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Series Code: SUSS
Program Code: SUSS000002A
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00:14 Welcome back to Secrets Unsealed.
00:16 Here in beautiful Hawaii, 00:19 we're having a series entitled "Silencing Satan" 00:23 and my name is Pastor Kameron DeVasher 00:25 from the Michigan Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist 00:27 way up in the just South of the Arctic Circle. 00:30 I'm pretty sure, it's where Michigan is located, 00:31 but it's wonderful to be in this beautiful location 00:34 and be here with you beautiful people today. 00:36 We're gonna continue our series Silencing Satan 00:39 with a next presentation 00:41 entitled Lucifer's Lemonade Stand, 00:44 Lucifer's Lemonade Stand. 00:46 Now just to briefly review, 00:47 in our last presentation, we noted that the questions 00:50 that many people ask in this world 00:52 about how can there be a good God 00:54 and yet there's these bad results 00:56 and bad world and wickedness if He's so powerful 00:59 and so loving and... 01:01 How is that possible? 01:03 Well, the Bible is not silent on these issues. 01:05 It specifically addresses the origin of evil 01:08 and God Himself 01:09 through those texts that we looked at, 01:10 says He was not responsible 01:12 for creating the devil or creating evil, 01:16 but He is allowing it to continue 01:18 so that all who could see what's going on 01:22 could understand what's going on. 01:24 So that God will not only be right, 01:26 but He will be seen as right 01:28 when this great controversy is drawn to a close. 01:31 So it's a powerful thing 01:32 that we're gonna continue explore 01:34 in a message titled "Lucifer's Lemonade Stand." 01:36 But of course, before we do any study of God's Word, 01:38 we always must begin with a word of prayer. 01:40 So if you please, bow your heads with me. 01:43 Dear Heavenly Father, 01:44 again, we thank You for another day of life. 01:48 We thank You not only for this life, of course, 01:50 but for the eternal life that is ours 01:52 through faith in Christ Jesus. 01:56 And now, Lord, we would ask in this time 01:58 that You would send Your Holy Spirit 01:59 to be here with us, 02:01 not just in a general way to fill this place, 02:03 but to fill each one of us with wisdom from on high. 02:08 Lord, let You be our instructor today 02:11 as we search Your Word for truth, 02:14 for we pray it all in confidence 02:16 and in Jesus' name, amen. 02:19 We'll continue our study 02:22 and take a look at the Book of Job. 02:24 Job Chapter 1, 02:27 an Old Testament book that speaks to the issues 02:31 that we were discussing in our first presentation. 02:34 Job Chapter 1 and it begins, of course, with verse 1. 02:39 And the first five verses of the Book of Job 02:43 describe this individual, 02:46 whom the book is named after Job, 02:48 as a righteous man. 02:50 In fact, let's just read it through verses 1-5. 02:53 "There was a man in the land of Uz, 02:55 whose name was Job, 02:57 and that man was blameless and upright, 03:01 and one who feared God, and shunned evil." 03:05 Obviously, he's living in this world 03:06 after evil has been introduced, 03:08 but he has not bought into the lives of Satan, 03:10 and he's remaining faithful to God, 03:13 and that makes him noteworthy. 03:16 It goes on to describe his family life, 03:18 and his devotion to the Lord, and to his children, 03:21 and his graciousness to his employees. 03:23 But he was also a man of great wealth, 03:24 and it gives us this scenario in the first five verses of Job 03:28 about the individual Job. 03:31 But then all of a sudden in verse 6, 03:33 the frame changes very quickly. 03:38 Job 1:6 takes us away from this earth 03:41 into a special meeting in heaven. 03:45 Job 1:6, "Now there was a day 03:49 when the sons of God came 03:52 to present themselves before the Lord, 03:55 and Satan also came among them." 04:00 Now if you recall in our last presentation, 04:02 we talked about how Christ's initial response 04:05 to the iniquity in the heart of Lucifer 04:08 was not to blot him out of existence 04:10 but to merely cast him out of heaven. 04:13 He was cast to the earth 04:15 and his angels were cast out with him. 04:17 And we saw how the rebel of heaven 04:19 became the ruler of this world. 04:22 But you'll notice now he is attending a meeting 04:27 among the sons of God. 04:29 What an interesting notion. 04:32 Well, this also takes the Lord, not by surprise, 04:36 but he notes this change verse 7, 04:38 "And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?'" 04:44 There's two implications here. 04:45 First of all, that he wasn't from there 04:48 'cause he was coming from somewhere else, 04:49 he's been cast out 04:51 he's not from the courts of heaven anymore. 04:52 It also implies that these other sons of God 04:55 are coming from somewhere else. 04:58 And it's almost as if to say, "Didn't I put you somewhere? 05:03 But how is it that you're here? 05:06 From where do you come?" 05:07 Now let's before we dive into that, 05:09 let's identify the sons of God a little bit. 05:12 There's a lot of conjecture 05:13 when the terms sons of God is used. 05:15 Even in the Christian world 05:17 there's some confusion about this topics. 05:18 We wanna clarify this 05:20 at the very beginning of our study. 05:22 Notice that the sons of God, 05:23 this is not talking about Jesus Christ, 05:25 who is the Son of God 05:28 because that would be singular capital S, right? 05:30 But this is lowercase, plural. 05:33 These are the sons of God 05:35 came to present themselves before the Lord, 05:37 and Satan also came among them. 05:39 Who are they? 05:41 Who are these sons of God? 05:44 Well, fascinatingly, 05:45 if you go to the New Testament, Book of Luke, 05:47 now you can leave a finger in Job, 05:48 we'll absolutely be coming back to that book. 05:50 But in Luke Chapter 3, 05:56 we find a genealogy of Jesus Christ going back, 06:02 not just to Abraham or to David, 06:05 He goes all the way back 06:06 to the very beginning of humanity's history. 06:10 Luke Chapter 3, 06:12 and we'll start here in verse 36. 06:16 We don't need to go all through the lineage 06:17 because it would take a little too long, 06:19 and I wouldn't pronounce the names correctly anyway, 06:21 but you'll get the gist of what we're doing here. 06:23 Luke Chapter 3, we'll begin with verse 36. 06:25 And you'll probably recognize some of these names 06:27 as we go backward in the history of Jesus 06:30 to the beginning. 06:32 The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, 06:36 the son of Shem, the son of Noah, 06:40 who of course was the son of Lamech. 06:41 Verse 37, 06:42 who in turn was the son of Methuselah, 06:44 the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, 06:48 the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 06:50 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth. 06:53 Now watch closely. 06:55 The son of Adam, and Adam in turn, 06:58 it says was the Son of God. 07:03 Now obviously Adam was not procreated, 07:06 he was created by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 07:09 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 07:12 And He said, "Let Us make man in Our image." 07:14 And man was brought into existence 07:16 by the Word of the Lord, 07:18 and by the power of His creative ability. 07:20 But in that the Bible declares him 07:23 to be the son of someone, 07:25 but the son of God. 07:28 Now you recall that the meeting in Job 07:30 was with the sons of God. 07:34 Now when Adam was brought forth from the Creator's hand, 07:38 he was given a particular responsibility, 07:40 as noted in our previous sermon, 07:43 to have dominion over this world, 07:45 he was the rightful ruler of this world 07:47 as long as he remained obedient to God and His commands 07:50 he had dominion over this place. 07:53 And that son of God designation 07:55 seems to be denoting faithfulness to God, 07:59 right? 08:00 You can see another example of this 08:02 in the Book of Genesis. 08:03 If you go the other way in the Bible 08:05 to the very beginning, 08:06 when it talks about the two 08:10 contrasting people groups 08:15 just prior to the flood in Genesis Chapter 6, 08:20 we see this distinction where the sons of God 08:24 are those faithful to God, the loyal. 08:27 It says, Genesis 6:1, "Now it came to pass, 08:30 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, 08:33 and daughters were born to them, 08:34 that the sons of God 08:37 saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, 08:39 and they took wives for themselves 08:42 of all whom they chose." 08:45 Now that's interesting where you have the sons of God, 08:48 and what was the result 08:49 of the mingling with the daughters of men? 08:52 We see in verse 5, 08:53 "And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man 08:55 was great in the earth, 08:56 and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart 08:58 was only evil, continually." 09:01 So as the sons of God, those faith 09:04 will begin to intermingle and intermarry 09:06 with the wicked descendants, 09:09 then the world was not improved because of that alliance, 09:13 it was actually... 09:16 Brought down, brought down so low 09:19 that the Lord needed to destroy the world 09:21 with the flood. 09:22 But the designation son of God is a created being 09:27 who is faithful to God. 09:30 And here in Job Chapter 1 we'll began our study today, 09:33 we have a meeting of the sons of God 09:36 came to present themselves before the Lord, 09:38 yet it says, and Satan also came among them. 09:43 So the Lord asked this logical question, 09:45 and by the way, when the Lord asks a question, 09:48 is it because He does not know the answer? 09:51 Of course not. 09:52 The answer to does God know is always, yes. 09:57 So why does the Lord ask a question of Satan. 10:01 It's not because He doesn't understand something, 10:04 it's the other sons of God need to understand something. 10:08 I'm guessing that 10:09 as the sons of God come together, 10:11 which apparently this is a regular activity 10:13 because if you go to Job Chapter 2, it says, 10:14 "Again, there was a day when the sons of God 10:16 came to present themselves before the Lord." 10:19 And I don't know what your picture of heaven 10:21 has been like, but for most people, 10:22 I believe they think that heaven is, you know, 10:24 kind of divine anarchy 10:26 that you're just given all the powers in the world, 10:28 longevity, and all health, 10:30 and you can goes do anything that you want. 10:32 There's no schedules, you just live by... 10:35 No, no, no, no. 10:36 Apparently, there are schedules and appointed times. 10:39 And apparently, dare I say it, there are committees in heaven. 10:44 And all right, somebody of you might be saying, 10:46 "Well, then I don't even want to go." 10:48 But the Lord works in an organized manner. 10:52 And He has an appointed time 10:53 when He meets with these sons of God 10:56 and deliberates with them. 10:57 Now does the Lord need our counsel for any? 10:59 No. 11:01 But He brings His creation into His wisdom 11:04 so that they can understand His mind and His heart. 11:07 What a wonderful thing. 11:09 And here we go back to Job 1:6, 11:11 "Now there was a day when the sons of God" 11:13 that is those loyal, created beings 11:15 "came to present themselves before the Lord." 11:18 And then it adds, 11:19 "And Satan also came among them." 11:21 Verse 7. 11:22 "And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?'" 11:26 Which also by the way, 11:28 strongly implies that these other sons of God 11:31 have had to come from somewhere. 11:34 Notice that they came 11:36 to present themselves before the Lord, 11:37 they traveled to get there. 11:39 So all of them come 11:41 likely representing as Adam would have the earth, 11:44 other parts of God's created universe, 11:47 and there they are assembled for their regular meeting 11:50 and this day, Satan also came among them. 11:56 "And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?'" 12:01 So Satan answered the Lord." 12:03 And look carefully at his response. 12:07 "From going to and fro on the," what? 12:11 "The earth, 12:12 and from walking back and forth on it." 12:16 Notice he does not more moderately say, 12:19 "I'm coming from the earth." 12:22 He says, 12:23 "I'm coming from walking up and down back and forth." 12:27 He's claiming rulership of this world, 12:29 does he not? 12:31 He's claiming to represent all of this planet, 12:34 all of its inhabitants, 12:36 who my friend should have been at this meeting 12:38 as the son of God from the earth. 12:40 Adam, 12:42 the Bible says so in Luke 3:38, he was the son of God, 12:44 who was given dominion over this planet. 12:46 But as we saw in our previous message, 12:48 through rebellion 12:51 Satan became the ruler of this world. 12:53 And now at this meeting of the sons of God, 12:56 Satan comes in 12:57 claiming not only to be from the earth, 12:59 but from walking back and forth, 13:01 going to and fro on the earth 13:03 and from walking back and forth on it. 13:08 But then the dialogue continues. 13:10 Verse 8, 13:12 "Then the Lord said to Satan, 13:16 'Have you considered My servant Job.'" 13:23 Now that's a very important question. 13:27 He asks him have you considered, 13:29 and again, what is the synonym for consider? 13:31 Think about, noticed, pondered. 13:34 "Have you mulled over the fact 13:36 that though you claim to be running the whole earth 13:40 that amongst your people, there's My Job. 13:46 Have you considered My servant Job." 13:50 And He goes on to describe Job 13:51 as "That there is none like him on the earth." 13:57 Apparently there weren't many loyal 13:59 but there was at least one, right? 14:03 He goes on to say, 14:05 "That there is none like him on the earth, 14:07 a blameless and upright man, 14:09 one who fears God and shuns evil?" 14:13 Now the pulpit is not for political speeches. 14:16 Amen? Amen. 14:17 So I'm not here to get into any kind of debates 14:19 about politics or campaigning or anything like that, 14:21 let me say that very clearly. 14:23 But in our modern society, 14:26 that political campaigns and political office, 14:30 regardless of what country or territory you're from, 14:32 are often contentious issues. 14:35 And if someone has the approval of even say, 14:38 half of the people in their territory, 14:41 that's pretty strong. 14:43 If you're elected with 60% approval, 14:45 oh, that's huge. 14:46 It's unthinkable to have 70% or higher. 14:49 But here, notice that 14:50 apparently Satan claiming to be the ruler of this world 14:54 has the allegiance 14:55 of almost every single person on the planet. 15:02 But the Lord doesn't stop there. 15:04 And Satan isn't satisfied either 15:06 he's just saying, "Well, I've got most people, 15:07 don't worry about that old Job. 15:09 I've got almost everybody." 15:11 No, no, no, no. 15:12 The Lord brings out this one man. 15:15 So there is none like him on the earth, 15:17 one who fears God and shuns evil 15:20 though everyone apparently has turned away. 15:22 Did you know there's at least one 15:25 who still loves me more than you? 15:30 Now again, Satan could have just said, 15:31 "Oh, it's one." 15:32 It's on in the big scheme, 15:34 it's just a statistical anomaly. 15:35 He could round them off as a decimal point, 15:36 don't worry about it. 15:38 But God knows that this is a big deal to Satan. 15:42 This is a very big deal. 15:43 It's a very sensitive nerve 15:46 because watch what happens, look at the devil's response. 15:49 "So Satan answered the Lord and says, 15:51 'Does Job fear God for nothing?'" 15:56 Pause right here. 15:57 Does Satan acknowledge or at least consent to the fact 16:04 that Job is faithful to God? 16:06 Yes, but he gives a motive for that faithfulness. 16:10 He can't deny Job's faithfulness. 16:12 Sure, all right, 16:14 he's a blameless and upright man, 16:15 he fears God, and shuns evil. 16:17 But why does he fear God and shun evil? 16:20 You don't think he's doing it for nothing. 16:23 You don't mean he's gonna do it for free. 16:28 Then he goes on. 16:32 "Have You," verse 10, 16:34 "not made a hedge around him and around his household 16:37 and around all that he has on every side? 16:40 You have blessed the work of his hands, 16:44 and his possessions have increased in the land." 16:48 Notice what he's saying here, 16:50 "Of course, he is faithful to You, 16:51 You pay him." 16:54 You know, that's what we would call bribery or fraud 16:56 or well, in this day and age, just politics as usual, right? 17:00 But here, this is a very big deal. 17:06 There's that singular hold out against the regime of Satan, 17:10 and Satan says, "You don't think he means it. 17:14 The only reason he's loyal 17:15 is 'cause You're paying him off, 17:18 You bought him." 17:20 So he proposes a deal. 17:24 Verse 11, 17:26 "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, 17:32 and he will surely 17:33 curse You to Your face!" 17:40 So if you take away all the goodies 17:42 and treats and blessings as his wealth and his family, 17:45 his reputation, his health, all of these... 17:48 You take all of that away, 17:50 and You strip it down to the brass tacks, 17:52 the man-on-man, bare-bones principles, 17:56 he will curse You to Your face." 17:57 And I imagine he added, "Just like I do." 18:05 By the way, I'm guessing that this is where 18:07 things got really awkward in the meeting. 18:13 As we would say in the South, "Them's fighting words," right? 18:19 But notice the Lord's almost unbelievable response 18:24 to these audacious words. 18:30 "And the Lord said to Satan," verse 12, 18:33 "Behold, all that he has is in your power, 18:39 only do not lay a hand on his person." 18:45 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord 18:48 and rest of the Chapter 1 18:50 describes how Job had the single worst day 18:53 of his life. 18:55 Immediately, Satan takes up God's allowance 18:59 and starts pulling away from him 19:01 his most treasured things. 19:02 Now he is not allowed to touch his body, 19:04 his health, his person 19:05 but the things in his possession, 19:07 in his household are given into Satan's hands to test Job. 19:16 Now could God in this moment 'cause this is well 19:22 into earth's history at some point. 19:24 Clearly, there is righteous and there is wicked 19:26 there are ample people have died 19:28 in earth's history by this point. 19:30 Could God... 19:31 Could He even have not pointed to Satan 19:34 and just obliterated his arguments by saying, 19:37 "Look what you've done in this world. 19:39 Look at the war and the disaster, 19:41 the famine, the disease, 19:43 the plague, the rebellion has wrought." 19:50 But, you know, Satan could have turned that around. 19:56 Had all humanity sinned at this point? 19:59 Yes. 20:00 Does the Bible not say, "All have sinned, 20:03 and come short of the glory of God"? 20:05 And does the Bible not also say, 20:07 "That the wages of sin is," what, Death"? 20:10 So when Satan brings about destruction and disease 20:13 or war or plague or pestilence or murderous, 20:16 whatever the thing is, 20:18 even just the ravages of time and age, 20:20 could not Satan say, "Look, this whole idea 20:24 of obedience versus disobedience 20:25 that was Your idea to start with. 20:27 And it's Your law that says the wages of sin is death. 20:30 When I lead these people to kill each other 20:32 or I sin disease or I harm them, 20:34 I'm just revealing to the onlooking universe 20:37 Your true character." 20:46 God could of appointed to Satan's work 20:48 of cruelty and destruction on the earth 20:51 as evidence that he wasn't to be trusted. 20:54 But that would not have been sufficient. 20:58 In fact, as we just noted, 21:00 it could have even strengthened Satan's case. 21:06 Because all humans of sin, 21:08 Satan who claim that it is God's law 21:09 that requires sinners to God to die. 21:12 His killing of people merely show the universe 21:15 God's law in practice. 21:18 Satan's own evil could be spun 21:21 as a revelation of God's true character. 21:27 So we need to study this a little bit more deeply. 21:29 Why would God allow this contest unfold 21:32 instead of just stopping it right there? 21:35 And this must be important because by the way, 21:38 people died as a result of this test. 21:47 What is God doing? 21:49 How is the wisdom of God seen here? 21:51 Let's go back to one of our texts 21:52 from our previous message Ezekiel Chapter 28 21:57 where it describes the fall of Lucifer and his expulsion 22:01 from the courts of Heaven, Ezekiel Chapter 28. 22:08 We'll start with verse 16 again. 22:12 It says, "By the abundance of your trading 22:15 You became filled with violence," 22:16 and notice where, "within, and you sinned, 22:22 Therefore I cast you as a profane thing 22:24 out of the mountain of God, 22:26 I destroyed you, O covering cherub, 22:27 from the midst of the fiery stones." 22:31 Now it's interesting. 22:34 We talk here, and we're gonna see 22:37 it talks about trading and trapping. 22:39 Notice verse 16, 22:41 "By the abundance of your trading." 22:45 It's almost in commercial terms, 22:47 like he was bartering, buying, selling, 22:49 trading a commodity of some sort. 22:51 He was in some sort of enterprise, 22:54 a commercial thing. 22:55 What is he doing? Trading. 22:57 But you notice in verse 18, it comes back to the same idea. 23:00 Verse 18, "You defiled your sanctuaries 23:03 by the multitude of your iniquities," 23:05 and what are those iniquities? 23:06 "By the iniquity of your trading." 23:09 There it is again. 23:11 "Therefore I brought fire from your midst, 23:13 it devoured you. 23:15 I turned you to ashes on the earth, 23:18 in the sight of all who saw you." 23:22 Friends, was Lucifer cast out of heaven 23:24 for selling something? 23:28 Well, yes, actually, he was. 23:34 He was selling some, you know, 23:36 the word that is there 23:37 translated trading or in the King James, traffic 23:42 is actually only used in this way, 23:44 in this passage, okay? 23:47 But the root word, the Hebrew root word 23:50 of that same word here translated traffic 23:52 is translated in other terms 23:55 that make it understand us, 23:57 help us understand what he was trading, 23:59 what was he peddling, what would... 24:01 Did Satan literally set up a lemonade stand in heaven? 24:04 Was he involved in some commercial trade or traffic? 24:08 Let's find out. 24:09 Stay in Ezekiel and go back to Chapter 22. 24:12 Ezekiel Chapter 22, 24:16 and we'll find the same root word of trading 24:20 in the Hebrew translated another way. 24:25 Ezekiel 22:9. 24:28 Notice very carefully, it says, 24:30 "In you are men who slander to cause bloodshed." 24:36 Slander. 24:37 Now slander means 24:39 to smear someone's good name with false accusation, correct? 24:45 That's the same root word as the trading 24:47 or the traffic of Ezekiel 28. 24:50 In fact, let's find another example. 24:51 Let's go farther back to the Book of Leviticus. 24:55 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the third book of the Bible. 24:58 Leviticus 19:16, 25:04 finds that same Hebrew root word 25:07 translated into English 25:09 with just a little bit of a different twist, 25:11 and you can see what we're talking about. 25:13 Leviticus 19:16, says, 25:15 "You shall not go about 25:17 as a talebearer among your people, 25:22 nor shall you take a stand 25:23 against the life of your neighbor, 25:24 I am the Lord." 25:26 Going about as a talebearer. 25:30 Someone who tells tall tales, does that imply 25:34 that they're going around telling the truth? 25:36 No, it means they're telling things 25:37 that are not true. 25:39 They're falsehoods, they are lies, basically. 25:42 And if someone is slandering someone, 25:45 they're not promoting them, they're not endorsing them, 25:47 they're knocking them down by saying things about them 25:50 that are not factually accurate. 25:55 This is the trading and traffic 25:57 in which Lucifer was engaged in the courts of heaven. 26:03 Go to the New Testament, John Chapter 8. 26:06 Jesus has an interaction 26:07 with the religious leaders of His day 26:10 those who though claiming to be of God 26:12 were aiming to put the Son of God to death. 26:15 John Chapter 8. 26:23 If you start in verse 37, 26:24 we'll give it a little bit of context. 26:26 John 8:37, 26:29 Jesus is speaking again to these religious leaders 26:31 who are not following the will of God 26:34 and He says to them, 26:36 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, 26:39 but you seek to kill Me, 26:40 because My word has no place in you. 26:43 I speak what I have seen with My Father, 26:46 and you do what you have seen with your father." 26:49 Now He already acknowledged the people He's speaking to 26:52 are biologically the descendants of Abraham, 26:55 right? 26:57 They're children of Abraham, 26:58 but spiritually speaking 27:00 they take after a different father. 27:04 Verse 38, they didn't like the implication. 27:06 "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our father.'" 27:10 And then Jesus said to them very plainly, 27:11 "Jesus said to them, 27:12 'If you were Abraham's children, 27:14 you would do the works of Abraham.'" 27:17 So notice, He's talking about in the way that you do things, 27:20 you might have the DNA of Abraham, 27:22 but you have the character of a different father, right? 27:27 He goes on to explain in verse 40, 27:29 "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who told you the truth 27:33 which I heard from God. 27:34 Abraham did not do this." 27:37 I love that implication. 27:39 "Every time I spoke with Abraham, 27:40 never once, did he try to kill Me? 27:43 But every time I talk to you, you seek to kill Me." 27:46 He goes on verse 41, 27:48 "'You do the deeds of your father.' 27:52 They said to Him, 27:53 'We were not born of fornication, 27:54 we have one Father, God.'" 27:56 Now they're taking it beyond Abraham. 27:57 They're saying we claim to be the spiritual inheritors 28:01 of the legacy of God, 28:02 we are His children. 28:03 "Jesus said to them," verse 42, 28:05 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, 28:08 for I proceeded forth and came from God, 28:11 nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me." 28:15 Then He breaks down what's really going on? 28:17 "Why do you not understand my speech? 28:19 Because you're not able to listen to My word. 28:21 You are of your father," the whom, "the devil. 28:26 And the desires of your father you want to do." 28:31 Now what are those desires? 28:34 "He was a murderer from the beginning." 28:38 Let's pause right there. 28:40 Does that mean in the war in heaven 28:41 that we looked at before in Revelation 12:7-9, 28:45 where it says, "And there was war in heaven, 28:46 Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 28:48 and the dragon and angels fought..." 28:50 Does that mean that there was murder 28:52 and slaying of angelic hosts in the courts of heaven? 28:56 No. 28:58 But remember what Isaiah and Ezekiel talked about 29:00 all of the rebellion and even violence 29:03 it was within him. 29:06 How does that make you a murderer by the way? 29:10 Well, Jesus Himself explained what murder is, did He not? 29:15 In Matthew Chapter 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, 29:18 He said, "You have heard it said, 29:20 'You shall not murder,' but I say to you." 29:23 And He talks about how murder actually begins, where? 29:26 In the heart, in the motive. 29:28 If you have anger 29:29 against your brother without cause, 29:31 you're stirring up that fomenting in yourself, 29:35 that's murder. 29:37 And Christ says from the very beginning, 29:38 Satan was a murder, and then He goes on 29:41 "And does not stand in the truth 29:42 because there is no truth in him. 29:44 When he speaks a lie, 29:47 he speaks from his own resources, 29:49 for he is a liar and the father of it." 29:54 What is it? 29:57 Lying, right? 29:59 Satan not only tells lies, he's the father of lies, 30:03 he's the one who invented the whole notion 30:05 of not telling the truth. 30:08 Now think about what a radical concept that is, 30:10 all throughout the history of the universe 30:13 until Satan's rebellion 30:14 and no one had ever not told the truth. 30:18 When someone was talking, 30:20 they were always saying what was true. 30:22 Now could Satan in the courts of heaven 30:24 have gone up against God and said, 30:26 "I put up your dukes, let me unleash this violence." 30:29 No, what would have happened? 30:31 That was easy flick. 30:36 The Bible says there's only one thing 30:38 that we know that God cannot do. 30:41 The Bible explicitly tells us there's one thing God, 30:44 not just does not do but cannot do. 30:46 And that is lie. 30:50 Satan had one advantage or one tool 30:55 that could be possibly effective 30:58 in his war against God. 31:01 It was words. 31:06 And he could tell lies, and he could slander, 31:10 and he could talebear, and he could peddle, 31:13 sell, trade around the courts of heaven 31:18 falsehoods about God and His law, His character. 31:25 Fascinating. 31:26 Now I'm not gonna say 31:29 when you're accused of being a liar, 31:31 because I don't want to assume any negative things about you, 31:33 but if let's say you were ever accused of being a liar. 31:39 If someone ever came up to you said, 31:41 "You are a liar, my friend." 31:44 You know what you can't say in response to that accusation? 31:49 The one thing that definitively will not work 31:51 in response to the accusation, you are a liar. 31:56 Is the simple phrase. 31:58 No, I'm not. 32:00 You know why? 32:03 Because that is what a liar would say. 32:07 Is it true? Yeah. 32:09 So if someone says you're a liar, 32:10 you're gonna say, "No, I'm not." 32:11 They're gonna say, "Yes, you are." 32:13 And, you know, you're gonna come back with, 32:15 "No, I'm not." 32:18 And they're gonna try to... 32:19 You're gonna hype up, 32:20 you're gonna get upset about it. 32:22 You'd say, "I really, really I'm not, 32:23 I promise, I double promise, I super-duper promise 32:25 that I am not telling a lie." 32:27 And they're gonna say, "Yes, you are liar." 32:30 And they're gonna say, 32:31 "Oh, you're just digging a deeper hole for yourself." 32:34 And you could be telling the truth, 32:37 but because of the nature of the accusation, 32:40 telling the truth is not sufficient. 32:47 This is the predicament that God found Himself in 32:51 when dealing with His adversary, 32:53 the devil, who is the father of lies. 32:59 That a proclamation of the truth was insufficient, 33:06 what was necessary to combat the accusations of Satan 33:11 was not just a proclamation of the truth, 33:14 he needed a demonstration of the truth, 33:18 he needed everyone to see what truth really is... 33:27 Which is exactly what the Bible says 33:29 that's why Jesus came to this earth. 33:31 Go to 1 John Chapter 3. 33:35 1 John Chapter 3. 33:40 There in this pastoral letter, 33:41 the Apostle Paul, I mean, the Apostle John, I'm sorry, 33:46 explains one of the primary reasons 33:51 for Christ's incarnation. 33:55 Verse 8, he explains, 33:57 "He who sins is of the devil," right? 34:00 This is exactly what Jesus was saying in John Chapter 8, 34:03 "You are of your father the devil," right? 34:05 "He who sins is of the devil, 34:07 for the devil has sinned from" when? 34:11 "From the beginning." 34:12 Now we think of typically, in the beginning, 34:14 we're talking about the beginning of our world 34:16 or the creation of this planet. 34:18 But what we're talking about here 34:20 is not the beginning of us, 34:21 but the beginning of sin itself. 34:23 And from the very beginning, 34:25 Satan has sin, he in fact, is the beginning of sin. 34:29 He has sin from the beginning and then it adds this sentence, 34:33 "For this purpose 34:37 the Son of God was manifested, 34:40 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 34:46 It was for this purpose, that beginning of sin, 34:50 the father of lies, it was for that purpose, 34:54 that the Son of God was manifested, 34:56 that He might destroy the works of the devil. 34:59 How do you destroy a railing accusation 35:03 against your authenticity, 35:05 your credibility, your very character? 35:09 You can't just proclaim the truth. 35:10 God could stand on a mountaintop and say, 35:12 "I am true, I am self-sacrificing, 35:16 I am love." 35:19 And Satan would say, 35:22 "No, you're not, no, you're not, 35:26 no, you're not." 35:29 Now I don't like the phrase devil's advocates, 35:31 I don't think he needs any advocates. 35:32 But from Satan's perspective, 35:36 you could almost imagine his line of argumentation 35:40 in trafficking the slanderous lies 35:42 around the courts of heaven. 35:47 You can imagine that maybe in conversation 35:52 with one of so many million loyal angels, 35:56 he joins and, oh, yeah, it was a wonderful day today. 35:58 Have you ever noticed every day is great here? 36:00 It's like living in Hawaii, every day is perfect, right? 36:02 Every day is paradise. 36:04 Everyone is harmonious and happy 36:05 and all those songs, 36:07 everything this morning was wonderful 36:08 and then he might just interject 36:09 this slowest little thing like... 36:12 You know, I was thinking about it. 36:13 Did you ever notice that every single... 36:15 Without deviation every single song we sing 36:18 is in honor to God. 36:22 Ain't that weird? 36:24 Anyway neither here know that... 36:25 And he slides little thought in there. 36:30 May be on another occasion he is like, 36:32 "Have you ever noticed that all of the rules here 36:35 are made by one. 36:37 Just, I mean, this is a great place, 36:39 don't get me wrong but, 36:41 I mean, everything seems to really revolve around one. 36:43 It's like the whole thing exists for His... 36:48 Well, what about you? 36:50 And I mean, what about little old me?" 36:56 And he takes the character, 36:59 the name of God and begins to slanderously smear it. 37:07 By the way, the pen of inspiration also tells us 37:09 how his conversation went, 37:10 he would plant those seeds of doubt 37:12 into some people's minds, some angel minds, 37:14 then he would leave, 37:16 come back later and find those same people 37:19 discussing what he had implanted in their minds. 37:22 And he would say, "Oh, that's a really neat idea." 37:25 And he would build up on it and then say, like, 37:26 "I heard it from this guy, and I heard..." 37:28 Taking himself out of the mix. 37:29 So he would start it and watch it go 37:31 and then come back around and be like, 37:32 "Oh, what a cool thing. 37:34 Oh, yeah." 37:35 And he can say, "Look, everybody's talking about it." 37:47 And at some point, 37:49 a proclamation even of the truth 37:51 is insufficient. 37:53 What is required is a demonstration. 37:58 Notice the Prophet Isaiah 38:00 in speaking of the coming of Jesus. 38:03 Isaiah Chapter 56 38:06 pointing forward to the coming of the Messiah. 38:12 He uses interesting language here in verse 1. 38:14 Isaiah 56:1, 38:18 "Thus says the Lord, 38:19 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, 38:22 for My salvation is about to come, 38:25 and My righteousness to be," what? 38:29 "Revealed." 38:31 What does it mean to reveal something? 38:35 It means to expose something. 38:37 Does it mean that my righteousness 38:38 is going to be created or brought forth? 38:41 No. 38:43 Was God righteous before Jesus Christ came 38:46 in the flesh and died as our sacrificer? 38:48 Of course, He was righteous. 38:50 He's been righteous all along. 38:52 But apparently that righteousness 38:54 needed to be revealed as though it had been obscured 38:57 by something that there was a mist, 38:59 there was a fog, 39:00 there was a lack of clarity there, 39:02 and God needed to sweep that away 39:04 and show His righteousness 39:08 though He had been righteous all along. 39:11 In fact, go to the New Testament, 39:12 the Apostle Paul concurs completely. 39:14 Go to Romans Chapter 1. 39:17 Romans Chapter 1... 39:23 Starting with verse 16. 39:25 This seems to be the theme passage 39:27 of the Book of Romans. 39:29 And the Apostle Paul says it this way, 39:31 Romans 1:16, 39:32 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 39:35 for it is the power of God 39:37 to salvation for everyone who believes, 39:39 for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 39:41 For in it..." 39:43 Now pause right there. 39:44 What is it? 39:46 It is a modifier 39:49 or it's referring to it's a preposition 39:51 for the gospel of Jesus Christ. 39:54 The gospel of Jesus Christ, by the way, is Jesus Christ. 39:58 He is the good news, He is the message, 40:00 He is the word, right? 40:01 But in Jesus Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ, 40:05 in it the righteousness of God is what? 40:10 Revealed. 40:12 In Christ we see God's righteousness 40:17 on full display. 40:19 Amen. 40:21 "For in it the righteousness of God 40:23 is revealed from faith to faith, 40:26 as it is written, 40:27 'The just shall live by faith.'" 40:31 So Paul understood that the ministry of Jesus 40:34 was a revelation of God's character, 40:38 His righteousness. 40:40 That's what exactly Isaiah anticipated the Messiah to do 40:44 what would reveal the righteousness of God. 40:47 As though it had been obscured by something, 40:50 which of course it had by the trading, 40:52 the traffic, the pedaling, the lemonade 40:56 if you will that Satan was having everyone's sip. 41:01 Let's say in the New Testament... 41:02 Let's go to the Book of Hebrews. 41:04 Hebrews Chapter 4. 41:11 Notice what it says about the Jesus Christ. 41:18 Verse 14, 41:19 "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, 41:21 who has passed through the heavens, 41:22 Jesus the Son of God, 41:24 let us hold fast our confession." 41:25 Verse 15, 41:27 "For we do not have a High Priest 41:29 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, 41:31 but was in all points tempted as we are, 41:34 yet without," what? 41:37 "Sin." 41:39 What made Christ apart 41:40 from the great Creator creation gulf 41:43 that is inestimable aside from that gulf 41:46 what made Christ different than us? 41:52 It wasn't that He didn't face temptation, 41:54 He didn't live in some holy insulated bubble 41:56 where He was immune from all the, you know, 42:00 vicissitudes of this earthly existence. 42:02 No, He had all of that. 42:03 But what did He do different? 42:05 He never once sinned. 42:08 He never once gave into the temptations of Satan, 42:11 the discouragements of Satan, the distractions of Satan. 42:13 He always held fast His loyalty to the Father. 42:17 And friends, loyalty is always expressed in obedience. 42:22 Never wants to deviate from that straight line 42:26 of allegiance, loyalty, fidelity to God. 42:32 Therefore, by the way, that helps us, verse 16, 42:35 "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, 42:38 that we may obtain mercy, 42:39 and find grace to help in time of need." 42:41 Isn't it a powerful promise that we have one 42:44 in the very throne room of heaven 42:46 who has been where we've been, 42:48 who has felt what we felt, 42:50 who has walked where we've walked? 42:51 He's faced discouragement, 42:53 deprivation, distraction, temptation, 42:56 yet has overcome it all 42:58 and never one time gave in to the lies of Satan. 43:01 He wasn't buying what Satan was selling. 43:04 And as a result, friends, 43:05 we have a friend in high places. 43:08 What a wonderful thing. 43:10 Go back in the same book Hebrews. 43:11 Let's go back to Chapter 2, Hebrews Chapter 2. 43:17 Speaking of this ministry 43:18 that Christ has unique from all others, 43:22 distinct from the angels, 43:23 distinct from every other power in the universe, 43:26 Christ has a ministry. 43:28 And it says in verse 14 of Hebrews Chapter 2 43:30 "Inasmuch then as the children 43:32 have partaken of flesh and blood, 43:34 He Himself likewise shared in," what? 43:37 "in the same." 43:38 He came here to be with us. Why? 43:41 "That through death He might destroy him 43:43 who had the power of death, that is, the devil." 43:46 Notice that is through the death of Jesus Christ 43:48 that the devil was destroyed. 43:51 1 John 3:8, remember what it said? 43:53 "For this purpose, 43:55 the Son of God was manifested, 43:57 that He might destroy the works of the devil." 43:59 And how was it? 44:00 It was through a life of obedience 44:01 and self-sacrificing, 44:04 substitutionary death. 44:07 It goes on, 44:08 "He might destroy him who had the power of death, 44:10 that is, the devil, and release those 44:13 who through fear of death 44:14 were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 44:18 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, 44:21 but He gives aid to the seed of Abraham. 44:24 Therefore, in all things 44:25 He had to be made like His brethren, 44:26 that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest 44:29 in things pertaining to God, 44:31 to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 44:34 For in that He Himself has suffered, 44:36 being tempted, 44:38 He is able to aid those who are tempted." 44:42 Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ 44:44 as our intercessor in the courts of heaven. 44:47 Amen. 44:48 It's a wonderful ministry, it's a unique ministry. 44:51 Christ is all in all. 44:53 Now if you go to John Chapter 12. 44:56 Jesus Himself would speak about this fact, 45:03 His purpose, His aim and objective. 45:06 John Chapter 12. 45:09 As we mentioned earlier, there are 3 different occasions 45:12 John Chapter 12, John Chapter 14, 45:14 and John Chapter 16 45:15 where Jesus Christ Himself acknowledges 45:20 and refers to Satan as the ruler of this world. 45:26 But he isn't ruler by creation, 45:28 and he wasn't established by God, 45:29 but he usurped the power, it was delivered to him. 45:32 And now he runs this place as his own. 45:36 But notice how Jesus was going to combat 45:40 that rulership of Satan. 45:42 John 12:31, 45:46 Jesus coming to the end of His ministry, 45:47 looks forward to His death on the cross with these words, 45:50 "Now is the judgment of this world, 45:54 now the ruler of this world will be cast out." 46:00 Let's break down what we've just read here. 46:02 First of all, it says, 46:03 "Now is the judgment of this world." 46:05 Does that mean that there is no end time judgment 46:08 that the judgment occurred at the cross? 46:11 No, how do we know that for sure 46:14 because Christ clarifies it 46:16 in the statement right next to it. 46:18 He says, "Now is the judgment of the world," 46:20 and what He means by that is now the ruler of this world. 46:23 Specifically targeting Satan, will be, what are two words? 46:29 Cast out. 46:31 Now that should give you pause. 46:36 Hasn't Satan been cast out already? 46:39 Long before this. 46:42 Didn't we read in Revelation 12:7-9, 46:45 that there was war in heaven 46:46 and how that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan 46:50 was cast to the earth? 46:52 He was cast out and he is... 46:54 Did not Isaiah 14 say the same thing? 46:56 Did not Ezekiel 28 tell us the same thing 46:58 that he was cast out? 47:00 For our perspective, some 6,000 years ago, 47:03 4,000 years before Jesus would die on the cross. 47:06 So what does Jesus mean? 47:07 Now is the judgment of this world, 47:09 now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 47:14 What does He mean? 47:17 What is the now that He's referring to? 47:19 Let's keep reading 47:21 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, 47:23 will draw all peoples to Myself." 47:27 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 47:32 Somehow the death of Jesus 47:38 cast Satan out again. 47:45 Clearly, he had been cast out 47:48 from his position of leadership, 47:49 he was cast out of the courts of heaven, 47:51 he was removed from that place. 47:53 But even 4,000 years later, 47:55 there was still a casting out to do. 48:02 You can imagine, 48:03 after all the lies and all the slander, 48:06 after all the blasphemous, heretical, denunciation 48:09 of the name and character of God, 48:13 both in heaven and on the earth. 48:16 And how we've studied 48:18 the proclamation of the truth was insufficient. 48:20 What was needed was a demonstration of righteousness. 48:24 Christ said, "That's going to happen 48:27 when I go to Calvary." 48:30 And when Jesus took the sin 48:32 of the world upon Him in Gethsemane 48:34 and marched by force up those steps to Golgotha, 48:38 to the hill of Calvary, 48:39 and He was sinless 'cause remember, 48:43 with all the other deaths 48:44 that have ever occurred in the world, 48:46 couldn't Satan say, "Look, the wages of sin is death 48:47 but how is that different for Christ? 48:51 He never sinned once. 48:53 There was no even a hint of a possibility, 48:57 a rationalization, or a justification 48:59 for the death of Jesus. 49:01 There's nothing Satan could say if he were to kill Christ 49:04 that would win over any sympathy. 49:08 When Jesus went to Calvary sinless, 49:12 there was no reason whatsoever that He should die. 49:19 Yeah, He went, 49:21 and He submitted Himself to the torture 49:23 and ridicule and humiliation of those sinful men 49:26 who were those sons of their father. 49:30 And all of that envy and jealousy and violence 49:34 that had been pent up in the heart of Lucifer 49:37 was finally unleashed upon the sinless Son of God. 49:47 And friends, when Christ stretched out His hands 49:50 and laid down His life, 49:52 and proclaimed, "It is finished." 49:59 The onlooking universe saw two things 50:03 for the very first time. 50:06 One, 50:08 they saw the true character of the enemy of God. 50:15 They saw Satan's heart revealed. 50:18 There was no possible reason that this was a good idea. 50:23 There was nothing you could say that would justify that action. 50:27 He had murdered the very Son of God 50:30 that, in fact, he was the one who was selfish, 50:33 he would take for himself everything, 50:35 including the very life of God were it possible. 50:40 But on the other hand, 50:41 for the very first time, 50:44 the universe got to see on full display, 50:48 not just in theory, 50:49 but in practice that God is love. 50:55 That self-sacrificing, self-less condescension 51:00 to man and his weakness, 51:03 and giving of Himself for their redemption was seen. 51:13 In the Desire of Ages, page 761, 51:16 we read these powerful words, 51:17 speaking about the moment that Jesus died on the cross. 51:22 She writes, 51:23 "Could one sin have been found in Christ, 51:26 had He in one particular yielded to Satan 51:28 to escape the terrible torture, 51:30 the enemy of God and man would have triumphed." 51:34 So even in the last moment 51:35 if Christ would have uttered one disparaging word, 51:38 uttered one doubt, one break of the temper, 51:42 one... 51:43 Nothing. 51:45 It would have been over and Satan would have won. 51:50 She goes on 51:52 "Christ bowed His head and died, 51:54 but He held fast His faith and His submission to God." 51:58 Now interestingly, 52:01 if you were to describe the death of Jesus 52:06 and give a biblical verse 52:07 that could go along with that description, 52:10 you might be tempted to go to, I don't know, 52:13 one of the four gospels, 52:15 Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John 52:16 or maybe something from the writing of Paul 52:18 who determined to know nothing 52:20 but Christ and him crucified. 52:22 But, you know, where Sister White goes, 52:25 she goes to the Book of Revelation 52:27 12:10. 52:33 Now look again, Revelation chapter 12. 52:35 We've already read 12:7-9, 52:37 but I wanna draw your attention to that context again, 52:40 Revelation 12:7, 52:45 the first casting out of Satan. 52:46 "And the war broke out in heaven, 52:48 Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, 52:50 and the dragon and his angels fought, 52:51 but they did not prevail, 52:52 nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 52:54 So the great dragon was cast out, 52:57 that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, 52:59 who deceives the whole world, 53:00 he was cast to the earth, 53:01 and his angels were cast out with him." 53:03 Then look at verse 10, 53:05 "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 53:08 'Now salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, 53:12 and the power of His Christ have come, 53:14 for the accuser of our brethren, 53:16 who accused them before our God day and night, 53:19 has been cast down.'" 53:22 And it would be easy to read that and think, 53:24 "Oh, that's just another poetic way 53:25 of saying he was cast out of heaven." 53:27 But, no friends, there is a 4,000 year gap 53:30 between verse 9 and verse 10. 53:33 In verse 9, 53:34 Satan is cast out of the courts of heaven, 53:36 but what was he cast out of in verse 10? 53:40 Sister White applies Revelation 12:10 53:43 to Jesus death on the cross. 53:46 "Now," she writes, 53:50 "is come salvation and strength, 53:51 and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ, 53:53 for the accuser of our brethren is cast down 53:56 which you accused them before our God day and night." 53:58 What does she mean by this, 54:00 applying Revelation 12:10 to Jesus death on the cross? 54:02 Well, listen carefully. 54:06 "Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. 54:12 His administration was laid open 54:14 before the unfallen angels 54:16 and before the heavenly universe. 54:19 He had revealed himself as a murderer. 54:25 By shedding the blood of the Son of God, 54:28 he had uprooted himself 54:30 from the sympathies of the heavenly beings." 54:35 When I first read that I was kind of taken aback, 54:38 "You mean to tell me that there were heavenly beings 54:41 who had some level of sympathy for Satan, 54:45 even 4,000 years after he was cast out?" 54:47 Yes. 54:49 Why? 54:50 Because he's a very good liar. 54:54 And they remain loyal to God, 54:56 but they still have some questions. 54:58 Remember back in that Book of Job 54:59 we studied earlier in this message? 55:02 When God was saying this one thing 55:03 and Satan would answer back. 55:05 You know what's fascinating is what the sons of God say, 55:08 not one word. 55:12 Now they're still loyal, they're still faithful, 55:14 they're still the sons of God, but it's like they're saying, 55:16 "Lord, we're with you, 55:18 but he's making some very compelling points 55:20 let's at least hear him out." 55:22 And what if Christ were to strike him dead 55:24 in that moment? 55:26 It would seem like a cover up, 55:27 it would actually validate and verify 55:31 the very argument Satan was making 55:33 so He had to let it play out 55:34 and instead of a mere proclamation, 55:36 Christ came to be the revelation 55:38 of the character of God. 55:42 "By shedding the blood of the Son of God 55:44 he had uprooted himself 55:45 from the sympathies of heavenly beings." 55:47 Watch this and think about Job Chapter 1. 55:49 "Henceforth his work was restricted. 55:53 Whatever attitude he might assume, 55:55 he could no longer await the angels 55:57 as they came from the heavenly courts, 55:59 and before them accuse Christ's brethren 56:01 of being clothed with the garments of blackness 56:03 and the defilement of sin. 56:05 The last link of sympathy 56:07 between Satan and the heavenly world 56:10 was broken." 56:13 Now notice why he can't come there anymore, 56:15 is it because God now forces him out? 56:19 Nope. 56:20 His work was restricted 56:22 because no one was listening to his arguments anymore. 56:25 They weren't buying what he was selling. 56:29 Christ didn't have to put a flaming sword 56:31 or build a wall, 56:32 the other sons of God, 56:33 the inhabitants, the heavenly realms, 56:35 those angels of glory 56:36 were no longer interested in even hearing 56:39 whatever lies he might spew because they've seen Jesus. 56:43 They've seen Jesus. 56:47 Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889. 56:49 Listen to this powerful statement. 56:50 "The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, 56:53 for even they are not secure 56:55 except by looking to the sufferings 56:56 of the Son of God. 56:57 It was through the efficacy of the cross 57:01 that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy. 57:04 Without the cross 57:06 they would be no more secure against evil 57:08 than were the angels before the fall of Satan. 57:10 Angelic perfection failed in heaven. 57:13 Human perfection failed in Eden, 57:15 the paradise of bliss. 57:16 All who wish for security in earth and heaven 57:19 must look to the Lamb of God. 57:22 The plan of salvation, 57:24 making manifest the justice and love of God, 57:26 provides an eternal safeguard 57:28 against defection in unfallen worlds, 57:32 as well as among those who shall be redeemed 57:34 by the blood of the Lamb. 57:35 Our only hope is perfect trust 57:37 in the blood of Him who can save to the uttermost 57:40 all that come unto God by Him." 57:44 The angels need the sacrifice of Jesus 57:47 to not to redeem them from sin but to keep them from sin. 57:54 What a powerful God we serve 57:55 that He would reveal His own character 57:59 in the sinless sacrifice of Jesus. 58:02 Amen. |
Revised 2019-05-23