've said, "They're fine; they're 01:10:22.95\01:10:26.65 doin' they're own thing. I'm sure they know there's a fire," 01:10:26.69\01:10:29.96 but he chose to break the window and to go in - to see if there 01:10:29.99\01:10:34.23 was someone who needed to be rescued; and God has called us 01:10:34.26\01:10:37.37 to proclaim the undiluted 3 angels' messages - one that 01:10:37.43\01:10:42.20 would counteract the counterfeit to a lost and dying world. We 01:10:42.24\01:10:46.71 only have just a few moments left; I'm going to give each one 01:10:46.74\01:10:49.38 of you a few moments to share. If you want, we'll start with 01:10:49.54\01:10:52.55 you, Pastor Gallimore - a closing thought. -Well, I don't 01:10:52.61\01:10:56.38 think I could do better than Pastor David just shared. We 01:10:56.42\01:11:01.49 need to be on the alert. Jesus said, "Watch and pray," and the 01:11:01.52\01:11:04.66 price of not watching and praying are letting the cares of 01:11:04.69\01:11:07.73 this world overwhelm us is to lose our eternal life. Pastor 01:11:07.76\01:11:11.67 Bohr said something about continual - a continual serving 01:11:11.70\01:11:15.80 the Lord; that continual connection is what's going to 01:11:15.84\01:11:18.14 make the difference. [Amen.] - You know, Jill quoted a 01:11:18.17\01:11:22.48 scripture earlier and it was to be established in present truth 01:11:22.51\01:11:26.31 though you already know the truth. We are to be established 01:11:26.35\01:11:29.85 in present truth. And I think about that: the reason that we 01:11:29.88\01:11:34.66 so often pull away from those things that we already know to 01:11:34.69\01:11:40.40 do is because we are not doers of the word; we are hearers 01:11:40.43\01:11:45.57 only. I'm looking at James 1:22 where the directive is, "But be 01:11:45.60\01:11:50.61 ye doers of the Word;" do what you know to do - not hearers 01:11:50.64\01:11:54.78 only. What happens when you're a hearer only? You deceive your 01:11:54.81\01:11:58.68 own selves. [Amen.] - Seventh-Day Adventist church 01:11:58.71\01:12:03.89 exists for only one reason. And that is to proclaim the 3 01:12:03.95\01:12:07.72 angels' messages to the world. [Amen.] And if we're not doing 01:12:07.76\01:12:11.56 that, we have no reason to exist. So I praise the Lord for 01:12:11.83\01:12:15.86 3ABN. [Amen!] - Ellen White says in the book 01:12:15.90\01:12:21.37 Maranatha page 204, "The church may appear as about to fall... 01:12:21.40\01:12:26.64 ...but it does not fall." It remains while the sinners in 01:12:27.78\01:12:33.01 Zion are sifted out." And it's my prayer that in this 01:12:33.05\01:12:37.19 transition, as the Protestant Churches of America are going 01:12:37.22\01:12:41.89 back to Rome, God is calling for His people to go back to the 01:12:41.92\01:12:45.73 Bible. [Amen!] - Amen. Thank you 01:12:45.76\01:12:48.53 so much, Elder Gallimore, Miss Mollie, Elder Bohr, and Elder 01:12:48.56\01:12:51.63 Shin. What an incredible blessing - what an incredible 01:12:51.70\01:12:54.10 study of the Word of God! And God is calling you at home right 01:12:54.14\01:12:58.37 now. This might be the first time you have heard the truth of 01:12:58.41\01:13:01.88 the Sabbath; now that you know the truth, you are faced with a 01:13:01.91\01:13:05.21 decision. Make a decision to stand on the Word of God and 01:13:05.25\01:13:10.15 with the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you to stay 01:13:10.19\01:13:12.92 with us. Directly after the credits, we will be rolling a 01:13:12.95\01:13:16.52 special roll from 3ABN Russia - you can watch it there at home - 01:13:16.59\01:13:22.30 I think it'll be playing here in the house, as well. Stay tuned, 01:13:22.33\01:13:25.50 and then church will start in just 15 minutes. God bless you 01:13:25.53\01:13:28.70 and keep you. 01:13:28.74\01:13:30.14