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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023017S
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00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:19 We're glad that you could join us today 00:21 as we continue our journey through three cosmic messages, 00:24 looking at the three angels messages' 00:27 in Revelation, chapter 14, 00:28 and how they interact with the rest of the Bible. 00:31 We're delighted to have, back again with us, 00:34 the author of this quarter's lesson, 00:36 that is Pastor Mark Finley. 00:37 We're going to get his thoughts on lesson number five, 00:40 "The Good News of the Judgment" in just one moment, 00:43 but let's begin with prayer. 00:45 Father, we thank You so much for being with us today 00:47 and giving us another opportunity to dig more deeply 00:51 into Your Word and to understand these incredible messages. 00:55 We ask that You'll bless us today 00:56 and we thank You in Jesus' name, 00:58 Amen. 00:59 Pastor Mark, welcome back. 01:00 >>I'm delighted to be back. 01:01 This has been an enjoyable discussion. 01:02 >>It has indeed, and we've still got a few weeks left 01:05 of this discussion to go, 01:06 but this week we've got a really interesting subject. 01:09 It's a title that you might say is a little bit strange. 01:14 It's "The Good News of the Judgment." 01:16 Now most of the time when I meet somebody, 01:19 if I were to tell them you're about to be judged, 01:22 a smile wouldn't erupt on their face, 01:24 they'd be a little bit concerned. 01:26 Why title this one "The Good News of the Judgment"? 01:30 >>I think because the odds are stacked in our favor. 01:34 Let me explain what I mean by that. 01:36 Why is the judgment good news? 01:38 First, Jesus said in the gospel of John 01:42 that "the Father judge[s] no man, 01:45 but [He's given] all judgment [to] the Son." 01:47 So we know that our judge is Jesus, 01:51 but then in 1 John, chapter two, 01:53 it says, "We have an Advocate with the Father, 01:56 Jesus Christ the righteous." 01:58 Advocate is our lawyer. 01:59 So let's suppose you're in a courtroom 02:02 and you're being judged by the judge, and he judges you, 02:06 then he comes down, stands by your side, 02:08 and defends your case. 02:11 You would say that's a conflict of interest, 02:13 you can't have a judge who's your lawyer, 02:16 but the incredible good news about the judgment 02:19 is that Christ, who is my Judge, also is my Lawyer 02:24 and He's doing everything possible to save me 02:27 and get me into His kingdom. 02:29 >>So that ought to be encouraging, but again, 02:32 when most people think about the judgment, 02:33 they think it's a scary thing. 02:36 Doesn't sound like there's any reason 02:37 for a genuine Christian to be scared of the judgment. 02:42 >>No, if we are in Christ, there is no reason to be scared 02:45 of the judgment. 02:46 If we are not in Christ, 02:48 there's plenty of reasons to be scared of the judgment, 02:50 and the book of Revelation echoes with this urgency 02:56 of judgment that our lives 02:57 are totally committed to Christ. 02:59 In Revelation, chapter 14, 03:01 that we have been studying verse six and verse seven, 03:06 "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 03:10 "having the everlasting gospel to preach to those 03:12 "that dwell on the earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, 03:15 "and people--saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God... 03:19 give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come.'" 03:25 So let's pause there. 03:27 You have an urgent end time message that announces 03:33 that it's no longer business as usual, 03:35 no longer pleasures as usual, no longer life as usual, 03:39 that the clock has struck the hour, 03:42 that we're living in the climactic hours of earth's history, 03:46 that the hour of God's judgment has come. 03:49 Now notice the phrase says, "the hour of God's judgment." 03:52 That's an interesting expression, 03:54 "the hour of His judgment." 03:56 In the controversy between good and evil, 03:59 Satan has claimed that God is unfair and unjust. 04:02 On the cross of Calvary, Jesus revealed His goodness, 04:05 His grace, and that He was loving 04:08 and He settled before the universe forever, 04:11 that God is not a vindictive judge, wrathful tyrant, 04:13 that He's filled with love, 04:15 but how does that play out in every individual life? 04:17 How does that play out in the panorama, 04:19 the conflict between good and evil? 04:21 The judgment reveals God's fairness, His justice, His mercy. 04:26 The judgment really reveals, Pastor, that God 04:29 has done everything He could to save every human being. 04:32 The hour of His judgment has come 04:33 and we become exhibits in that judgment, 04:37 we become specimens in that judgment, 04:40 we become witnesses, 04:41 or witnesses is a better word than exhibits for specimens, 04:44 we become witnesses to His grace 04:46 and goodness in the judgment. 04:48 >>So in this judgment, not only are we finding out 04:52 which direction we're going, as it were, 04:54 but God to some extent or another 04:56 is also, His character, is being tried to see 04:59 whether He did indeed do everything possible. 05:01 The word "mercy" comes to mind. 05:05 Do we deserve mercy? Probably not. 05:09 We deserve condemnation, 05:11 and yet if we receive Jesus, 05:14 if He stands as our lawyer, 05:17 if He stands as our judge, we're hoping for mercy, 05:21 we're praying for mercy. 05:22 Can we expect that we would get mercy 05:24 if we don't deserve it? 05:26 >>If we deserved it, it wouldn't be mercy. 05:28 So the answer is yes. 05:31 None of us deserve God's grace. 05:34 The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith." 05:37 It's the gift of God, not of yourself. 05:39 A gift is something I don't deserve, 05:42 and so the mercy of God in the judgment 05:45 reveals His character of love and grace and goodness. 05:51 Now Revelation 14 clearly explains 05:54 that we cannot trifle with His grace or mercy. 05:57 It's not cheap grace, 05:58 it's not this so-called "soft love" 06:01 that says, "love God and do whatever you want." 06:04 If you love God, 06:05 you will do what He wants, not what you want. 06:07 But notice the phrases that lead us in 06:11 to the idea of the hour of His judgment has come, 06:12 it says, "fear God." 06:14 The word "fear" there is "phobeó," 06:16 and that means have an attitude of deep respect to God. 06:21 In fact, phobeó is an interesting Greek word, 06:23 it means take God seriously, take Him seriously, 06:26 don't play around with Him, 06:27 don't fiddle with your salvation, 06:30 fear God is a state of mind, 06:32 give glory to Him in your lifestyle, 06:35 for the hour of His judgment is come. 06:37 In other words, since we're living in the judgment hour, 06:40 take God seriously, commit your life to Him, 06:44 have nothing between you and Jesus 06:46 and let your life glorify Him; 06:49 glorify Him, whatever you do. 06:51 So the idea of the judgment hour compels us 06:55 to be deeply committed to Christ, to search for His truth, 06:59 and to live in harmony by His grace with that truth. 07:04 >>So we can look forward to mercy if we are in Him, 07:08 if we have embraced Him and His sacrifice for us, 07:12 His love for us, He makes it available to everyone. 07:16 I wanna approach this gently so that we don't stray 07:19 to the left or to the right of it too far. 07:21 You could go into the judgment afraid, 07:25 worried or I suppose it's probably also possible 07:29 to go in overconfident. 07:31 Where is that healthy confidence that we need not fear 07:35 without being boastful? 07:39 Is there a happy area in there? 07:43 >>It is the recognition 07:45 that I don't deserve His mercy or grace. 07:48 It's the recognition that salvation is all of Him; 07:52 that my sinful, decrepit, 07:57 defiled life is not worthy 08:01 of His merit or salvation. 08:03 I go into the judgment throwing myself 08:07 into the arms of Jesus. 08:10 As long as I am in Christ, I have eternal life; 08:14 if I'm outside of Christ, I don't have eternal life. 08:18 I can be afraid of the judgment 08:21 if I think that the judgment 08:23 is balancing good works with bad works. 08:26 So if I say, "Okay, I committed 798 good works in this week, 08:33 "but I only committed 692 bad works, 08:36 "I'm in pretty good shape. 08:37 "Oh, but next week, I committed 800 bad works 08:40 and 500 good works, I'm not in good shape." Up, down, up. 08:44 So if I think of the judgment as a balance scale 08:47 between good works and bad works, then I enter 08:50 into the judgment either in one of two problems, arrogant 08:54 because I think I'm performing so many good works, 08:59 and I enter in with pride, 09:00 or I enter in totally depressed 09:03 because I see my bad works overwhelming me. 09:07 So the judgment is not good works and bad works weighed out. 09:12 It's rather, how has my commitment to Jesus 09:15 manifest itself in good works? 09:18 How has the grace of God transformed my life? 09:22 Because you will recall in Ephesians, chapter 2, 09:27 often Ephesians 2:8 is quoted 09:30 without quoting the rest of the passage. 09:33 So if you look at Ephesians 2, verse 8, and go ahead 09:38 and pick up verse 8, 9, and 10 of Ephesians 2. 09:42 >>Paul writes, "For by grace 09:43 "you have been saved through faith, 09:45 "and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 09:49 "not of works, lest anyone should boast. 09:52 "For we are His workmanship, created 09:55 "in Christ Jesus for good works, 09:58 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." 10:01 >>What an amazing passage, 10:03 it really summarizes the gospel, 10:05 its meaning, its significance 10:07 and summarizes how we can have confidence in the judgment, 10:10 why, because verse 8, "By grace 10:13 you have been saved through faith." 10:15 So salvation comes by grace, faith receives it. 10:18 Some people I've heard were saved by faith. 10:20 No, my faith doesn't save me, 10:22 God's grace does. >>Right. 10:24 >>Faith is a gift God gives me 10:27 to receive the grace of God. 10:29 It says that "not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, 10:32 not of works, lest anyone should boast." 10:35 Then it says, "for we are His workmanship created 10:38 in Christ Jesus for good works." 10:40 So we should never think that good works 10:43 do not have any relevance in the Christian life. 10:48 Those who are saved by grace, through faith, 10:53 are led into a dynamic relationship with Christ 10:56 in which their works reflect God's grace and God's goodness. 11:01 Somebody said, 11:03 "My faith in Christ is so good that it works." 11:08 >>I've heard someone say 11:09 that an apple tree does not produce apples 11:12 in order to prove it is an apple tree. 11:15 An apple tree produces apples 11:16 because it is an apple tree. 11:19 So a Christian who is surrendered to Jesus, 11:21 who is saved by grace through faith, 11:23 their life will naturally reflect that 11:26 in the things that they do or don't do, 11:29 in the lives that they live, in the works that they do. 11:32 Not saved by works, 11:33 but saved by God's grace through faith. 11:36 >>Exactly, one of the things that we bring out 11:38 in the lesson that I think is quite significant, 11:42 is to try to clear up some of the misunderstandings 11:45 of this faith and works. 11:48 And in Monday's lesson, 11:50 which we title "God's Mercy and God's Judgment," 11:54 I write there that first paragraph, 11:57 "The cross and judgment both reveal 11:59 "that God is just and merciful. 12:01 "The broken law demands the death of the sinner. 12:05 "Justice declares, 'The wages of sin is death.' 12:07 "Mercy responds, 'The gift of God 12:10 "is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' 12:13 "If God's law could [have been] changed or abolished, 12:16 "it would be totally unnecessary for Jesus to die. 12:19 Christ's death establishes the eternal nature of the law." 12:23 Now notice this next sentence, 12:25 "The law is the basis of [the] judgment." 12:28 Now many people wonder, 12:30 what role do our works have in the judgment, 12:33 but Revelation is clear. 12:35 Let's go over to Revelation 20, verse 12, 12:37 Revelation 20, verse 12, and let's read that. 12:41 I know you're gonna want to take a break, 12:42 but we'll read it before the break maybe 12:44 and then unpack it right after the break. 12:46 >>Sure, Revelation, chapter 20, verse number 12 says, 12:49 "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, 12:53 "and books were opened. And another book was opened, 12:55 "which is the Book of Life. 12:57 "And the dead were judged according to their works, 13:00 by the things which were written in the books." 13:04 So that's a fascinating verse 13:06 and we are going to be unpacking that one in just a moment, 13:09 you don't want to miss it. 13:11 Before we do though, I want remind you, 13:13 if you have not yet picked up the companion book 13:15 to this quarter's lesson, 13:17 you wanna make sure that you do that. 13:19 It is called "Three Cosmic Messages" by Pastor Mark Finley. 13:23 You can find this book at itiswritten.shop. 13:27 That's itiswritten.shop and it will give you 13:30 much more background, 13:32 a lot more supporting information, quotes, 13:35 references to what we are looking at this quarter. 13:39 We're going to be back in just a moment as we dig more 13:41 into this relationship between faith and works. 13:44 We'll see you in just a moment. 13:46 (soft music) 13:51 >>You know that at It Is Written, 13:53 we are serious about the study of the Word of God, 13:56 and we encourage you to be serious about God's Word also. 14:00 Well, I wanna share with you another way 14:02 that you can dig deeper into the Word of God 14:05 and here it is, itiswritten.study. 14:11 Go online to itiswritten.study and you can access 14:14 the It Is Written Bible Study Guides, 14:17 25 in-depth Bible studies 14:20 that will walk you through the Bible. 14:22 It's gonna be good for you 14:24 and it's the sort of thing 14:25 that you will want to tell somebody else about 14:29 so that they can dig deeper into the Word of God 14:32 and come to know the things of the Bible intimately. 14:35 As you get into the It Is Written online Bible Study Guides, 14:39 you'll understand the prophecies of the Bible, 14:41 the plan of salvation and more. 14:43 So don't forget itiswritten.study, itiswritten.study. 14:51 (uplifting theme music) 14:55 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," brought to you 14:57 by It Is Written. 14:59 We are taking a look at the judgment 15:02 and really why there's no reason to be afraid of it. 15:07 Pastor Mark, we're looking at Revelation, chapter 20, 15:09 verse number 12. 15:11 Let me read through that again 15:13 and we've kind of dissect part of it, 15:14 but let's work on the second half. 15:16 It says, "And I saw the dead, small and great, 15:19 "standing before God, and books were opened. 15:21 "And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. 15:24 "And the dead were judged according to their works, 15:27 by the things which were written in the books." 15:31 So what relationship are we finding here 15:33 between faith and works and how people are saved? 15:35 How's that all work out? 15:37 >>Your good works can never save you, we're saved by grace, 15:40 but your bad works can condemn you to eternal loss. 15:43 So, you know, when the Bible says very clearly 15:47 we're judged according to our works, what does that mean? 15:51 Does it mean that our works are meritorious? 15:54 Does it mean that our works enable us to earn salvation? 15:57 Not at all. 15:58 But when you really think about it, 16:00 how do you measure faith? 16:03 Is faith something that's ethereal? 16:06 Can I say I have faith in Christ 16:09 and then go out and shoplift at a store? 16:12 Can I say I have faith in Christ 16:15 and then go watch something 16:18 immoral on the internet? 16:20 Can I say I have faith in Christ and say, 16:22 "But wait a minute, 16:24 "I don't want to be involved in giving it all 16:27 to the cause of Christ"? 16:30 You see, so faith is not something intangible. 16:37 Faith is a relationship with God as a friend well-known 16:41 that leads me to do whatever pleases Him. 16:44 My good works reveal the depth of my faith, 16:48 so it's obvious that judgment would be based on works. 16:52 It's not that my works save me, 16:54 but it's my works reflect whether my faith is genuine, 16:58 whether my faith is authentic or not. 17:01 >>So it's evidence, as it were. 17:03 >>Yes. >>Okay, very good. 17:05 You draw our attention 17:06 to an interesting statement 17:09 in Monday's lesson 17:13 and it comes from "Testimonies for the Church," 17:16 volume 5, on pages 471 and 472. 17:20 I wanna read this 17:21 and then give you an opportunity to respond to it. 17:24 It says, "The fact that the acknowledged people 17:26 "of God are represented as standing 17:28 "before the Lord in filthy garments 17:30 "should lead to humility and deep searching of heart 17:33 "on the part of all who profess His name. 17:36 "Those who are indeed purifying their souls 17:38 "by obeying the truth 17:40 "will have a most humble opinion of themselves. 17:42 "The more closely they view 17:44 "the spotless character of Christ, 17:46 "the stronger will be their desire to be conformed 17:49 "to His image, and the less will they see 17:52 "of purity or holiness in themselves. 17:54 "But while we should realize our sinful condition, 17:58 "we are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, 18:01 "our sanctification, and our redemption. 18:04 "We cannot answer the charges of Satan against us. 18:07 "Christ alone can make an effectual plea in our behalf. 18:11 "He is able to silence the accuser with arguments 18:15 founded not upon our merits, but on His own." 18:19 Help us to grasp, there's a lot in there. 18:23 >>You know, when you were saying help us grasp that, 18:26 I was about ready to say, "Pastor Eric, 18:28 we're gonna be studying this through all eternity." 18:30 You know, when you think about it, 18:31 it's so broad and you're so right, there's so much. 18:36 This one sentence toward the end of the paragraph 18:38 just touches my heart. 18:40 While we should realize our own sinful condition, we do, 18:43 we realize that we're weak, we're frail, 18:46 "We are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, 18:51 our sanctification, and our redemption." 18:54 I wanna pause there. 18:56 It's not only that I rely on Christ to justify me, 19:01 to enable me to stand before God 19:02 just as if I'd never sinned. 19:05 It is not that I rely on Christ to deliver me 19:09 from the guilt and shame of sin, and then I work out 19:14 my own salvation on my own after that, not at all. 19:18 You know, the text that says, "Work out your own salvation 19:21 with fear and trembling," 19:22 the following verse in Philippians 2 says, "For it's God 19:26 "that worketh in you both... 19:27 to do His good pleasure." 19:30 So I am justified by faith in Christ, 19:34 His righteous covers my past, 19:36 but I'm also sanctified by faith; 19:38 that same faith that accepts Christ's death for me, 19:40 that same faith reaches up to the intercession of Christ 19:44 to receive Christ's power from me to live in my life. 19:48 So He is our righteousness, He is our sanctification, 19:51 and ultimately He's our redemption, 19:53 He is the one that comes again for us. 19:55 We cannot answer the charges of Satan against us; 19:58 Christ alone can make that effectual plea on our behalf. 20:02 So our salvation is totally dependent 20:06 on our relationship, 20:08 on what Christ has done for us 20:10 and our response to what He has done 20:13 that develops a relationship with Him. 20:15 >>And it's a natural outflow of Christ 20:18 in our hearts is the lives that we live. 20:20 I've heard some people say to not 20:23 bother trying to live right, 20:25 not bother trying to keep the commandments 20:27 if you're trying to do it under your own power 20:29 because you're just gonna make yourself miserable 20:31 and everybody around you miserable. 20:33 I don't think that we can do it, 20:34 in fact, I know that we can't do it under our own power, 20:37 but with Christ in us, that's where miracles happen. 20:40 >>It is, and the whole good news of the judgment 20:44 that both Revelation and Daniel 20:46 are speaking about in this cosmic controversy 20:49 between good and evil with tens of thousands of angels 20:52 and cherubims and seraphims and being some unfallen worlds 20:56 and the whole universe looking in, 20:58 the whole issue with the judgment 20:59 is the worthiness of Christ. 21:02 Is Christ worthy? 21:04 Is Christ-- 21:06 has Christ provided everything necessary for our salvation? 21:10 And before a waiting world, a watching universe, 21:13 in this cosmic conflict between good and evil, 21:16 it is revealed that Jesus is worthy. 21:19 He created us, He redeemed us, 21:21 He's our high priest, 21:23 He's coming again for us. 21:24 >>Pastor Mark, you just mentioned, 21:26 albeit in passing, Daniel, chapter 7-- 21:29 >>Yeah. >>...and Daniel 7 21:30 has a fantastic judgment scene in it. 21:32 Why don't you open that up to us a little bit? 21:34 >>Sure. We actually go to that 21:37 in Tuesday's lesson in Daniel, chapter 7, 21:40 so let me just summarize for us that judgment scene 21:46 in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel. 21:48 We find it here in Daniel, chapter 7, 21:51 and we're gonna start there with verse 9 21:56 and I'll just skip through this chapter. 21:59 Daniel says, "I watched till thrones were put in place." 22:02 Just to pause there, 22:03 the thrones must be movable because they're put in place, 22:07 they're movable thrones. 22:09 The supreme court of the universe sits 22:12 in the Most Holy Place of heaven's sanctuary. 22:15 The Father and the Son move together in a unique work 22:20 that's described as the judgment hour. 22:22 "The Ancient of Days was seated [the Father]; 22:25 "His garment was white as snow, 22:27 "...the hair of His head was...pure wool. 22:29 His throne [is] a fiery flame, its wheels," 22:32 that's the wheels on the throne, "as a burning fire." 22:34 So the Bible pictures this unique move 22:38 into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary 22:40 to begin a work of judgment. 22:43 It talks in verse 10 22:44 about "thousand thousands ministered [un]to Him; 22:47 "ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. 22:49 The court was [set], and the books were opened." 22:52 So here you have the sitting of the supreme court 22:55 of the universe with thousands of heavenly beings. 22:59 But interestingly enough, 23:00 go ahead and pick up verse 13 and 14. 23:04 >>"I was watching in the night visions, and behold, 23:06 "One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! 23:09 "He came to the Ancient of Days, 23:11 "and they brought Him near before Him. 23:13 "Then to Him was given dominion 23:15 "and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, 23:18 "and languages should serve Him. 23:20 "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, 23:23 "which shall not pass away, 23:25 and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." 23:28 >>In the beginning of the book of chapter seven of Daniel, 23:31 you have the four kingdoms, 23:32 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, they passed away. 23:35 Then you have the breakup 23:37 of the Roman Empire and the rise of the little horn, 23:39 a political religious kingdom that would attempt 23:42 to change God's law and set up 23:44 a political religious alliance 23:47 that would bring peace to earth, 23:49 which of course it has tragically failed in doing that. 23:52 But then Daniel looks away from the horizontal look, 23:56 he looks away from what's going on on earth 23:57 to the heavenly sanctuary. 24:00 When he sees the sitting of the judgment, 24:01 he sees the Ancient of Days sit 24:04 and the living Christ approaches the Ancient of Days. 24:07 Notice the interesting title of Christ in verse 13. 24:12 It says Jesus is "like the Son of Man." 24:15 Why the Son of Man? 24:17 Why doesn't it say the Son of God approaches Him? 24:19 Because this is the Christ that tabernacled in human flesh, 24:22 this is the Christ that lived and died for us, 24:26 this is the Christ who is our elder brother. 24:31 He comes to the Father, and based upon the fact 24:35 that He has sacrificed His life for us, 24:38 He is worthy to receive worship 24:40 and worthy to receive the kingdom. 24:42 So in the judgment, the righteousness of Christ is revealed, 24:46 the grace of Christ is revealed, 24:48 and He comes, and the kingdom is given to Christ. 24:54 >>So Daniel 7 gives us a beautiful picture 24:56 of the judgment and Christ's role in it. 24:58 That's not the only picture of the judgment 25:00 we find in the Bible. 25:01 Over in Revelation 4 and 5, 25:02 we see kind of a similar picture, a similar scene. 25:06 Share that with us. 25:07 >>We do, in Revelation 4 and 5, 25:10 there's different interpretations of that passage, 25:13 but in Revelation 4 and 5, one thing is common, 25:16 that it certainly is a passage of praise and worship, 25:20 and there are many scholars who believe 25:23 this talks about the inauguration of Christ, 25:26 that when He ascended to heaven 25:29 this praise was given to Him. 25:31 The point is this, Daniel 7 points out 25:34 that Jesus is worthy to receive the kingdom. 25:37 His worthiness to receive the kingdom 25:39 is based on two things; 25:40 one, He created the world, but second, 25:42 He leaped into the flames of this world and redeemed it. 25:46 So we find in Revelation, chapter 5, 25:49 very similar language to Daniel 7. 25:52 And even if one interprets this 25:54 as the inauguration of Christ, when He ascends 25:57 to heaven after His death and resurrection, 26:01 the truth of the matter is that all of heaven 26:04 is worshiping Him and He's worthy to receive that worship 26:10 and the final consummation 26:13 of the plan of salvation 26:15 will ultimately take place in the judgment 26:17 when He receives His kingdom 26:19 and Satan's hosts are ultimately defeated 26:21 when Jesus comes again and after that millennial period 26:25 when the holy city descends. 26:27 But here in Revelation, chapter 5, 26:29 it says, "You are worthy to take the scroll," verse nine, 26:33 "to open the seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us 26:37 "to God by Your blood out of every tribe and [nation] 26:40 and people and [tongue]." 26:41 We find that in Revelation, chapter 14, 26:44 where it says, "The hour of His judgment has come," 26:46 the everlasting gospel goes to every nation, 26:48 tongue, and people. 26:50 So here it says You've "made us kings 26:53 and priests to...God; ...[we'll] reign on...earth." 26:55 So Christ receives the kingdom 26:58 after the judgment 27:01 and the whole universe sees the greatness, the goodness, 27:04 the majesty of God. 27:05 They see that He's done everything He could to save us 27:08 and He's worthy to receive the kingdom, 27:11 and then it's interesting, 27:14 judgment is passed in favor of the saints of God. 27:17 >>And that is fantastic news. 27:20 You know, this week, the title of it was 27:22 "The Good News of the Judgment," 27:24 and I hope that you have found some good news there. 27:26 Pastor Mark, thank you for helping us to find the good news 27:30 and thank you for joining us. 27:32 We pray that your next week will be a blessed one 27:34 and we look forward to seeing you again next time 27:37 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 27:41 (light music) 28:27 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-04-19