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Series Code: ETM
Program Code: ETM220004S
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00:20 Thank you for joining us for Eternal Truths Matter. During 00:24 this series we've been looking at some of the fundamental 00:28 truths of scripture. We look at the Bible as the divine word of 00:31 God and the evidence that the Bible is divinely inspired we've 00:37 seen the irrefutable arguments that Christ is divine and we 00:41 looked at the false teaching of Satan on spiritualism and how he 00:45 wants to unite the world. In this program today we're going 00:50 to discover the truth that Satan hates most. Is there a Bible 00:56 truth that Satan hates more than any other? And why does he hate 01:00 it so much? Let's pray together. 01:02 Father in heaven thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the eternal 01:09 truths that really matter from scripture. And as we study today 01:13 open our eyes to new truths. Open our eyes to understand your 01:19 word more clearly. May we hear the call of Christ to make the 01:23 changes in our lives to prepare us for the coming of Christ. In 01:26 Jesus' name, amen. 01:28 In the 1840s there were developments that took place 01:34 in the area of philosophy, in the area of politics, in the 01:40 area of religion, in science that changed the world. These 01:46 developments began really when a man by the name of Charles 01:51 Darwin wrote his first draft of the Origin of the Species in 01:55 1842. But his first essay was published in 1844 and by 1859 02:02 Darwin had finalized his book of the Origin of the Species. It 02:09 was being circulated pretty widely. In that particular book 02:12 Darwin asserts that there was not a creator behind the 02:19 creation of this world, but he asserts rather that we are here 02:23 by chance, that we simply evolved from lower forms of life 02:31 Now if that's true we have very, very little worth. If we're just 02:35 a collection of genes and chromosomes, if we are hap 02:39 hazardly put together, if there is no design in our lives or in 02:44 the universe, if we are just some kind of randomized human 02:49 beings that just developed out of pure absolute chance, then 02:56 our lives have very, very little value. They have very, very 02:59 little meaning. Now at the same time that Darwin was developing 03:03 his thoughts on the evolutionary process Karl Marx and Friedrich 03:11 Engels were rocking the world with the publication of the 03:13 Communist Manifesto. And the Communist Manifesto basically 03:19 asserts that the Proletariat, the working people of the world 03:22 need to rise up an challenge the bourgeoisie, the shop owners 03:29 and the wealthy people of the world...it's just this idea of 03:33 equality. The problem was there was so called so-called equality 03:37 for some. There was still a pretty strict class structure 03:41 in Communism. You know I have worked for many, many years 03:44 in Eastern Europe, Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia, had lectures 03:49 in Romania, traveled in and out Russia. And one of the things 03:52 notice about the whole concept of communism is that it is very 03:58 dehumanizing. Human beings are only a cog in the wall of the 04:03 state. And that atheistic philosophy that brings despair 04:07 I can't tell you the despair on the faces of those that I met in 04:13 eastern Europe. Not only was it cold and chilly in some places 04:16 in Russia but the chill in the people's lives. It was like a 04:21 dark shadow that just hung over them. Russia during the days of 04:27 communism had one highest suicide rates and one of the 04:30 highest alcohol rates in the world. And abortion rates in 04:34 the women were just amazing because there was no moral 04:39 compass, nothing to guide them with. Why is it, do you think, 04:46 that Satan in the 1840s raised up those two philosophies that 04:54 just rocked the world and influenced multiplied millions 04:57 of people? Why was evolution and communism growing at the 05:03 same time? It's because Satan hates Jesus. And at that time 05:12 God was going to raise up a group of Bible students based on 05:17 the teachings of the book of Revelation that would bring the 05:21 world a message to prepare it for the coming of Jesus. Now 05:25 there's one thing that Satan hates more than anything other 05:27 one truth and that's that Christ is the creator. Now even some 05:32 Christians are somewhat baffled about that in their 05:36 understanding of Christ as the creator of the world. To help us 05:40 understand it let's go to the book of Ephesians chapter 3. 05:43 See if you accept Marxist communism, atheism there is no 05:50 creator. We're here by chance. If you accept evolution there is 05:54 no creator. We're here by chance But the Bible is very clear in 05:59 counteracting that falsehood that we're here by chance. 06:06 Ephesians chapter 3 verse 9: To make all men see what is the 06:09 fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world 06:13 has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. So 06:21 how was this world created. All things were created according to 06:26 scripture by Jesus. Now Satan hates Jesus and he hates the 06:32 fact that all the angels worship Jesus. He hates the fact that 06:37 Cherubim's and Seraphim's worship Jesus. He hates the fact that 06:41 there's a call on earth for us to worship the Creator. We did not 06:45 evolve by chance. When the genes and chromosomes came together 06:50 to form the unique biological structure, your personality, God 06:54 threw away the pattern. You and I are unique creations of God 06:57 designed by God. In fact, Jeremiah says when you were 07:03 in your mother's womb I knew you All life is sacred. Given to us 07:08 by God. Therefore since life is a gift of God we fall at the 07:15 feet of the Creator, Jesus the active agent in creation and we 07:20 worship him. Now what is the basis of our worship? You find 07:25 it here in Revelation chapter 4 verse 11: Creation is the basis 07:30 of worship. If the devil can knock out creation, he can knock 07:34 out the very foundation of worship. 07:37 Here, Revelation 4 verse 11: 07:40 Thou are worthy, O Lord, to do what? receive glory and 07:46 honor and power: Why? For thou hast created all things, and for 07:51 thy pleasure they are and were created. So God is worthy of our 07:55 honor. God is worthy of our glory, God's worthy of all power 07:59 Why? Because through Jesus Christ he created all things. 08:05 Now has God left a memorial of his creation in an age of 08:13 evolution for all humanity as a flag or as a sign of his 08:19 creative activity? Has God indeed given to us something 08:22 that would counteract evolution Here in Genesis chapter 2 when 08:30 God created the world, he creates the world and he 08:34 finishes his creative activity there on the seventh day. And in 08:39 Genesis chapter 2 the Bible makes it very plain that God has 08:44 left an eternal memorial. A memorial of his creative 08:49 activity. Genesis the second chapter verse 1 and onward: 08:53 It says: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all 08:58 host of them. And on the 7th day God ended His work which He had 09:02 made; and He rested on the 7th day from all the work which 09:07 he had made. And God blessed the 7th day, and sanctified it: 09:13 because He had rested from all his work which God created and 09:15 made. There at creation as a memorial of his creative 09:23 activity, there at creation we find that God did three things 09:29 with the Sabbath. First God blessed the Sabbath. It doesn't 09:35 say he blessed the first day, or the third day or the fifth day. 09:39 You can get a blessing from whatever day you worship on but 09:43 if you want the Sabbath blessing you've got to go where God put 09:46 the blessing, right? Let's suppose I have seven Bibles. 09:50 One, two, three four, five, six, seven. You can get a blessing 09:54 whatever Bible you read, right? Let's suppose I put a thousand 09:58 dollar bill in the seventh Bible You want the special blessing 10:01 where do you have to go? Well there is a blessing in any of 10:04 the Bibles you read, but you want the special blessing, you 10:06 want that thousand dollars. You got to come to the seventh Bible 10:08 That's where it was put. That's the point. You can get a 10:12 blessing worshipping on any day but you can't the Sabbath 10:14 blessing. The Sabbath blessing only comes from the Sabbath day. 10:19 So God blessed the Sabbath but beyond that God sanctified it. 10:24 He set it apart because to sanctify means to set apart for 10:29 holy use. So God sanctified the Sabbath. He set it apart. It is 10:33 different, distinct from all the days and God rested on the 10:38 seventh day as well. And so he left it as a memorial of 10:43 creation. So in an age of evolution, the Sabbath stands as 10:49 a monument. In an age of evolution the Sabbath stands as 10:53 a flag blowing in the breeze that God through Christ created 11:00 the world. This is why when God led Israel out of Egyptian 11:07 bondage and he led them to Mount Sinai. In Egyptian bondage they 11:13 were oppressed. The Egyptians worshipped the sun god Amon Ra 11:19 and it was very difficult for the Israelites although some of 11:24 them did it, to worship on the Sabbath. Very difficult. Yet 11:31 when God led them out of that bondage in Exodus chapter 20 in 11:35 the 10 commandment law God reminded them of the importance, 11:40 the significance of the Sabbath. This is the eternal truth that 11:45 Satan hates the most. He hates it because it's a reminder of 11:50 Christ as the all powerful creator. Exodus the 20th chapter 11:56 you read about the 10 commandments and here's 12:01 scripture starting with Exodus chapter 20 verse 8: Remember the 12:05 Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do 12:09 all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of whom? Not the 12:13 Jew but the Lord thy God: In it thou shalt not do any work, 12:15 thou, nor thy son, thy daughter, thy manservant, the maidservant 12:19 nor the cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in 12:21 six days the Lord made heaven, the earth, the sea and all that 12:25 in them is, and rested on the seventh day: Wherefore the Lord 12:29 blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. God makes it 12:33 abundantly plain. He says remember the Sabbath day. Why 12:38 remember the Sabbath. Because it is linked to creation. If you 12:44 take away the Sabbath you then undermine the fact that God has 12:51 created the world, you take away the whole basis for worship and 12:57 you allow the devil to prepare the mind for his overwhelming 13:02 delusion when he substitutes a counterfeit day for the Sabbath 13:07 just before the coming of Christ And so the Sabbath becomes God's 13:11 sign. The Bible says in Exodus 20 verse 8, Remember the 13:15 Sabbath day, as if God knew that human beings would forget it. 13:22 As if God knew clearly that as time went on there would be 13:27 movements to undermine to eradicate the Bible Sabbath. 13:32 And so Jesus calls us back calls us back to worshipping him as 13:38 Creator. He's given a flag. You know I travel the world and I 13:44 see many different flags. And these flags are reminders of 13:49 various nations, various cultures. The American flag 13:53 reminds us of the United States of America. And as I'm traveling 14:00 I might be traveling in Argentina, or Brazil. Maybe in 14:02 in India, or Pakistan. Possibly in Nigeria or Tanzania where 14:09 I've held meetings in each of these places. And as I'm 14:12 traveling sometimes I'll be driving along and I'll see a 14:17 building that has kind of a large fence around it and then 14:19 I'll see the American flag waving and I'll say that is an 14:23 American Embassy. The flag identifies the embassy. So 14:29 according to chapter 20 in the book of Ezekiel does God have a 14:33 flag the identifies his people? Ezekiel chapter 20...See the 14:41 Egyptians were sun worshippers. But God called his people back 14:47 to worshipping on the Sabbath as a memorial of his creative 14:52 activity. And here you have in the book of Ezekiel chapter 20 14:57 and we're looking there at verse 20. The Bible says: And hallow 15:03 my Sabbaths; they shall be what a sign between me and you, that 15:10 you may know that I am the Lord your God. So according to 15:13 scripture the Sabbath is a sign. It's a sign that we can know 15:18 that this is the Lord our God. Just as I'm driving through some 15:24 street in India and I see the American Embassy, the flag is 15:27 flying, that's a sign, that's the embassy. Driving through 15:30 Brazil I see the American flag waving over this building that's 15:33 enfenced I say that's the embassy. That's a symbol of 15:37 America. So the Sabbath is God's flag that reminds us that he is 15:44 the creator never to be forgotten, never to be 15:49 eradicated. That's why the Bible says remember the Sabbath day 15:53 to keep it holy for in six days thou shalt worship Now the devil 16:02 hates the Sabbath. He hates the law of God. When the devil 16:05 rebelled in heaven it was because he wanted God's throne. 16:07 And the basis of every kingdom the basis of the throne is law. 16:14 You cannot have any government without law. And so Isaiah 16:19 chapter 14 when it talks about Satan, it talks about Satan 16:24 attacking and what does he attack. It's a battle for the 16:27 throne so in the universe we see this battle for the throne. 16:30 We see this cosmic conflict between good and evil. Isaiah 16:33 chapter 14, we're looking at verse 12 and onward: How art 16:38 thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, some of the morning! 16:41 See Lucifer, the light bearer, how are you fallen from heaven, 16:45 son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground, which 16:47 weakens the nations! For you said in your heart, I will 16:50 ascend to heaven, I will exalt my what, my what? My throne 16:53 above the stars of God: I'll sit in the mount of the congregation 16:56 in the sides if the north: I will ascend above the heights of 17:00 the clouds, I'll be like the Most High. Five times I is used. 17:03 Some people say that Lucifer needed a divine optometrist 17:07 He had I problems, I, I, I. But what I wanted you to see is I 17:11 will ascend, I want my throne above the stars of God. There's 17:16 a battle for the throne of God. Now the next phrase is very 17:21 interesting I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the 17:25 sides of the North. What was the mount of the congregation in the 17:29 sides of the north. What was that? If you look at the 17:32 encampment of Israel the mount of congregation in the sides of 17:35 the north is Mount Sinai. And what happened on Mount Sinai? 17:38 God gave the law. So the devil wants to assert his throne above 17:43 the throne of God, the devil wants to give the law rather 17:47 than to keep the law. The devil wants people bowing down to him 17:52 in worship as the law giver. So as a result of that the devil 17:57 would attack God's law and what aspect of the law do you think 18:00 the devil would attack. The very heart of God's law, namely the 18:04 Bible Sabbath. And so take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 18:09 7 verse 25 and many of you I know in this Eternal Truth 18:13 Matters series are following along in these Bible studies. 18:17 Daniel 7 as you're looking there at verse 25. And here what law 18:23 would Satan attack most. You'll find it here in Daniel 7 verse 18:29 25. It says: He shall speak great words against the Most 18:32 High...this is the little horn power that would do Satan's 18:35 bidding in changing God's law... And shall wear out the saints 18:38 of the Most High...persecute them...He would think to change 18:41 times and laws. So the devil would think to change times and 18:46 laws. Why does Satan think to change times and laws. Because 18:50 nobody can change the law of God written with God's own 18:53 finger on tables of stone. You can't change that. It's eternal. 18:57 It's part of the very nature of the universe. So the devil 19:00 thinks he can change times and laws. What's the only 19:03 one of the 10 commandments 19:04 that has to do with time, it's the Sabbath commandment. 19:08 Why would the devil attack the Sabbath. Because he 19:11 wants to do away with creation. And if he can do away with 19:14 creation what impact will that have? He does away with the 19:18 basis of worshipping God. So would God have an end time 19:23 movement that would be raised up in the last 19:26 days of earth's history to enable men and women 19:31 to keep his law. Revelation chapter 12 verse 17. 19:35 At end times, God would raise up a movement, and this movement 19:44 in the last days of earth's history would share the glorious 19:50 teachings of the law of God calling men and women back to 19:54 worshipping the creator. Revelation 12 verse 17. Now 19:59 Revelation 12 is a fascinating Bible chapter. In the 12th 20:03 chapter of the book of Revelation, we have four great 20:07 episodes. The first great episode has to do with the 20:11 rebellion of Satan in heaven. Then Satan's attack on Jesus 20:14 when Jesus is born. Then Satan's attack on God's people. Then 20:18 Satan's attack on God's end-time people. And you look at 20:22 Revelation chapter 12:17, verse 17. It says the dragon...that's 20:26 Satan, Lucifer...was wroth... angry...with the woman, and went 20:31 to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the 20:36 commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 20:38 So at end-time God would have a people that would be keeping his 20:43 commandments. Would they be keeping the Bible Sabbath as a 20:49 symbol, as a memorial of the creative activity of God. 20:52 Certainly, they would. So at the same time, get this, this is 20:57 amazing. At the same time, in the 1840s that evolution is emerging 21:01 at the same time in the 1840s when communism is developing 21:06 at that same period of time, God would raise up an end-time 21:12 remnant, a last day people. A people that would lead men and 21:16 women back to worshipping the creator. God would have a 21:20 special message for humanity at end time. We find that message 21:24 in Revelation chapter 14. It's pictured as being carried by 21:30 three angels in mid heaven. The first angel tells us what to do. 21:36 The second angel tells about the consequence of not doing what 21:43 God says. And the third angel is a warning against the mark of 21:46 the beast. The first angel that flies that we see here in 21:50 Revelation 14 is a call in the light of the judgment hour to 21:54 the everlasting gospel to go to the ends of the earth and for 21:56 men and women to worship the creator. The second angel talks 22:00 about Babylon is fallen. When we read about Babylon in the 22:03 Bible we're reading about confusion, falsehood, error. And 22:06 then it's a warning against the mark of the beast. But what I 22:08 want you to see in this presentation, and we'll develop 22:11 this more in our next presentation. Revelation 14 22:14 verse 6: I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, 22:19 having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on 22:22 the earth, to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 22:27 Verse 7: Saying with a loud voice,...what kind of voice, a 22:30 loud voice... Fear God...that's respect or obey God...give glory 22:35 to him...why...for the hour of his judgment is come, and 22:39 worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the 22:42 the fountains of waters. Who is the one that made heaven, earth, 22:45 sea and the fountains of waters? What do we call the one that's 22:47 made the heaven and earth, sea, and the fountains of waters? 22:48 What is he? He's the creator, right? So get this. The longest 22:54 time prophecies in the Bible run out in 1844. If you've studied 23:00 scripture, you will know that in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, and 23:06 8 it talks about a 2300 year prophecy in Daniel 8:14. It 23:11 talks about the judgment and if you Bible students for 23:16 generations recognize that the 2300 years or days, which 23:20 represent years in Daniel 8 run out in 1844. So at the time 23:26 remember Revelation 14:7 says the hour of God's judgment IS 23:30 come, IS come. So the judgment begins in 1844, and God has a 23:36 message to prepare the world for the coming of Christ at the 23:40 culmination of this judgment and that message is a call to the 23:44 gospel. It's the call to give our lives to Jesus. It's a call 23:46 to be faithful to scripture and it is a call to do what? To 23:51 worship the Creator. So here you have evolution is rising. This 23:55 idea that human beings are simply genetic accidents. 24:01 Communism is rising, this idea that human beings are not worth 24:05 much. They're only cogs in the world of state, they're only 24:07 bricks in the world of state. All this is developing. Satan is 24:10 attacking, attacking, attacking the Bible Sabbath. He's 24:14 attacking the whole idea of creation because he wants to 24:16 undermine worship and so he gets after the Sabbath as well. And 24:20 the idea then becomes well the Sabbath is not that important, 24:25 it's old legalism, Jewish nature given to Judaism. Wait a minute 24:28 it was given at creation. But who's the author behind that? 24:31 who's the author behind the one that wants to change the very 24:34 law of God? Who would be the author of that? It would have to 24:38 be the evil one. Why? Satan has a motive, and his motive is 24:44 destroy the very basis for worship. Attack creation. Get 24:49 rid of the flag, get rid of the monument of creation, get rid of 24:53 the Sabbath. And if he can do that he can undermine worship 24:56 and then why worship at all? That's why there's so much 25:00 secular humanism in our world. That's why there is so much 25:04 godlessness in our world. If you do away with the law of God, you 25:09 do away with the Sabbath, then you're not accountable to any 25:11 body except yourself. We see in our society a major crisis is 25:19 brewing. That's why God is making his final appeal. 25:24 Revelation 14 verse 12, here's the appeal of God: Here is the 25:29 patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments 25:35 of God, and the faith of Jesus. The Bible is leading us back, 25:43 back to deep faith, the faith in Christ that transcends culture. 25:49 A faith in Christ that is larger than, bigger than, greater than 25:58 the world's offerings to us. Deeper than our hearts. We say 26:03 Lord, I want to be done with materialism, done with 26:07 secularism, done with the world's values. I want the faith of 26:12 Jesus, to live in my heart. And I love Lord to be obedient to you 26:19 and to keep your commandments. I don't want to accept the 26:24 devil's delusion of the fact that this world evolved. And I 26:30 want to recognize the Bible Sabbath as the very heart of 26:34 God's creative activity. What about you? Have you come to the 26:40 place in your life where you have fully given your life to 26:42 Jesus. What about you? Are you longing for his faith to dwell 26:47 in you? Have you allowed the world to squeeze you into its 26:52 mold so that the values of the world govern and guide your life 26:58 Maybe you're a Christian watching this program, and you 27:03 understand for the first time in your life that the devil has 27:07 attacked the Sabbath because he wants to do away with creation. 27:12 And once he does away with creation, he then can do away 27:19 with worship. He's attacked creation because through that 27:24 vehicle he gets at the Sabbath. But you hear the call of 27:28 Christ, you see the truth of God, you recognize that we are 27:32 in a controversy between good and evil. You say Jesus, I want 27:38 your flag to fly over my house of the Sabbath because I love 27:45 you as creator. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you so 27:49 much with all of our hearts. We hear the call of Christ. We 27:53 recognize that the devil's tried to undermine creation, but the 27:58 Bible Sabbath still stands as a flag, it still stands as a 28:02 monument calling us to worship the creator. We praise you for 28:06 that deep within our hearts. Give us the courage, the 28:08 strength to follow you now and forever, In Jesus' name, Amen. 28:13 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2025-05-12