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Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180014A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says "To receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word 00:11 which is able to save your souls 00:14 and to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:21 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is "Preparation for the End Time." 00:32 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 I am Jill Morikone, and we are delighted that you've taken 00:38 this time as we open up the Word of God 00:41 and study together. 00:42 If you've been following with us every week, 00:44 we just finished our study on stewardship, 00:48 and we're ready for a brand new quarter, 00:50 "Preparation for the End Time." 00:52 One of my favorite promises is Jesus giving this promise 00:56 to His disciples right before He went to the cross. 00:59 I'm speaking of John 14:1-3. 01:03 Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled. 01:06 You believe in God, believe also in Me. 01:09 In my Father's house are many mansions. 01:11 If it were not, so I would have told you. 01:14 I go to prepare a place for you. 01:16 And if I go to prepare a place for you, 01:18 I will come again and receive you onto Myself, 01:23 that where I'm there ye may be also." 01:26 As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 01:29 we believe in the literal, visible, audible, 01:32 and eminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:35 In this quarter, we'll study the prophecies of His coming, 01:39 Daniel and Revelation, the three angels' messages, 01:43 the soon return of Jesus, 01:45 and we look at all that in the context of, how are you? 01:49 How am I? 01:50 How are we to be prepared for His coming? 01:54 Right now, I want to introduce to you our panel. 01:57 We have Pastor CA Murray, Mr. Danny Shelton, 02:00 Ms. Mollie Steenson, and Ms. Shelley Quinn. 02:02 And it's a privilege to share with each one of you 02:05 to hear what God has given to you, 02:07 and to open up the Word of God, 02:09 and to study together. 02:11 Thank you for having us. 02:12 It's a blessing to share together. 02:14 Before we go any further, let's go to the Lord in prayer. 02:17 And, Pastor CA, would you like to lead us in prayer? 02:18 I'd be glad to. 02:20 Father, God, how thankful we are for Your Word 02:23 which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. 02:26 We are thankful for the study of the Word 02:29 and that we never leave the study of Your Word 02:33 but that we are refreshed, inspired, 02:36 enlightened, encouraged, 02:38 and given strength to take one more step along that road 02:41 that leads to glory. 02:42 We ask that You may be the center 02:44 and circumference of all that we say and do today. 02:47 So that as we speak, 02:50 You will speak to us and speak through us 02:53 so that Your people may indeed hear a word from the Lord. 02:57 We surrender ourselves to You, 02:59 and thank You for what You've promised to do 03:01 and answer to the prayer of faith, 03:03 in Jesus' name, amen. 03:04 Amen. Amen. 03:06 If you would like your own copy of the Sabbath School quarterly 03:09 as we study together, 03:10 you can always visit your Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:13 and they'll give you a copy of the quarterly. 03:15 Or you can go to the website, 03:16 that's ABSG, that stands for 03:20 Adult Bible Study Guide. Adventist.org, 03:24 and you can download the copy, 03:26 and follow along with us as we study together. 03:29 This quarterly was written by Norman Gulley, 03:32 he is a Research Professor in Systematic Theology 03:35 at the Southern Adventist University. 03:37 And I'm just excited to share together 03:40 on preparation for the end times. 03:42 Lesson number one is on the cosmic controversy. 03:45 When I grew up, Mr. Danny, 03:47 we just called it the great controversy, 03:49 the battle between good and evil, 03:52 between Christ and Satan. 03:55 I think the great controversy is all about character, 03:57 God's character, as it is, as it were on trial, 04:01 how He clears His name of false charges. 04:04 And the great controversy 04:06 is all about choice, our choice, 04:08 your choice at home in this battle 04:10 who we're going to serve. 04:11 So let's look at our memory. 04:13 Memory text, we're in Revelation 12:17, 04:18 and we'll read it together, 04:19 and you at home can join with us. 04:21 Revelation 12:17, 04:26 "And the dragon was enraged with the women 04:29 and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, 04:34 who keep the commandments of God 04:36 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 04:39 Amen. 04:41 I think I learned that in King James. 04:42 So you, kind of, want to say the remnant of her seed... 04:44 Yeah. Yeah. 04:46 Instead of the rest of her offspring. 04:48 On Sunday, we look at the fall of a perfect being. 04:50 And, you know, I like stories. 04:52 I like reading stories, I like writing stories. 04:55 And all good stories have three parts, 04:58 a beginning, a middle, and an end. 05:03 And you think about this thing called The Great Controversy. 05:07 In the beginning of the great controversy, 05:09 began with war in heaven. 05:11 And we'll look at that, how sin originated in heaven 05:15 and how sin originated on earth. 05:17 The middle of this whole battle is you, and I, 05:21 and the decisions that we make. 05:23 All throughout history, 05:24 the great controversy has been raging, 05:27 you could say, and the decisions we make 05:29 either for or against Jesus Christ. 05:31 But we know the ending of the great controversy 05:34 and what is that ending, Mr. Danny? 05:35 You always say, "We read the back of the book." 05:37 Read the back of the book and we win. 05:40 Praise the Lord. 05:41 And so we know that is how it's going to end. 05:43 So Sunday, I look at the fall of a perfect being. 05:46 We're going to look at two different scriptures, 05:48 Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. 05:50 So turn in your Bibles to Ezekiel 28, 05:53 we're going to start there. 05:55 Ezekiel 28:1, 05:59 "The Word of the Lord came to me again, 06:00 saying, 'Son of man, say to the Prince of Tyre...'" 06:05 Now prince in Hebrew means leader, ruler, or prince. 06:10 And the literal Prince of Tyre, 06:12 now we can have another application to this 06:14 and when we get to verse 11, there's going to be 06:16 a supernatural application to this. 06:18 But the literal Prince of Tyre at the time 06:21 when Ezekiel wrote was probably Ithobaal III. 06:25 And he was known for his wisdom. 06:28 We see that in verse 3, 06:30 "Behold, you are wiser than Daniel. 06:33 There is no secret that can be hidden from you." 06:36 He was also known for his wealth. 06:38 We see that in the next verse, 06:41 "With your wisdom and your understanding, 06:43 you have gained riches for yourself 06:45 and gathered gold and silver into your treasure." 06:48 He was also known for his pride. 06:51 We see that in the next verse, 06:53 "By your great wisdom and trade, 06:54 you have increased your riches and your heart is lifted up 06:58 because of your riches." 07:00 He was also known for his claim to be divine. 07:04 We see that in verse 2, 07:06 "Because your heart is lifted up," 07:08 there is that pride again, "and you say, 'I'm a God, 07:12 I sit in the seat of gods in the midst of the seas.' 07:17 Yet, you are a man and not a God 07:20 though you set your heart as the heart of a God." 07:22 And we see the end of him in verse 8, 07:25 it says, "He would be thrown down to the pit and slain, 07:29 shall die the death of the slain." 07:31 Now we look again, instead of the Prince of Tyre, 07:35 now the Bible shifts in verse 11 07:36 and we look at the King of Tyre. 07:39 Let's look at that. 07:41 Ezekiel 28:11, 07:44 "Moreover, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, 07:47 'Son of man, take up a lamentation 07:49 for the King of Tyre."' 07:52 Now we are shifting from an earthly ruler, 07:55 and it's almost as if the curtain is pulled behind 07:58 and we are taking a look into heaven as it were. 08:02 And let's look at the qualities of this being, 08:05 this angelic being. 08:07 We see this in verse 2, "Thus says the Lord God, 08:10 'You were the seal of perfection, 08:13 full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 08:16 You were in Eden, the garden of God. 08:18 Every precious stone was your covering.'" 08:22 And it goes on with what the stones were. 08:24 "The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes 08:27 was prepared for you on the day you were created." 08:30 So we know this being was perfect, 08:33 he possessed wisdom, he had beauty, 08:36 he had status, he had musical ability, 08:40 and we also know, Shelly, he was created 08:44 'cause it said, "It was prepared for you 08:45 in the day you were created." 08:48 Now, let's look more, verse 14 tells us more about him. 08:52 "You were anointed cherub." 08:54 So now we know he is an angel. 08:56 "You were anointed cherub who covers." 08:59 In Hebrew, the word for "covers" 09:00 means to overshadow, to screen, or to cover. 09:04 So this angel was almost right next to God Himself 09:09 and was covering or screening the glory of God 09:14 from the other angels. 09:15 So this is a high angel that we're talking about here, 09:18 an exalted angel. 09:21 It says, "I established you, 09:23 you were on the holy mountain of God. 09:25 You walked back and forth 09:27 in the midst of the fiery stones." 09:29 In the very presence of God. 09:32 "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created," 09:36 this angelic being was perfect, 09:39 "till iniquity was found in you." 09:45 The word for "iniquity" in Hebrew means injustice. 09:49 So this being began to harbor in his heart 09:55 a false belief that God wasn't just. 09:58 And then he started to spread as it were this false belief. 10:02 You know, anything you believe really strongly, 10:04 you start to disseminate. 10:06 You start to share with someone else. 10:08 If you believe in something passionately enough, 10:11 you start to share it. 10:12 And this being did that. 10:14 In verse 16, "By the abundance of your trading, 10:17 you became filled with violence within." 10:20 Now if I read that, I just think, 10:21 "Okay, he traded." 10:23 But what it really means is to go about from one to another 10:27 trading in goods or words. 10:31 Slander, you could take the word "slander" 10:34 if you look at it in the Hebrew. 10:36 So this being, this created being 10:38 who is right next to God Himself, 10:41 he began to go from one person to the next 10:44 starting to slander the character of God. 10:48 And pretty soon, it got a little more heated. 10:51 We see that in Revelation 12 10:53 and I know others will be touching on that, 10:55 the war that broke out in heaven over this. 10:59 And then it says, "Therefore I cast you as a profane thing 11:02 out of the mountain of God. 11:04 I destroyed you, O covering cherub, 11:06 from the midst of the fiery stones." 11:08 So this angel was cast out of heaven. 11:13 And why did that take place? 11:14 Let's look in our remaining time in Isaiah 14. 11:19 We'll jump back a couple of chapters 11:22 to Isaiah 14. 11:27 Now this being is mentioned outright 11:29 in Isaiah 14 as Lucifer. 11:31 It says, "How you are fallen from heaven, 11:33 O Lucifer, son of the morning. 11:37 How you are cut down to the ground, 11:39 you who weakened the nations." 11:42 And then it goes on with five "I" statements as it were. 11:46 And we see the sin of Lucifer 11:48 from the very beginning was pride. 11:51 And I came up with five P's 11:53 that he's guilty of and they all... 11:55 It's all related to pride. 11:57 It is position, power, 12:00 preeminence, prestige, and peer. 12:03 And we'll unpack that here. That's good. 12:06 The five P's of pride that we see in Satan. 12:10 Verse 13, we're in Isaiah 14:13, 12:14 "You have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into heaven."' 12:17 That's number one. 12:18 "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." 12:22 That's number two. 12:23 "I will sit on the Mount of the Congregation 12:25 on the farthest sides of the North." 12:27 Remember, whoever was on the north was God. 12:30 So he wanted that place. 12:31 Number four, "I will ascend 12:33 above the heights of the clouds." 12:35 Remember, clouds represented the Shekinah Glory 12:38 and the tabernacle when the cloud came down, 12:40 the presence of the Lord came down and descended. 12:43 So he wanted the glory that was given to God. 12:47 And then, "I will be like the Most High." 12:49 So those five I's we'll see, "I will ascend into heaven." 12:54 He wanted position. "I will occupy heaven." 12:58 Number two, "I will exalt my throne 13:00 above the stars of God." 13:02 The stars meaning the angels, he wanted power. 13:05 "I will exercise authority." 13:08 Number three, "I will sit on the Mount of the Congregation 13:10 on the sides of the north. 13:13 I will have all in subjection to me." 13:16 That's preeminence, he wanted to be preeminent. 13:20 Number four, "I will ascend 13:22 above the heights of the clouds." 13:24 Remember, clouds represented that glory. 13:27 He wanted prestige. 13:28 He wanted to possess God's glory for himself. 13:32 And then number five, "I will be like the Most High. 13:35 I will be like God." 13:38 He wanted to be an equal with God, 13:41 to be considered a peer with God. 13:44 Now how sin began in the beginning, 13:48 I have no idea. 13:49 You know, to even understand how a perfect being entertained 13:54 thoughts of the injustice of God 13:56 and then began to spread that as slander, 13:58 that's something I don't even know 14:00 if the human mind can comprehend. 14:02 But we know that it originated in heaven 14:06 and then it came down to the earth. 14:07 And, Pastor CA, 14:09 you have that with the origin of sin here on earth. 14:11 Indeed. Thank you, Jill. 14:13 Well done. Beautiful. 14:16 On Monday, we take a look at more than a head knowledge. 14:20 And this is almost a parenthetical insert 14:23 into this process. 14:25 But it is extremely necessary 14:28 because that which we see at the beginning in Eden, 14:34 we also see rearing its head in the church today. 14:38 As we come closer to the second coming of Christ, 14:42 what is evident is that a head knowledge of these things 14:47 will not suffice, 14:49 one, to keep us away from sin 14:52 but two, to put us in a position 14:55 where we can be faithful to the Word of God. 14:57 Amen. 14:59 So in Eden, we see at the beginning of time 15:03 that a head knowledge was not sufficient. 15:06 And as we approach the coming of the Lord, 15:08 again, a head knowledge will not be sufficient. 15:12 The lesson says 15:14 though we cannot explain why evil arose, 15:17 since no justification for it exists, 15:19 scripture reveals that it began in the heart of Lucifer, 15:23 as you said, Jill, in heaven. 15:29 So what is sin? 15:31 What is this thing that began 15:34 in the very presence of God in heaven? 15:37 Well, the standard and perhaps the most basic definition 15:40 is 1 John 3:4, 15:43 "Sin is a transgression of the law." 15:46 Yes. 15:47 Hamartia missing the mark is anomia in the Greek, 15:52 which is lawlessness. 15:54 And that's a pretty good place to start. 15:57 Douglas Cooper in his book "Living God's Love" 15:59 says that "Sin," 16:01 and he's talking about individual sin in our lives, 16:03 "is really a failure to love God supremely." 16:06 Whenever you determine to do something that's against God, 16:10 you are saying in effect, 16:11 "I love that more than I love God." 16:14 And he says, "All sin," all individual sin, 16:17 "is really a manifestation of your love of that thing 16:20 more than you love God." 16:22 Because if you love God more, you serve God. 16:25 And we kind of see this in what happened in Eden. 16:30 Sin to my mind, I'm going to toss the word in here, 16:31 is an interloper. 16:34 Now, what is an interloper? 16:35 An interloper is a person or thing that is exerted, 16:39 inserted into a place where it does not belong 16:44 and is not wanted. 16:46 Okay. That's sin. 16:47 It doesn't belong here and surely isn't wanted. 16:49 Amen? Okay. 16:50 Even though we practice that process out, 16:52 I'm at war with myself, 16:53 "I don't want it but I'll do it." 16:55 So it doesn't belong here 16:57 and we've been wrestling with this for 7000 years. 16:59 And praise God, soon that wrestling will be over. 17:03 The lesson alludes to... 17:05 And I want to take a moment just to read this 17:06 and it's going to take a little bit of my time 17:08 but I think this is very important, 17:09 Great Controversy in The Origin of Sin, 17:12 I'm beginning at page 492. 17:15 And I think this is something 17:17 that we can take to our classes. 17:18 Ellen White says this, 17:20 "To many minds, the origin of sin, 17:23 and the reason for its existence 17:25 are a source of great perplexity. 17:28 They see the work of evil 17:30 with its terrible results of war and desolation, 17:33 and they question, 17:34 'How all this can exist under the sovereignty of one, 17:39 who is infinite in wisdom, 17:41 infinite in power and in love?'" 17:44 So how can a God of love 17:46 countenance this thing in His universe? 17:48 Here is a mystery of which we can find no explanation. 17:53 "There are those who in their enquiries 17:55 concerning the existence of sin, 17:57 endeavored to search into that 17:58 which God has never revealed. 18:01 Hence they find no solution for their difficulties 18:04 as such are activated 18:05 by a disposition of doubt and Cavil." 18:09 Now I have to go back and find out what Cavil, 18:10 c-a-v-i-l 'cause that has, sort of, 18:12 slipped from the English language. 18:14 Caviling means, petty and unnecessary objections. 18:17 Okay. Petty and unnecessary. 18:20 So there are some people who pick at stuff that God says 18:25 leave it alone, don't pick at that, 18:27 leave it and it's like so you keep picking at it, 18:29 picking at it, leave it alone, that's caviling. 18:32 "They seize upon this as an excuse 18:35 for rejecting the holy words of writ." 18:37 Since they cannot understand it, 18:39 they reject it. 18:41 "It is impossible to explain the origin of sin 18:44 so as to give a reason for its existence." 18:47 You cannot explain it. 18:49 "Sin is an intruder," is the word to use, 18:53 "for whose presence no reason can be given. 18:57 It is mysterious, unaccountable, 19:00 to excuse it is to defend it. 19:03 Could excuse for it be found 19:06 or cause be shown for its existence, 19:09 it would cease to be sin." 19:12 Our only definition of sin 19:13 is that given by the Word of God. 19:16 "It is the transgression of the law. 19:19 It is the outworking of a principle at war 19:25 with the great law of love 19:27 which is the foundation of the divine government." 19:32 That's the best we can do. 19:34 Now the lesson asks as we look at how sin now comes to earth. 19:40 To discuss the culpability of Adam and Eve 19:44 in the spreading of sin to the earth. 19:47 Do they have culpability? 19:49 Well, the answer is yes. Absolutely. 19:51 Because Eve knew, 19:54 and this is where this idea of head knowledge 19:57 and heart knowledge comes. 19:58 Eve knew what God wanted. 20:01 And the reason we know she knew 20:05 is because of what she said to Satan. 20:08 Satan said, "Has God not said 20:10 that you're not supposed to eat?" 20:13 She said, "Yeah, God has told us." 20:15 She talked with Satan, 20:17 she explained to him what God had. 20:19 So we go to Genesis 3:1-7. 20:24 I just want to look at what Eve said, I'm in Genesis 3, 20:29 Genesis 3. 20:30 Here we are, and look at verse 2. 20:35 Genesis 3:2, "And the woman said to the serpent," 20:38 Eve speaking, "we may eat the fruit of the trees 20:43 of the garden, 20:44 but of the fruit of the tree 20:45 which is in the midst of the garden, 20:47 God has said, 'You shall not eat of it 20:50 nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 20:52 So she was fully conversant with God's prohibitions 20:55 as to that tree and that fruit. 20:57 She knew it, she knew it well enough 20:59 so that she could repeat it to Satan 21:00 when she was questioned. 21:02 So she is culpable 21:03 because she knows in her head what God has said. 21:08 And she knows it enough to explain it. 21:11 So Satan says, 21:12 "Well, you shall not surely die." 21:15 This says to me, ladies and gentlemen, 21:19 head knowledge is not enough. 21:21 That's right. 21:23 Because God said this, Satan said this, 21:26 and they chose to go with Satan having a full knowledge 21:31 of what God's requirements were and what His request was. 21:36 So this is very, very important. 21:38 One, spiritual things are especially discerned. 21:43 1 Corinthians 8 says, "Knowledge puffs up." 21:46 It's not enough just to know in your head, 21:50 you've got to know in your heart. 21:52 Thank you. You've got to feed... 21:54 And particularly in these last days 21:55 where everything that you believe as a Christian 21:59 is going to be tested. 22:00 Do not think you will skate into heaven, 22:04 untried and untested. 22:06 So it is not enough to have the 2300 days in your head. 22:11 It's not enough to know about vegetarianism in your head. 22:15 It's not enough to even know that Jesus died on the cross 22:18 for you in your head, 22:20 you've got to know it in your heart. 22:21 It's got to be part of who you are and what you believe 22:24 because that will be tested. 22:28 So we have Matthew 15:8 22:32 which quotes directly from Isaiah 29:13, 22:36 "These people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, 22:38 and honoreth me with their lips 22:40 but their hearts are far from Me." 22:42 Again, they can talk the talk, 22:45 maybe even give a pretty good Bible study, 22:47 but there's a disconnect 22:49 as far as what's going on in my heart 22:52 and in the heart of God. 22:53 It's got to be more than something 22:54 that comes out of my mouth. 22:56 It's got to come from my heart. 22:59 In Acts 8, we've got this... 23:02 We meet Simon the Sorcerer, 23:05 Simon the Sorcerer. 23:06 And the Bible says in verse 11, 23:08 he's been a sorcerer for a long time, 23:09 serving the devil a long, long time. 23:12 But verse 13 tells us Simon also believed. 23:17 So he's got it in his head, he believes. 23:21 Simon saw the saints, Danny, putting their hands on people 23:25 and people are getting the Holy Ghost 23:26 and he said, "Whoo, I like that." 23:29 Yeah, that's a good thing. I think I want some of that. 23:31 "Because listen, I got a couple bucks. 23:33 Let me buy some of that Holy Spirit from you." 23:35 Okay. 23:37 So he believes, and he wants what he sees 23:40 but the heart connection is not there. 23:43 And he had to be told, 23:46 "What you're asking not only is it not right, it's not godly. 23:51 You can't buy the Holy Spirit with money. 23:53 You don't have enough cash to buy the Holy Spirit. 23:56 Your bank account isn't deep enough to buy the Holy Spirit. 23:58 You don't use the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit uses you." 24:01 That's right. Okay. 24:02 So we have this New Testament example now 24:04 of a person who's got the head knowledge. 24:07 He's watching, he's watching the people being saved 24:09 and he likes that. 24:10 But he figures this, that's a cash kind of a deal, 24:13 and he's being told, "No, that's not what we do here. 24:17 You've got to have this thing in your heart. 24:18 And if it comes from your heart, 24:20 then the power will be evident in your life." 24:25 So again, we do not control the Holy Spirit, 24:30 the Holy Spirit controls us. 24:33 The truth is, the secret to serving God has always been, 24:39 is now, and will always be surrender. 24:44 Amen. The secret is surrender. 24:46 And the power comes from a surrendered life. 24:49 We don't use the Holy Spirit. 24:51 The Holy Spirit is pleased to use us 24:55 as we surrender to Him. 24:57 Amen. Thank you. 24:58 Well, I've learned a lot so far. 25:00 How about you? 25:01 I feel a little bit like a duck out of water 25:03 'cause, you know, I made all of these notes and said, 25:06 maybe mine is on war in heaven. 25:08 And so Revelation 12:1-17, do I break all of this down, 25:14 you know, try to go through all of this, 25:16 do I leave that to the preachers, 25:17 what do I do. 25:19 But what the Lord impressed me the other day, 25:21 I was talking to a group of young people. 25:23 And they asked me some questions and I said, 25:25 "Maybe this is what we should talk about today, 25:28 the young people." 25:29 When we were talking about war in heaven, 25:32 so first of all, they said, 25:33 "Well, why would there be war in heaven?" 25:35 I mean, why... 25:36 If God is God, and maybe you've thought about it 25:39 and I would be young person, I've thought about it. 25:42 "If God is God, why would He create an individual 25:48 that would turn on Him?" 25:49 That basically, can't a perfect God create a perfect being 25:54 because He said he was perfect, 25:56 but when we look at the whole picture, 25:58 of course, now we see through a glass darkly 26:00 but then face to face, 26:01 but when we look at the whole picture of the human race 26:04 and of God, God had to... 26:07 There's some things He had to do. 26:09 He had to create beings 26:13 that would serve Him out of love. 26:15 Thank you. 26:17 Otherwise, just create a bunch of robots. 26:19 Otherwise, just have people, create them as slaves, 26:24 and say, "You worship me. 26:26 You praise me." I had a friend one time. 26:28 He said to me, "How can you serve God 26:32 when He's so selfish?" 26:34 I said, "Well, how's God selfish?" 26:35 "He demands that we praise Him." 26:37 He said, "What if I went around demanding everybody praise me, 26:40 they would tell me, I was crazy, narcissistic, 26:42 I'm everything. 26:44 And why can God do that?" 26:46 And I had to think about it for a common sense standpoint 26:50 and spiritually, I had to think about it. 26:52 And all of a sudden it really hit me, 26:54 and over the years I've seen it, 26:57 God inhabits the praises of His people. 27:00 What God did is, He created a beings 27:03 even though they were in heaven knowing Satan would rebel 27:08 and Satan would be cast out to this earth, 27:10 and it says as you already covered, 27:12 he drew a third of the angels with him. 27:16 But he placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 27:19 God knew that Adam and Eve would fall. 27:21 So this war in heaven, that's the title of ours that 27:26 "War in Heaven," how does this even happen. 27:28 God and His love for fallen man allowed Satan to do this. 27:32 Because God doesn't demand praise, 27:35 God is perfect. 27:36 God is love and God is everlasting. 27:38 He says, "I am the way the truth and the life." 27:41 So without the character of God, 27:45 we will all die. 27:46 His creation would die. 27:48 So the Lord gives us the Bible, 27:51 He gives us the Ten Commandments 27:53 so to see what not to do. 27:56 And there are ten promises, you know, every one of these, 28:00 I promise you, if you submit and commit your life to Me 28:03 that you won't want to commit adultery. 28:05 I promise you, you won't want to steal, 28:07 you won't want to kill, 28:09 you won't want to lie and slander. 28:10 All of these things, God has said, 28:12 "I'm going to make a way out." 28:14 So what He did in His love for fallen men, 28:17 and Revelation is the revealing of Christ. 28:20 And I love it because it shows His grace, and His love, 28:23 and His mercy. 28:25 So it reveals to us that every bit of this, 28:28 and you look at the timelines 28:29 with history of Daniel and Revelation, 28:31 none of this is by accident, 28:33 none of it is by happenstance. 28:35 God has been in control from the very beginning, 28:38 and He will be, and always will be in the control. 28:40 "I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning, 28:42 the end, the first and the last." 28:44 So that's who we're serving. 28:45 So in your life today, 28:47 when you submit and commit your life to Jesus, 28:49 you know that God is in control. 28:51 So the war in heaven, God allowed that to happen. 28:54 Now it plays out on earth. 28:56 And we have basically, 28:57 every story has some characters, 28:59 so we have a dragon, 29:02 sounds scary, we have a woman, right? 29:06 We have a man-child. 29:08 And so this controversy that started in heaven, 29:11 God says, "I'm going to let it play out. 29:13 All of the unfallen worlds can watch what happens 29:16 when people choose sin." 29:19 So He's not there saying, "Praise me. 29:22 I need praise. I need anything." 29:23 He's telling us, I'm going to... 29:25 There is rules, My character is perfect, 29:29 and in order for you to live forever, 29:31 you can't get outside that, the sin that Satan did. 29:35 So in order for you to understand what sin is, 29:40 I'm going to allow this, 29:42 we're like a theater watching all that goes on, 29:44 I m going to let the unfallen world see this, 29:47 so that they will understand 29:48 what happens when sin comes in to this earth. 29:53 So now we have... What am I going to do? 29:56 How do I get these people, and repair what I've created, 30:03 and bring it back into the perfect character 30:06 in alignment with My character?" 30:08 Ah, the plan of salvation. 30:10 God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. 30:13 Now they form a plan. 30:15 Think about this love, 30:17 to do all of that when He could easily destroy us 30:20 or could have just created us 30:22 to serve Him out of fear, 30:25 but He said, "We're going to create a plan of salvation 30:28 that says this, 'I love you so much. 30:31 I'm going to come as one of you. 30:35 I'm going to be born as a child on this earth 30:41 in the flesh, half divine, half flesh."' 30:45 Right? "I'm going to do this. 30:47 And then I'm going to show 30:49 that it is possible to live a sinless life. 30:53 But then I'm going to shed My blood 30:54 on the cross of Calvary as an atonement for your sin. 30:59 So when you fail 31:00 because you are flesh, and you are weak, 31:03 and the devil is a great deceiver, 31:04 he's out to steal, kill, and to destroy. 31:07 He's the father of lies. 31:09 So when you do fail and when you fall, 31:13 you can come to Me when you're really sorry and say, 31:16 "Lord, please forgive me." 31:17 He says, "I'm faithful and just to forgive you from your sins 31:21 and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness." 31:24 So we have such a loving God 31:27 that now we have a plan of salvation, 31:29 a plan of escape. 31:30 Isn't that amazing that God would give us a plan of escape 31:34 that we now don't have to be... 31:36 See everyone on this earth is born, 31:38 we have a terminal illness, right? 31:40 No matter what, we are all happy when we're born, 31:43 we came in with no teeth and no hair and we go out, 31:46 most of us no teeth and no hair, 31:48 and it's just kind of... 31:50 That's the way of life. 31:52 But God says, "I want you to live forever." 31:55 So all of this, the war in heaven 31:57 has really started out a spiritual war 32:00 but it ends up being physical on this earth 32:02 and we struggle all the time 32:04 because we fight not against flesh and blood 32:06 but powers and principalities. 32:09 But here's the thing, God wins in the end. 32:11 We talked about it. 32:13 In heaven, Satan was kicked out. 32:14 So he came to earth and he said, Satan says, 32:17 "Okay, I'm the prince of this earth. 32:18 I'm going to win this battle." 32:20 So he goes to Eve, 32:21 as you talked about, and Eve gave in. 32:25 Satan says, "There is one for me." 32:28 So now, the man-child in the story 32:31 representing a church, 32:33 Jesus is born on this earth and the dragon says, 32:38 "I'm going to make war and I'm going to kill him. 32:41 I'm going to destroy him 32:42 because I know what's going to happen." 32:45 But he's born. 32:47 And though the devil is the beast power, 32:51 he uses other agencies and he always has. 32:55 In this case, King Herod. 32:56 So they made a plan, "I'm going to destroy that Christ Child." 33:00 Well, it didn't happen. 33:02 So Satan lost that one. 33:03 Then the irreversible loss for Satan was at the cross. 33:08 Absolutely. 33:09 When Jesus gave His shed blood on the cross of Calvary, 33:12 the serpent's head was crushed, 33:14 it talks about it in Genesis, was crushed. 33:17 Satan can't rebound from that, he can't win any other battles. 33:22 It's literally impossible to do so. 33:25 So you have the woman, who's the true church, 33:28 and now what happens, Satan says, 33:31 "So I'm going to make war with the remnant of God's seed. 33:34 I'm going to destroy them." 33:37 But God made a place. 33:39 And so when Satan attacks them, they spread out. 33:42 So all of a sudden, we talk about, when we go, 33:44 I think it's 14, 15, and 16, that the earth opened up 33:48 and helped the woman. 33:49 So here you have all of these people 33:51 that for hundreds of years, 33:53 they were hiding during the Dark Ages, 33:55 when the papacy was in charge killing millions of people. 33:58 So for all of these years, they went into hiding, 34:00 some in the mountains of Europe, 34:02 some in Africa, some even in Asia. 34:06 But then about the time that the deadly wound, 34:09 the beast receives in 1798, 34:12 America became a nation in 1776. 34:16 So what you have is the earth opened up and helped the woman. 34:20 It's showing the discovery of America. 34:23 God knew this thousands of years ago. 34:25 He didn't let the... 34:26 The Bible writers didn't write it 34:28 because the papacy didn't want to, 34:30 they wouldn't put it in the Bible, they'd have destroyed. 34:32 So that's why all the symbols, that's why the beast, 34:34 the power, the seven, you know, the horns and all these, 34:38 I call it scary monsters that are out there, 34:41 it's all symbolic. 34:42 But it's open now for a time, these books have been opened. 34:46 So what happens is in the very end, 34:50 the earth helps the woman, United States of America, 34:55 where people can come and worship God in freedom 34:58 without fear of persecution. 35:00 So now Satan is angry. 35:02 So what has he got to do? 35:03 He says, "I have to destroy these people 35:05 because once again, once again they're out in freedom 35:12 and they can spread truth." 35:13 So Satan through his deception, he's done away, 35:16 tries to do away with the Sabbath, 35:19 the law of God, 35:20 he's tried to do with the state of the dead, 35:21 confused people on all of these things. 35:24 And yet God says, "No, I have a people," 35:29 and Satan makes war with the remnant church, 35:32 but God says, "I have a people 35:33 who love not their lives unto death." 35:36 So you cannot be a silent Christian. 35:39 Amen. You cannot be. 35:41 It says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb," 35:44 that we just talked about, 35:45 "and the word of their testimony." 35:46 Don't think you can be a silent Christian 35:49 because the word... 35:50 You've got to testify of Jesus and what He has done for you. 35:56 Jill, as you said, the end of the story is when we submit 36:00 and commit our lives to Jesus, 36:01 we read the back of the book. 36:03 Satan is done away with forever, 36:05 root nor branch. 36:07 Malachi says, "It's done away, 36:08 and the righteous, those who accept this, 36:12 Jesus stayed close to the cross of Calvary, 36:16 inherit eternal life." 36:17 Amen. 36:19 Well, Danny, you took us all the way from heaven to the end. 36:22 So you did a beautiful job of that. 36:24 Thank you so much. You know, I've got Wednesday. 36:27 And on Wednesday, 36:29 I get to deal with one of the greatest promises 36:32 in the Word of God, 36:33 even the title of this is 36:35 "With you always, even to the end." 36:37 What an incredible promise we have in Matthew 28. 36:42 Now I want to say this, 36:44 we are talking about the great controversy. 36:47 That's what we're looking at this week 36:49 is that great controversy. 36:51 Controversy, that's war, isn't it? 36:53 That's conflict between two... 36:56 So is there a great controversy going on right now? 36:59 Well, I want to center in on one small portion of it, 37:03 and I want to say this, "History repeats itself." 37:05 Have you all ever heard that? Absolutely. 37:07 History repeats itself. 37:09 How many of you want to go to heaven? 37:11 How many of you want the Lord to return? 37:13 Amen. All right. 37:14 Are things pretty bad now in the world? 37:16 Yes. 37:17 I've got news for you, 37:19 things are going to get a whole lot worse, 37:21 but then they're going to get a whole lot better. 37:23 So they are going to get a whole lot worse 37:25 before they get better 37:26 but, oh, they're going to get better. 37:27 The Book of Revelation foretold... 37:29 And I want you to go to Revelation. 37:31 We're going to look at two scriptures 37:32 in Revelation 12. 37:34 The Book of Revelation foretold 37:35 the persecution that God's people 37:38 would face through a good portion of church history. 37:42 The 1260 prophetic days of Revelation 12:6 37:47 point to 1260 years of persecution 37:50 against the church. 37:52 Do we have in history where that took place? 37:54 Yup. 37:56 I'm going to read a portion out of The Great Controversy. 38:00 Now, I would encourage everybody 38:02 to get a copy of that book. 38:03 If you don't have one, hey, we've got them here at 3ABN, 38:06 you call our call center 38:08 and we will make one available to you absolutely free. 38:11 But let me read this to you. 38:13 It's on page 440, Sister White tells us, 38:16 "These persecutions beginning 38:20 with narrow about the time of the martyrdom of Paul 38:23 continued with greater or less fury for centuries." 38:27 Have you read the Foxe's Book of Martyrs? 38:30 "Do we know the great controversy, 38:32 the great things that were done in the name of Christianity?" 38:36 So horrendous. 38:38 "Christians were falsely accused 38:40 of the most dreadful crimes 38:42 and declared to be the cause of great calamities, 38:45 famines, pestilence, and earthquakes. 38:48 As they became the objects of popular hatred 38:51 and suspicion, and former stood ready 38:54 for the sake of gain to betray the innocent. 38:57 They were condemned as rebels 38:59 against the empire as foes of religion 39:03 and pest to society. 39:05 Great numbers were thrown to wild beast 39:09 and burned alive in the amphitheaters." 39:12 Now here is what we read in Revelation 12, 39:15 I've got you in Revelation 12, 39:18 while this persecution was going on, 39:21 look what the Word of God says. 39:23 Revelation 12:6, 39:27 "Then the woman fled into the wilderness," 39:29 Danny covered this, 39:30 "where she has a place prepared by God 39:34 that they should feed her there 1260 days." 39:39 Now there was a place prepared for the woman. 39:41 Now, Danny, what's the woman? 39:43 That woman is a true church. The true church, okay. 39:46 So this is saying that a lot of Christians 39:50 were persecuted during this time 39:52 but y'all, God has always had a remnant people. 39:56 That He has always kept that remnant. 39:59 "The church was taken care off in the wilderness 40:03 from all of those forces who were trying." 40:05 Now remember, I'm talking about history repeating itself. 40:10 Look at Revelation 12:14, 40:13 "But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle 40:16 that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, 40:19 where she is nourished for a time, 40:21 and times, and half a time, 40:23 from the presence of the serpent." 40:26 That great remnant, 40:28 and do we know that in the end times, 40:31 there is going to be great tribulation? 40:35 And do we know, oh, we want to be in that 40:40 overcoming group of believers? 40:41 Amen. 40:43 But there is that great tribulation. 40:47 But remember the title of this lesson that I have today, 40:52 there is a great tribulation. 40:54 The church is going to have to go through, 40:56 history will repeat itself. 40:59 But we've got these great promises, 41:02 which is, "I will be with you always." 41:05 Now just as surely as there was a place 41:11 prepared in the beginning, 41:15 in this that we just read, 41:17 during all of that martyrdom 41:19 that has taken place in our history, 41:22 there is a place prepared for God's end-time people, 41:26 just assuredly, history repeating itself. 41:29 And here is what Jesus said 41:32 just before He returned to heaven, 41:34 that's Matthew 28:20, 41:38 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, 41:43 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 41:45 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 41:47 Teaching them to observe all things 41:50 that I have commanded you and, lo, 41:53 I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 41:56 So are you going to walk through anything 41:59 that the Lord isn't going to be right there with you, 42:01 walking through it with you? 42:03 Romans... 42:05 Go to Romans now, 42:06 we're going to look in Romans 8, 42:07 going to look at three verses. 42:09 Romans 8:31, "What then shall we say to these things? 42:15 If God be for us, who can be against us?" 42:20 All right, Romans 8:35, and, I like this, 42:24 "Who shall or what shall separate us 42:28 from the love of Christ? 42:30 Shall tribulation, great tribulation, or distress, 42:35 or persecution, or famine, 42:38 or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" 42:41 Now in the New King James version, 42:43 it says, "Yet in all these things," 42:46 verse 37, "we are more than conquerors 42:49 through Him who loved us." 42:50 But here's what the King James version says 42:53 when the question is asked, 42:55 "What shall separate us from the love of Christ? 42:58 It says, "Shall all of these things nakedness, persecution, 43:02 famine, peril, or sword?" 43:04 It says nay. 43:05 Nothing, Danny, can separate us from Him. 43:08 "No, yet in all these things, we are the conquerors." 43:13 We are more than conquerors. 43:14 We are the overcomers. 43:16 We've read the end of the book. 43:17 We know that no matter what we have to walk through, 43:20 He will never leave us, He will never forsake us. 43:23 "He will go through nothing 43:26 but our own rebellion and disobedience 43:31 is able to separate us from the God." 43:33 Do I believe in once saved always saved, 43:35 do you know what I do, 43:37 only under these conditions 43:39 that you walk up rightly before God. 43:41 But if you make a choice that you want to walk away from God, 43:46 yes, you can, you can turn loose of it. 43:52 "Whether now or in the end times, 43:54 nothing can separate us from the love of our Savior. 43:57 That doesn't mean that we're spared pain, 44:00 trials, or even death." 44:02 Let me make this statement, 44:04 "Many who were more righteous than any of us were martyred." 44:10 They were martyred in our history past. 44:12 However, we must not be shortsighted. 44:15 This is not all there is. 44:18 I like Jeremiah 29:11, 44:21 how many of you like that scripture? 44:23 We've got a future and hope, this is now there is. 44:27 There's a future and there's a hope as we remain faithful." 44:32 Now CA said, "As we surrender to God, 44:36 as we remain faithful, and eternity is ours 44:41 in the very presence of God." 44:42 I want to end with this one scripture, 44:44 2 Timothy 4:8, 44:46 "Finally, there is laid up for me, for us, 44:49 the crown of righteousness which the Lord, 44:52 the righteous Judge, 44:54 will give to me on that day and not to me only 44:58 but also to everyone of you that love His appearing." 45:03 Thank you, Mollie Sue, history will repeat itself. 45:06 History will repeat itself. 45:07 My lesson is Thursday, The Law and the Gospel. 45:09 And as I've been listening to you all, 45:11 it just occurred to me that part of the great controversy, 45:15 there's a controversy in the Christian church, 45:17 and it is between the law and the gospel. 45:20 And what we've got to remember 45:22 is that the unifying theme of scripture is that 45:25 God is a covenant maker and a covenant keeper, 45:29 and each one of His covenants, 45:31 beginning back in Genesis 3:15 and all the way through, 45:35 each one of his covenants builds on the one before. 45:40 His covenants are progressive, 45:42 revelation of His plan of salvation. 45:46 So what my lesson asks us to do today 45:50 is to look at a few scriptures to see 45:52 how closely the law and the gospel are linked. 45:57 And, you know, the good news of the gospel is this 45:59 that Jesus Christ came to earth to destroy sin in our lives, 46:04 to reconcile us to God. 46:07 He saved us by His love, by His grace, by His mercy. 46:13 But let's look at Romans 1:18 is where we are going to begin 46:18 because this tells us something about the nature of God. 46:23 Romans 1:18, and the scripture reads... 46:28 And let me say this before you all just turn, 46:32 when you think about the law of God 46:35 and the Gospel of God, 46:36 what is the foundation of both? 46:39 God's love. God's love. 46:40 The law of God is the law of love, 46:45 and that's why it is so closely linked to the gospel, 46:49 which is His plan of salvation of love. 46:52 Okay, Romans 1:18, "For the wrath of God 46:55 is revealed from heaven against all," what? 46:59 "Ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, 47:04 who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." 47:09 Wow, I could preach on that one but we don't have time. 47:12 The main thing is that, 47:14 God's nature is one of perfection, 47:19 moral perfection. 47:20 He is sinless. 47:22 He hates sin. 47:24 You know, the Bible says that God is a consuming fire, 47:27 that fire is His love, 47:29 and sin cannot stand in the presence of God. 47:33 He abhors sin. That's good. 47:35 So what we need 47:38 is Christ as our substitute in our surety. 47:42 God is however just, 47:45 and He cannot let willful rebellion, 47:50 people who are breaking His commandments, 47:53 stubborn people, who reject His law of love, 47:57 He cannot let them go unpunished. 47:59 He can't ignore that. 48:01 So it tells us in this scripture 48:04 that those who suppress the truth and unrighteousness, 48:07 those stubborn people who distort the truth 48:11 and reject the truth will experience the wrath of God. 48:16 And that's going to happen 48:18 when He destroys sin in the end. 48:20 Now I want to jump down to Romans 3 48:23 'cause we're going to try to take this time. 48:25 I hope I have enough time to look at verses 20-26 48:30 'cause this is so amazing. 48:32 Romans 3:20-26, "Therefore by the deeds of the law, 48:37 no flesh will be justified in His sight. 48:41 For by the law is the knowledge of sin." 48:45 When Paul says therefore, it's a bridge to everything 48:48 he said all the way back to chapter one and up to now, 48:52 he's talked about the wrath of God 48:54 against ungodliness and unrighteousness. 48:57 He's talked about the righteousness of God 49:01 that we all need whether you are a gentile, 49:03 or a Jew, or a moralist, 49:06 we all need God's righteousness, 49:08 the whole world does. 49:10 And when he says, "By the deeds of the law, 49:11 no flesh will be justified." 49:14 In the Greek, there is no definite article, 49:17 "the" is missing. 49:19 So it should really read, 49:20 "By the deeds of law no flesh will be justified." 49:25 And basically, that means any law, 49:28 there is absolutely no law that can save us. 49:33 Now when we think of God's law, 49:35 it defines sin for us, does it not? 49:38 And it promises of what God will do to keep us out of sin. 49:43 It's kind of like, if you've got a backyard 49:46 and you've fenced it 49:47 and then say, "Okay, you can run in this, 49:49 you know, all of this acreage 49:50 but don't go beyond that fence." 49:53 But even though the law is defining sin, 49:59 it cannot free us from sin. 50:01 I want to read something 50:02 from the Seventh-day Adventist commentary. 50:03 I love this statement, "Righteousness by works of law 50:08 has been the basis of every false religious system..." 50:13 Very true. That's true. 50:14 "And had become the principle even of the Jewish religion. 50:19 But works performed to any law whether that law be made known 50:25 by reason, conscience, or revelation, 50:27 cannot justify a sinner before God." 50:31 That's why Christ had to die for us. 50:34 There's nothing that we can do to save ourselves, 50:37 we had to go before the Lord 50:40 for this divine provision of righteousness. 50:43 Now let's look at Romans 3:21 continuing, 50:47 "But now the righteousness of God 50:49 apart from the law is revealed, 50:51 being witnessed by the law and the prophets," 50:55 because every one of God's covenants builds on the next. 51:00 "Even the righteousness of God 51:02 through faith in Jesus Christ to all 51:05 and on all who believe, for there is no difference." 51:11 Now let me stop before we go on with the next verse. 51:15 The righteousness of God is Jesus Christ Himself. 51:18 He made Him who knew no sin, 51:20 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "To become sin for us." 51:24 And 1 Corinthians 1:30 says that, 51:26 "He is our wisdom from God, 51:28 our righteousness, our redemption, 51:30 He's our sanctification." 51:32 So the only kind of righteousness there is, 51:35 is righteousness by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. 51:40 He says, "It was witnessed by the law and the prophets." 51:44 When you think of all the sacrificial offerings 51:47 of the Old Testament, 51:49 they were bearing witness 51:51 that man had faith in a righteousness 51:55 that was not inside of himself, 51:58 it was an external righteousness. 52:01 And he had faith to believe 52:03 that God had provided this method. 52:07 And see it all depicted Jesus, 52:10 and we're going to get into that 52:11 in one of the lessons. 52:13 Everything about the sanctuary depicted Jesus. 52:17 But now he goes on and he says, in verse 23, 52:20 "All have sinned 52:22 and fallen short of the glory of God." 52:25 All of us, I don't care who you are, we've all sinned. 52:29 I don't care how great you think you are 52:30 or how bad you think we are. 52:33 If you think you're great and never sinned, you're wrong. 52:36 If you think that you're too low of the sinner, 52:39 too bad of a sinner that God can't save you, you're wrong. 52:43 But he says this, "We are justified freely by His grace 52:48 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 52:54 When you think of fallen short of the glory of God, 52:57 who is the glory of God? 52:59 Jesus Christ, He came... 53:01 We all fall short of His character, do we not? 53:05 But He says we're justified freely. 53:07 This is without having to meet any prior conditions. 53:13 We don't deserve to be justified. 53:16 And let me tell you something, 53:19 don't ever think that you're going to help God save you. 53:22 You can't have merit and grace 53:25 because we were so deep in our debt of sin 53:30 that if God hadn't sent Jesus, 53:34 we would never have been justified. 53:36 Okay, justification means that more than God has forgiven us. 53:41 It means that He has pronounced us 53:44 righteous and acceptable in His sight, 53:47 and He treats us as if we had never been sinned. 53:51 So we were bought at the price, ransom through Christ Jesus. 53:55 Let me see if I can get one more in. 53:57 Romans 3:25, 53:58 "Whom God set forth as a propitiation 54:01 by His blood through faith, 54:03 to demonstrate His righteousness 54:04 because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins 54:07 that were previously committed 54:09 to demonstrate at the present time, 54:12 His righteousness that God might be both the just 54:16 and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." 54:20 God set forth a propitiation. 54:24 When you think of the Ark of the Covenant... 54:26 Yes. 54:27 What was over the ark? 54:28 I mean, inside the ark were the Ten Commandments, 54:31 above the ark was the mercy seat. 54:33 In the Septuagint, 54:35 when they translated mercy seat, 54:39 the Septuagint was the Greek, 54:41 green bring of the Old Testament. 54:43 When they transferred that into Greek, 54:48 the word they used for mercy seat 54:50 was the place of propitiation. 54:52 Jesus is our propitiation. Amen. 54:57 So the good news 55:00 is that mercy triumphs law. 55:05 The good news is that although we have all sinned, 55:09 that we will be forgiven through faith in Christ Jesus. 55:14 And even better news 55:16 is that He gives us the power to obey the law. 55:19 So there's just one thing 55:21 I want to add and I know our time is running out, 55:25 but obedience to the law is not legalism. 55:29 Obedience to the law 55:31 is merely the outgrowth of our love for God 55:36 that we are motivated by salvation, 55:39 by our love to serve Him and obey Him. 55:42 Amen. Thank you so much each one of you. 55:44 What an incredible God we serve. 55:46 In the midst of this great controversy, 55:48 in the midst of the sin, He sent Jesus, fully human, 55:52 fully divine to be the perfect life, 55:55 the perfect sacrifice for you and for me. 55:57 We just have a couple moments left. 55:59 Let's take a few seconds apiece 56:00 and share a closing thought on your day. 56:03 Pastor CA? 56:05 Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, 56:09 which is also in Christ Jesus." 56:11 Not just in here but in here, 56:14 so that you can live out 56:16 the will and way of God in your own life. 56:20 The warning message of the three angels 56:22 is a revelation of God's love for fallen man and a way out. 56:28 Amen. 56:29 No matter what circumstance or situation 56:31 you find yourself in, 56:32 just know this, He will never leave you, 56:34 He'll never forsake you, 56:36 He's always with you even until the end. 56:39 I would think Romans 6:16, 56:41 it says, "Essentially, we are agents of free will 56:44 but we are slaves to whom we obey. 56:47 Either we obey sin leading to death 56:50 or we obey the obedience to God 56:55 which leads to righteousness." 56:56 Amen, thank you all so much for sharing from your heart, 56:59 from the Word of God, and from your experience, 57:01 it's a blessing. 57:03 And we want to thank you for joining us as well at home. 57:06 I want to close with the last paragraph 57:09 from the book The Great Controversy. 57:11 This tells us how the conflict ends. 57:13 "The Great Controversy is ended. 57:15 Sin and sinners are no more. 57:19 The entire universe is clean 57:22 from the minutest atom to the greatest world, 57:25 all things declare that God is love." 57:27 God loves you. 57:29 Accept Him as your personal savior. 57:31 Bye-bye. |
Revised 2018-05-17