Participants:
Series Code: PME
Program Code: PME240420S
|
00:01 ♪
00:04 ♪ 00:15 [ "Fairest Lord Jesus" begins ] 02:36 [ "He Lives" begins ] 04:38 [ "We Have This Hope" begins ] 06:01 [ Applause ] 06:10 >> Good morning. 06:12 Our Scripture this morning 06:13 comes from 06:15 Book of Jeremiah 51:9-10. 06:19 Again, Book of Jeremiah 51:9-10. 06:24 I'm reading from the 06:26 New International version. 06:27 I give you just a moment 06:29 to look up in your Bibles 06:31 and find the text. 06:33 Again, it's Jeremiah 51:9-10. 06:41 "We would have healed Babylon. 06:43 But she cannot be healed. 06:46 Let us leave her 06:47 and each go to our own land, 06:50 for her judgment 06:51 reaches to the skies. 06:53 It rises as high as the heavens. 06:57 The Lord has vindicated us. 06:59 Come, let us tell in Zion 07:02 what the Lord our God has done." 08:04 >> ♪ Caritas abundat in omnia 08:18 ♪ De imis excellentissima 08:30 ♪ Super sidera 08:43 ♪ Super sidera 08:52 ♪ Sidera 08:58 ♪ Atque amantissima in omnia 09:22 ♪ Caritas abundat in omnia 09:36 ♪ De imis excellentissima 09:48 ♪ Super sidera 10:00 ♪ Super sidera 10:39 ♪ Quia summo Regi 10:46 ♪ Quia summo Regi 10:51 ♪ Quia summo Regi 11:00 ♪ Osculum pacis dedit 11:29 ♪ Caritas 11:40 ♪ Caritas 12:04 [ Applause ] 12:08 >> Our thanks to the University 12:10 Chorale and Symphony Strings 12:13 and guest conductors Janelle 12:15 and Nicole and Dr. Elysée. 12:16 Thank you for leading us 12:17 marvelously here 12:18 in worship today. 12:19 We appreciate it. 12:24 Welcome to part three of our 12:26 continuing series, entitled 12:28 "Why We Are Here." 12:31 We are on a journey, seeking to 12:32 discover the unique mission of 12:34 the Seventh-day Adventist 12:35 Church. 12:36 If you missed parts one 12:37 and two, alas, 12:39 I do not have time to go back 12:40 through or do a careful review. 12:42 You can go to pmchurch.org. 12:43 We have our archives there. 12:45 We're also archived on YouTube 12:46 and other 12:47 social-media platforms. 12:48 I encourage you to see 12:49 where we have been 12:50 that you might better understand 12:52 where we are going. 12:53 Very briefly, we said, 12:55 "What is the mission of the 12:57 Seventh-day Adventist Church?" 12:59 And we made a stop briefly 13:00 at the Great Commission 13:01 of Matthew 28:18-20, 13:03 this commission to make 13:03 disciples. 13:04 Indeed, 13:05 that is a very important part 13:07 of our mission -- to make 13:08 disciples for Jesus Christ. 13:09 Absolutely. 13:10 And we said that 13:12 we take the Great Commission 13:14 and go one final step further. 13:17 That one final step further 13:19 is the three angels' messages 13:21 of Revelation 14:6-12. 13:24 If you take away the three 13:25 angels' messages from the 13:26 Seventh-day Adventist Church, 13:27 our reason for being, 13:28 missiologically speaking, 13:29 crumbles to the ground. 13:31 It is intricate. 13:32 It is the core reason 13:33 why Jesus went through 13:35 the trouble of raising up 13:36 this end-time movement 13:38 to proclaim 13:39 the three angels' messages, 13:40 the Gospel of Jesus Christ 13:42 in the context 13:43 of the three angels' messages 13:44 of Revelation 14:6-12. 13:47 Now, last week we looked 13:49 at the first angel's message, 13:50 and we summed it up. 13:51 We kind of gave it a nutshell 13:52 at the end. 13:53 The summary of it, 13:54 what it means is this -- "Honor 13:56 and worship the Creator, 13:58 for justice is coming, 14:00 and time is running out." 14:02 So, justice is on its way. 14:03 This final judgment process -- 14:05 October 22nd, 1844, 14:06 when it began. 14:07 It is nearing 14:08 its ending stages here. 14:09 Evil will soon come to an end. 14:11 Amen? 14:12 >> Amen. 14:13 >> Amen. That's a great thing. 14:14 That's a great part of a message 14:15 to have if you're part of the 14:17 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 14:17 Evil is coming to an end. 14:19 Time is running out. 14:20 Jesus is at last going to usher 14:22 in His kingdom fully 14:23 and completely with His second 14:24 coming. 14:25 That's a great thing, 14:26 which brings us 14:28 to angel number two. 14:30 Would you turn in your Bibles, 14:31 please, to Revelation 14:8. 14:34 Revelation 14:8. 14:35 It's found on page 14:36 830 in the red pew Bible 14:39 that is somewhere around 14:40 where you are at. 14:41 Page 830, Revelation 14, 14:45 beginning with verse 8. 14:47 This is the second angel. 14:50 It says this. 14:51 "A second angel followed 14:53 and said, 'Fallen, fallen is 14:55 Babylon the Great, 14:58 which made all the nations 14:59 drink the maddening wine 15:01 of her adulteries.'" 15:03 And I'll tell you what. 15:05 That sounds like such good news. 15:06 I cannot wait to tell 15:08 my neighbor Bob. 15:09 [ Laughter ] 15:12 "Hey, Bob? Bob. It's me, Shane." 15:15 For those of you that 15:16 weren't here last week, Bob is 15:17 all of our next-door neighbor. 15:18 He's in his 20s, 30s, and 40s. 15:20 He's not religious, but he's 15:21 kind of open to spiritual things 15:22 every now and then. 15:23 And we talk to him 15:24 about the first angel, 15:25 and we want to tell him about 15:26 the second now. 15:28 "Bob? Bob? It's me. Listen. 15:29 Yeah. 15:30 So, there's another message. 15:31 Can I come in?" 15:33 And because Bob's a nice guy, 15:34 he lets me in. 15:37 "Hey, Bob. Listen, uh, 15:38 so you know that message, 15:39 you know, that I talked to you 15:40 about last time, remember? 15:41 Kind of got it wrong the first 15:42 time, but then I came back. 15:43 It was good news." 15:44 And Bob's like, 15:45 "Uh-huh, that was pretty good. 15:45 I like that. Yeah. Okay." 15:46 "Guess what? 15:47 There's a second one. 15:48 And this is just before 15:49 you know, all this. 15:50 The time comes to an end. 15:51 God has 15:52 a special message for you, 15:53 and it goes like this. 15:56 Uh...uh... 15:58 All right, let's see. 'Fallen. 16:01 Fallen is Babylon the Great. 16:02 Made all the nations drink 16:03 the maddening 16:04 wine of their adulteries.' 16:04 All right, so, Bob, 16:06 I'm not exactly sure 16:07 what the message is, all right? 16:08 But it's for you, and, Bob, 16:11 have you been drinking? 16:14 Have you been drinking? 16:15 Because if you have, 16:15 God is onto it. 16:17 And stepping out on your wife? 16:18 I mean, like, on a global scale. 16:19 You've been all over the world 16:20 doing this kind of stuff, right? 16:22 God knows about it. 16:23 And He's coming for you. 16:23 Are you ready? 16:27 Now, Bob, we still have that 16:28 Bible study on Thursday nights. 16:29 We study exactly 16:30 this kind of stuff. 16:30 Would you like to join me?" 16:35 Bob is not sure that he ever 16:37 wants to be at a Bible study 16:38 where I am in charge, okay? 16:40 Because Bob 16:41 has no idea what I just said. 16:45 And truth be told, it's possible 16:48 that maybe some of us 16:50 don't know, either. 16:53 Because in my experience, 16:54 many Christians, 16:55 including many Seventh-day 16:56 Adventists, you know, 16:57 when it comes to 16:58 the first angel, at least 16:59 we understand the verbiage. 17:00 You know, we may not 17:01 totally understand right off 17:02 the bat all the symbolism there. 17:04 But, you know, the idea, 17:05 you know, our judgment 17:06 and Creator 17:07 and those kinds of things, 17:08 we kind of understand it. 17:10 But when you get to the 17:11 second angel, all bets are off. 17:12 I mean, adultery, 17:14 maddening wine? 17:15 I mean, what is being 17:17 said here? 17:19 And yet this is core, 17:20 absolutely core, 17:22 to the unique mission of the 17:24 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 17:26 So, we need to figure it out. 17:27 Let's do some digging. 17:29 And as I said before, 17:30 in previous 17:31 installments of this series, 17:32 I am going to cut some corners. 17:34 I don't have time. 17:35 As an Adventist, 17:36 all times are short, 17:37 including for my sermon, 17:38 so I'm going 17:39 to cut some corners. 17:40 If I reach a conclusion, and 17:41 you're wondering, "How in the 17:42 world did he get that?" 17:43 Come and see me afterwards. 17:44 Love to have a chance to discuss 17:45 these things with you. 17:46 So, if we're going to start 17:48 at the end here, let's find out 17:49 what this angel is saying. 17:50 Let's start 17:51 with the word "adultery." 17:52 This is not talking about 17:54 physical adultery here. 17:55 This is instead 17:56 a spiritual application. 17:57 It is when God's people 17:59 turn away from Him to other gods 18:02 or other ways of living. 18:04 Okay? That's 18:05 what spiritual adultery is. 18:06 God's people turning away 18:07 from Him to other gods 18:09 or to other ways 18:11 of living than what 18:12 God has commanded them to do. 18:14 Now, in the Bible, the idea that 18:15 God is married to His people, 18:17 there's actually quite a few 18:18 examples of that in both 18:19 the Old and the New Testament. 18:20 God is pictured 18:21 as the groom. 18:22 God's people is pictured 18:23 as the bride. 18:24 They are wed in what is 18:26 to be this holy ceremony. 18:30 And adultery means that 18:31 you were married first, right? 18:32 You can't commit "adultery" 18:33 unless you were first married. 18:36 And so, here we have 18:37 this idea of spiritual adultery. 18:39 At one point, 18:40 whoever Babylon is, they 18:41 were with Christ, 18:42 and they turn away. 18:44 And at the end of time -- 18:45 because, remember, 18:47 that's the context of the three 18:47 angels' messages -- 18:49 at the end of time, 18:50 how does the church 18:51 do this turning away? 18:53 Well, they do it by drinking 18:55 and by serving to others 18:57 Babylonian "wine." 19:01 Well, what's this "wine" about? 19:04 Well, wine is simply teaching. 19:06 Wine is teaching, 19:07 spiritually speaking, 19:08 is teaching its doctrine, 19:09 its values, its beliefs. 19:10 We're not talking 19:12 about rotten grapes. 19:13 So, the devil's not setting up 19:13 a champagne 19:14 stand at the end of time 19:16 and serving it to the world. 19:17 This is spiritual things, 19:18 teachings, doctrines -- 19:19 values, and beliefs. 19:20 So, notice carefully. 19:22 When it refers 19:23 to unfaithful human beings 19:25 and their "wine," 19:27 when the Bible references 19:28 that, it is a reference 19:29 to what those unfaithful people 19:31 are teaching others 19:32 to believe and do. 19:36 So, let this sink in. 19:37 And if you're a guest with us 19:38 today, and you've never heard 19:39 this before, this might be a 19:41 little startling. 19:43 Whomever this Babylon 19:44 is at the end of time, 19:48 Babylon started at some time 19:53 as the faithful bride of Christ. 19:56 They were God's people 19:57 at some point, 19:59 but then at some point 20:00 they turn away from Christ 20:03 and follow after Satan 20:04 and his teachings. 20:06 And through false teaching, 20:08 particularly again at the end 20:09 of time, Babylon leads others, 20:12 even the nations of the world -- 20:13 this is a global thing 20:14 that's being described here -- 20:15 to also "commit adultery" 20:17 and leave Christ behind. 20:20 And here's the kicker -- 20:21 all the while looking like 20:24 the true bride of Christ. 20:30 Well, knowing that, who 20:34 is Babylon? 20:36 It's kind of important, 20:37 isn't it, here? 20:38 I mean, it's right at the core 20:39 of the three angels' messages. 20:40 "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." 20:42 Hmm. Who is Babylon? 20:44 Well, as it turns out, 20:46 the Old Testament is going 20:47 to help us out here. 20:48 You know, many times 20:49 in the Book of Revelation, 20:50 the symbols that are all there, 20:51 the key to understanding them 20:52 is in the Old Testament. 20:54 There are many Christians 20:55 these days 20:56 that refer to themselves 20:57 as New Testament Christians. 20:58 And they don't follow -- 20:59 they don't pay any attention 21:00 to the Old Testament, 21:01 which is a little bit odd 21:02 because the first Christians 21:04 in the first century 21:05 only had the Old Testament 21:06 as their Bible, 21:07 and they were pleased about it. 21:08 It was a good thing. 21:09 Okay? So, the Old Testament, 21:11 just as inspired as the New. 21:12 Let's look for some keys. 21:14 Genesis 11:1, please. 21:16 It's on page seven in your 21:18 red Bible. 21:20 Genesis 11, 21:23 beginning with verse one. 21:25 Now, while you're looking that 21:26 up, Babylon, in 21:29 the second angel's message, 21:30 cannot refer to literal Babylon. 21:33 You know, literal Babylon 21:33 actually existed. 21:34 They were basically 21:35 in two phases. 21:36 There was the Babylonian Empire, 21:36 then there was 21:37 the Neo-Babylonian Empire. 21:39 King Nebuchadnezzar, 21:39 he was part of the 21:40 Neo-Babylonian Empire, 21:42 end of the seventh century, 21:43 sixth century B.C., etcetera. 21:45 Second angel is not referring 21:46 to them because literal 21:48 Babylon at the time 21:49 when this is written in the 21:50 second angel was a dust heap. 21:52 You know, this is in Iraq, 21:53 current-day Iraq, 21:55 where Babylon used to be, 21:57 and it was just a dust 21:58 heap then. 21:59 So, it can't be referring 21:59 to that. 22:00 It can also not be 22:02 referring exclusively to Rome. 22:05 You know, the Christians 22:07 in the early Christian church 22:08 did refer to Rome as Babylon. 22:09 And some have said, "Well, 22:10 that's the total extent 22:11 of this message." 22:12 No, no, no, no, no. 22:13 That's not the total extent. 22:14 In fact, it proves the point. 22:16 You see, Babylon 22:18 early in its history -- we'll 22:20 see this in just a moment -- 22:21 became a persecutor 22:23 of God's people 22:25 and opposed to God's purposes. 22:28 So, any nation that came along 22:30 to oppress the Jews could easily 22:32 be called Babylon, 22:33 including Rome. 22:35 And so, because most Christian 22:36 converts were converts 22:37 from Judaism, the name stuck, 22:41 and it was an ancient one. 22:43 To find out who Babylon is 22:45 in the second angel, 22:47 we need to go back past Rome. 22:49 We need to go back past, 22:50 actually, 22:51 the Neo-Babylonian Empire. 22:53 We need to go back to where 22:55 we find the first reference to 22:56 the root of the word "Babylon." 22:58 We're going to read a story here 22:59 in Genesis 11 about something 23:01 called the Tower of... 23:04 Babel...Babelon...Babylon. 23:08 This is where the same root word 23:09 is in common here. 23:11 Babylon to the pagans 23:12 meant gate of the gods. 23:13 Doesn't that sound fancy? 23:15 I mean, imagine if you told your 23:16 neighbor, "You know, we call 23:17 it -- I'm going to the gate 23:18 of the gods this morning." 23:19 Ooh, that sounds great. 23:21 The idea was 23:22 that the gods would come down, 23:24 and they would converse with men 23:25 and mankind, and mankind would 23:26 become wealthy and wise, 23:27 etcetera. 23:29 Well, after the Tower of Babel, 23:30 the Jews kind of got 23:31 a little soured on that idea, 23:32 and they actually matched 23:33 the root word here 23:34 to another Hebrew word 23:36 that meant confusion. 23:38 And so, 23:39 that's the meaning that stuck. 23:40 Babylon came to mean 23:41 spiritual confusion. 23:43 And it all started here, 23:44 Genesis 11:1. 23:47 "Now, the whole world had one 23:48 language and a common speech. 23:50 As men moved eastward, 23:51 they found a plain in Shinar 23:53 and settled there. 23:54 They said to each other, 23:56 'Come, let's make bricks 23:57 and bake them thoroughly.' 23:59 They used brick instead of stone 24:00 and tar for mortar. 24:01 Then they said, 'Come, 24:03 let us build ourselves 24:04 a city with a tower 24:06 that reaches to the...'" 24:07 What? 24:08 "To the heavens." 24:10 Oh, that's interesting. 24:10 "'A tower that reaches 24:11 to the heavens so that 24:12 we may make a name for ourselves 24:14 and not be scattered over 24:16 the face of the whole earth.'" 24:19 Huh. Why would they be concerned 24:21 about being scattered over 24:22 the face of the whole earth? 24:24 What had happened just a few 24:25 chapters earlier? 24:26 >> The flood. 24:27 >> The flood -- exactly. 24:28 So, in other words, 24:29 the implication here 24:30 is quite clear. 24:31 They did not believe 24:32 when God said, "I will never 24:34 flood the entire planet again." 24:36 They said, "No, no, we can't 24:37 trust what God's going to say. 24:38 We are going to have to" -- key 24:40 phrase here -- "save ourselves. 24:43 We're going to work our way 24:45 to heaven one brick at a time." 24:50 This may be the first recorded 24:51 scriptural incidence of someone 24:52 trying to earn their way 24:54 into heaven. 24:58 Now follow me carefully here. 25:00 As it turns out, 25:02 there are at least three 25:03 distinct sides 25:05 of spiritual Babylon. 25:07 We're going to look at two 25:08 this morning, 25:09 and each of these three 25:10 are sufficiently strong 25:13 that if someone or an entity 25:14 has even one of these 25:16 characteristics of Babylon, 25:17 it is sufficient to qualify them 25:19 as a member of Babylon. 25:21 We're about to look at the first 25:22 side here. 25:24 You see, as it turns out, 25:26 Babylon, at the end of time, 25:29 has a gospel -- a "gospel." 25:32 Now, we read in the first 25:33 angel's message, didn't we? 25:34 So, the first angel's message, 25:35 "Christ is love." 25:36 He has the eternal gospel 25:37 to give to every nation, tribe, 25:38 language, tongue, etcetera, 25:39 of the true gospel. 25:41 The devil sees that at the end 25:42 of time and says, "No, no, no, 25:42 no, no. 25:43 We're not going to let this go 25:44 without some competition. 25:45 I have a gospel, too." 25:46 It's Babylon's gospel -- 25:48 "gospel" -- and it is spelled 25:51 "d-o," because it's about what 25:54 you do to appease a God 25:57 you know that you have offended. 25:59 Okay? So, we humans, you know, 25:59 we have this sense 26:01 of guilt, right? 26:02 Some sort of sense of separation 26:02 from God, 26:03 and so we want to get 26:04 back into His good graces again. 26:06 So, we get on the good works 26:08 treadmill, right? 26:09 Hit the little button, 26:10 and we start to go. 26:11 We start to crank up 26:12 the good stuff, right? 26:13 We give some money to charity, 26:14 maybe some offering to the 26:16 children's offering at Pioneer. 26:17 We help elderly ladies 26:18 across the street. 26:20 We don't cheat on our taxes, 26:20 right? 26:21 But we never quite feel like 26:22 we've done enough. 26:23 And so, we crank up the score 26:24 a little bit more, 26:25 and we not only go to church, 26:26 we also go to Sabbath school. 26:28 And if we're really feeling 26:29 pious, we'll actually study 26:30 our lesson, too. 26:31 And we're doing all these things 26:32 and we're going up, we're 26:33 cranking the score. 26:34 The trouble is, is that we never 26:35 feel satisfied because it's like 26:36 a salesman that's been said, 26:37 "Meet your quota," but you're 26:38 never told what the quota is. 26:39 And you keep going, 26:40 and you keep going, and you 26:42 keep going and you keep going. 26:43 And finally you say, "Enough! 26:47 I can't do it." 26:49 And you get sick and tired 26:50 of trying 26:51 to earn the love of a God 26:52 who never seems to quite have 26:54 enough goodness out of you. 26:56 And you bail out 26:57 on that quote "gospel." 27:01 And many people bail on God 27:02 and church 27:03 and the whole nine yards, 27:04 and they don't come back. 27:07 That's Babylon's gospel. 27:09 It's spelled "d-o," 27:11 and I'm not into that. 27:14 And neither is Jesus. 27:17 However, 27:19 I am in to the true Gospel, 27:23 the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 27:24 because the Gospel of 27:26 Jesus Christ is spelled 27:29 "d-o-n-e," because it's about 27:33 what Jesus has done 27:36 when He came down to this planet 27:37 in the form of a man, 27:38 and He stretched out His arms, 27:39 and He was crucified 27:41 as a substitute for me 27:42 dying for my sins 27:43 and you dying for yours. 27:45 And for everybody that accepts 27:46 Jesus Christ 27:47 as their Lord and Savior, 27:48 they get at least two things. 27:49 Number one, in heaven's records, 27:51 they move from being guilty 27:52 to being forgiven, 27:54 from being lost to being found, 27:56 from living in darkness 27:57 to living in the light 27:58 of Jesus Christ. Amen? 27:59 >> Amen! 28:00 >> And they also get a second 28:00 gift. 28:01 This is like winning 28:02 the spiritual lottery. 28:03 They get this second gift. 28:04 The second gift is the power 28:05 of God's Holy Spirit. 28:07 And we can finally 28:08 have the power 28:09 to become the kind of person 28:10 that God has always dreamed 28:12 we could be -- a person of love 28:13 and honor 28:14 and respect and obedience 28:15 and goodness and kindness 28:16 and all of these things. 28:18 We can at last become those 28:19 things. 28:21 That's the true Gospel 28:22 of Jesus Christ. 28:23 It's spelled "d-o-n-e" 28:25 and, praise the Lord, 28:26 I get to be a part of that. 28:28 And you can, too. 28:29 >> Amen. Amen. 28:34 >> I want to be super, 28:35 super clear about something. 28:36 Let me put some stuff up here 28:38 on the screen for you. 28:41 "Good works are the fruit, 28:44 not the root of salvation." 28:47 Roll that one around a little 28:48 bit. 28:49 "Good works are the fruit, 28:50 not the root of salvation." 28:51 Now, this is not my verbiage. 28:53 This is actually from the book 28:54 "Great Controversy." 28:55 Again, you can pick up a copy, 28:56 the last 14 chapters of it, 28:57 when you leave today. 28:58 "Good works are the fruit, 28:59 not the root of salvation." 29:00 Now, this comes 29:01 from "Great Controversy," 29:02 page 256. 29:04 Ellen White wrote these words. 29:05 She was one of the founders of 29:06 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 29:07 and a true prophet of God. 29:09 She wrote this about the life 29:11 of John Wesley. 29:12 Now, John Wesley 29:13 was one of the main leaders 29:14 of one of the greatest 29:15 revivals that took place there 29:16 in the 19th century. 29:18 And prior to his encounter with 29:20 Christ, he was very meticulous. 29:22 I mean, he claimed Christianity. 29:24 He sought to keep God's law 29:25 and to do 29:26 all the right stuff in there. 29:27 But he hadn't really met 29:28 Jesus yet. 29:30 And when he did, 29:32 it was transformational. 29:33 Let me just put a quote up here. 29:35 "Great Controversy," page 256. 29:37 "Through long years of wearisome 29:38 and comfortless striving -- 29:40 years of rigorous self-denial, 29:42 of reproach and humiliation -- 29:44 John Wesley had steadfastly 29:45 adhered to his one purpose 29:47 of seeking God. 29:49 Now" -- this is when he met 29:49 Jesus. 29:51 "Now he had found Him; 29:53 and he found that the grace 29:55 which he had toiled to win 29:56 by prayers and fasts, by 29:58 almsdeed and self-abnegation, 30:00 was a" what? 30:01 "A gift 'without money and 30:02 without price.' 30:05 Once established in the 30:06 faith of Christ, 30:07 his whole soul burned with 30:09 the desire to spread everywhere 30:10 a knowledge of the glorious 30:11 gospel of God's free grace." 30:13 Now, notice 30:14 what's going to come here next. 30:15 There are many today that, 30:17 in hearing 30:18 about a story like this, 30:20 might say something like this. 30:21 "And then Wesley felt 30:23 comfortable doing whatever he 30:24 wanted to do. 30:26 Left the law keeping 30:28 and doing good things. 30:29 Left all that behind 30:30 and just kind of walked 30:31 in the grace of Jesus Christ." 30:31 Notice carefully 30:33 what actually happened. 30:34 "He," Wesley, "continued his 30:36 strict and self-denying life, 30:38 not now as the ground, 30:41 but the result of faith; 30:43 not the root, 30:44 but the fruit of holiness. 30:47 The grace of God in Christ 30:48 is the foundation 30:49 of the Christian's hope, 30:50 and that grace will be 30:52 manifested in obedience." 30:55 But this is powerful stuff here, 30:57 which helps support at least 30:58 two further conclusions. 30:59 "Good works are the fruit, 31:00 not the root of salvation." 31:01 Secondly, "We don't do 31:03 good things to be saved. 31:04 We do good things because 31:05 we have been saved." 31:07 And, lastly, 31:08 notice this. 31:10 "Good works therefore do not 31:11 establish the Remnant. 31:12 They simply reveal it." 31:15 Chew on that one over potluck 31:16 this afternoon. 31:17 The Bible is crystal clear 31:18 about this. 31:19 Ephesians 2:8-9. 31:20 My guess is many of you 31:21 have that memorized. 31:22 "For it is by grace that you 31:24 have been saved through faith." 31:26 And this is not from yourselves. 31:27 It is the...? 31:28 "Gift of God." 31:29 Not by what? 31:30 "Not by works, 31:32 so that no one can boast." 31:33 And then comes verse 10. 31:35 Says, "For we are God's 31:35 workmanship, 31:36 created in Christ Jesus 31:37 to do good works, 31:40 which God prepared in advance 31:41 for us to do." 31:43 We're finally set free, again, 31:44 to become the people 31:45 that God has always dreamed 31:46 we could be. 31:48 Doing what God has asked us to 31:49 do is the result of salvation 31:51 from Him, not the cause. 31:55 And, again, Babylon says, "No. 32:00 You must earn your keep." 32:04 In fact, this is the first side 32:07 of Babylon -- trying to earn my 32:08 salvation. 32:09 There's three sides, remember -- 32:10 at least these three sides. 32:11 This is the first one, 32:12 trying to earn my salvation. 32:13 Now, this is extraordinarily 32:14 harmful. 32:15 Again, very discouraging 32:16 to who knows how 32:17 many people throughout history 32:18 when they fall into this part 32:19 of Babylon's "gospel." 32:21 There is a second side 32:22 of Babylon. 32:24 And to get at it, 32:25 we need to go back 32:26 and dig a little bit deeper with 32:27 this idea of spiritual adultery. 32:29 You remember what the text said, 32:30 the second angel -- "Fallen, 32:31 fallen is Babylon the Great, 32:33 which made all the nations drink 32:33 the maddening wine 32:34 of her adulteries." 32:35 Well, let's get 32:36 a little more specific about 32:38 what spiritual adultery entails. 32:39 I want to put this up 32:40 on the screen. 32:41 This is Jeremiah 3:6-9. 32:44 God here is again 32:46 represented as the husband. 32:47 Israel is his faithless wife 32:50 in this particular scenario. 32:51 "During the reign of 32:52 King Josiah, the Lord said 32:53 to me" -- to Jeremiah -- 32:55 'Have you seen what faithless 32:56 Israel has done? 32:57 She has gone up 32:58 on every high hill 32:59 and under every spreading tree 33:00 and has committed 33:01 adultery there.'" 33:02 This is spiritual adultery. 33:03 "'I thought that after 33:04 she had done all this, 33:06 she would return to me, 33:07 but she did not. 33:08 And her unfaithful sister 33:09 Judah saw it. 33:11 I gave faithless Israel 33:13 her certificate of divorce 33:15 and sent her away because 33:16 of all her adulteries. 33:17 Yet I saw 33:18 that her unfaithful sister 33:19 Judah had no fear; 33:20 she also went out 33:22 and committed adultery. 33:23 Because Israel's immorality 33:25 mattered so little to her, 33:27 she defiled the land 33:28 and committed adultery'" -- 33:30 and notice the last part -- 33:31 "'with wood and stone.'" 33:34 What did they use wood and stone 33:35 in those days to do? 33:38 Yeah. To make idols. 33:40 They would carve idols. 33:41 You know, statues of supposed 33:43 "deities," etcetera, like that. 33:44 That's what's 33:45 being referred to here. 33:46 So, in other words, 33:47 Israel was engaging in idolatry, 33:50 and that was referred 33:51 to as spiritual adultery. 33:53 Now, you tell me -- simple 33:54 question. 33:55 Is there a commandment 33:56 that deals with idolatry? 33:58 Yeah, yeah. "Don't make 33:59 any graven images," right? 34:00 Don't bow down to them, 34:01 etcetera, etcetera, very, very 34:02 clearly. 34:03 And, of course, all that's based 34:04 on the first commandment, "Thou 34:05 shalt have 34:06 no other gods before me." 34:07 In other words, 34:09 Israel took God's law, 34:11 in this case against idolatry, 34:12 and replaced it 34:13 with something else. 34:17 The second side of Babylon 34:19 sets aside God's law 34:21 and replaces it 34:22 with something else. 34:25 And, sadly, this represents 34:26 a huge portion 34:27 of the Christian world today, 34:29 who have done one of at least 34:30 two things 34:31 when it comes to God's law. 34:32 Number one, they sincerely 34:34 believe and teach that the law 34:35 of God was done away with 34:37 at the what? 34:38 At the cross. 34:40 Yeah, they go to Colossians 2, 34:41 and they think 34:42 that what they are reading there 34:43 is that the Ten Commandments 34:44 were nailed to the cross, 34:45 and therefore we are no longer 34:46 under those things. 34:47 We're under grace. 34:49 Jesus Himself 34:50 prohibits that interpretation. 34:52 I don't have time 34:53 to go into it today. 34:54 But if you look at 34:55 Matthew 5:17-19, 34:57 Jesus there very clearly says, 34:58 "Until heaven 34:59 and earth disappear, 35:00 not the least stroke of a pen, 35:01 not one jot, not one tittle 35:03 from the law will disappear 35:04 until all is fulfilled." 35:06 Now, what that means is, if you 35:08 look up and you see a sky, 35:09 if you look down 35:11 and you see the earth, 35:12 the law of God 35:12 is still in effect. 35:14 Those Ten Commandments 35:15 are still there. 35:16 It's something that 35:17 the Christian, that the world 35:18 should pay attention to. 35:20 We'll talk more about these 35:21 another time. 35:23 Secondly, 35:25 the second side of Babylon 35:26 is expressed through the fact 35:27 that there are millions 35:28 of professing Christians today 35:30 who will take some parts 35:31 of God's law as it is written, 35:34 but then they will take 35:35 other parts of God's law 35:36 and attempt to change it and 35:38 replace it with something else. 35:40 Just briefly, 35:40 two classic examples 35:42 that are very prevalent today. 35:43 The fourth commandment, 35:44 you know, the fourth 35:45 of the Ten Commandments. 35:46 "Remember the Sabbath day 35:47 to keep it holy. 35:47 Six days shalt thou labor 35:48 and do all thy work. 35:49 But the seventh day is the 35:50 Sabbath of the Lord thy God." 35:52 The Sabbath only occurs 35:53 in a certain spot, 35:55 not because I said so, 35:56 but because God said so. 35:57 It's only in that place. 35:58 We can pretend about other 35:59 things, but it only is right 36:01 there. 36:02 And in Jewish reckoning, 36:03 that went from Friday 36:04 sundown to Saturday sundown. 36:06 That's the only place that 36:07 the holy hours of the Sabbath 36:08 are found. 36:09 Yet today, there are 36:11 untold millions of Christians 36:12 that believe that Sunday 36:13 is the day of worship. 36:15 Some of them believe 36:16 that Sunday is the new Sabbath. 36:17 Others just simply believe 36:18 that the whole idea of a Sabbath 36:19 was done away with, 36:20 and in honor of the resurrection 36:21 they worship on Sunday. 36:23 Here's the challenge. 36:24 The Bible says absolutely 36:25 nothing about that. 36:27 There's no command to do that. 36:29 But the command to follow 36:30 the true Sabbath 36:31 is still in force. 36:32 Jesus kept 36:33 the seventh-day Sabbath. 36:34 The disciples kept the 36:35 seventh-day Sabbath both before 36:36 and after the resurrection 36:37 of Jesus. 36:39 The early Christians all kept 36:40 the seventh-day Sabbath. 36:41 In fact, they went to church in 36:43 the synagogue with their Jewish 36:44 counterparts because, again, 36:45 most converts to Christianity 36:47 were from Judaism. 36:51 Another example is the first 36:52 commandment -- "Thou shalt have 36:53 no other gods before me." 36:55 And yet there are millions of 36:56 Christians today that will 36:57 essentially worship saints -- 37:00 now, the idea that, you know, 37:01 somehow these good people 37:02 from the past have died, 37:03 and now they're still able 37:04 somehow to hear your requests 37:05 and that miracles can happen 37:06 through them, etcetera. 37:07 The Bible is not only not 37:08 in favor of that. 37:09 It actually 37:11 speaks specifically against it. 37:12 And yet there are millions 37:13 that do it. 37:15 Now, notice carefully here. 37:17 I would say the great majority 37:18 of these Christians 37:19 that do these things 37:20 are doing them sincerely. 37:22 In other words, they don't know. 37:25 They have not heard the truth 37:25 for this time. 37:27 And so, they, I mean, 37:29 they are waiting for someone 37:31 to reveal these things to them. 37:33 But I want you to notice 37:34 carefully what happens, 37:36 whether we are sincerely 37:37 doing it or deviously doing it. 37:38 What happens when we set aside 37:41 God's law and put something 37:42 else in its place? 37:44 We harm ourselves 37:46 when we do that. 37:48 Because, after all, 37:49 what is the law of God for? 37:52 What's it for? 37:54 I mean, we know that it's not to 37:55 earn us our salvation. 37:56 We've already talked about that. 37:57 And it's not only there 37:58 to convict us of sin. 38:00 As important as that is, 38:01 there is still something deeper 38:02 at work 38:03 when it comes to the law of God. 38:05 And it is this -- the law of God 38:07 is given that we might know Him, 38:13 that we might know Him. 38:16 Remember what Jesus said? 38:17 John 17:3. 38:18 Remember, Jesus is praying 38:20 to His Father, and He says, 38:21 "And this is eternal life." 38:23 He gives this definition -- 38:24 "That they may know you," 38:25 pointing to His Father 38:26 in heaven, "the one true God, 38:27 and Jesus Christ, 38:28 whom you have sent." 38:30 Salvation -- the purpose 38:31 of salvation is to know God. 38:33 The essence of salvation 38:34 is to know God. 38:34 And notice this. 38:35 The law of God 38:36 is from the mind of God. 38:39 It is based on His heart. 38:42 It is therefore an excellent 38:44 reflection of who He is. 38:45 Now, God cannot be reduced 38:46 to His law. 38:47 No, no, no, no, no, no. 38:48 But, nonetheless, the law 38:49 is an excellent reflection 38:50 of who He is. 38:53 And if we throw out God's law, 38:54 we cannot know Him 38:55 in the deep way that He intends. 38:58 No wonder that James in the book 39:01 that has his name on it, 39:02 James 1:25, he invites us to 39:04 look intently into the perfect 39:05 law that gives -- what's that 39:08 word? 39:09 >> Freedom. 39:10 >> Freedom -- that gives 39:11 freedom. 39:12 And he says, "If we do this, 39:13 we will be blessed," 39:15 not because the law saves us, 39:17 but because it constantly 39:18 points us back to Jesus. 39:22 You see, 39:23 prior to accepting Jesus, 39:25 the law is our sworn enemy. 39:27 Make no mistake. 39:28 It condemns us. 39:29 We've broken God's law. 39:30 The law stands there proclaiming 39:32 our condemnation. 39:33 But after accepting Jesus, 39:35 the law is transformed, 39:37 as far as our relationship 39:38 to it. 39:38 The law becomes candy 39:39 for the soul. 39:40 It is sweet in the mouth 39:41 and in the life. 39:42 It is the essence of the path 39:43 to freedom. 39:45 Is this not part of the miracle 39:47 of salvation, of righteousness 39:49 by faith in Jesus Christ? 39:51 This is why before 39:53 we accept Christ, 39:54 keeping God's law can seem 39:55 empty and dry. 39:58 But after we accept Christ, 40:00 there is a change of attitude 40:01 inside of us. 40:03 God creates in us a clean heart. 40:05 He renews a right attitude, 40:07 a right spirit within us. 40:08 We have new cravings 40:09 and new desires, 40:11 not for that which is evil, 40:12 but for that which is good. 40:13 This is why, 40:15 after we accept Jesus 40:16 as our Lord and Savior, 40:17 He invites us to passionately 40:18 pursue obedience to His law. 40:22 Obedience without Christ 40:23 is legalism and damning. 40:26 But obedience with Jesus, 40:28 as James said, 40:29 is a path of freedom. 40:31 In fact -- 40:32 listen carefully, please. 40:35 Anyone who claims to be 40:36 a Christian 40:38 and does not passionately seek 40:40 full conformity to the will 40:41 and the law of God 40:44 is either spiritually sick 40:47 or not a Christian. 40:50 This is how solid 40:51 the transformation inside of us 40:52 is to be. 40:54 What did Jesus say? 40:55 "By their fruits 40:57 you shall know them." 40:59 What did Jesus say? 41:00 "If you love me, 41:01 keep my commandments." 41:04 Not to be saved, 41:06 but because we already have been 41:07 saved, and the change 41:09 inside of us has begun. 41:11 And we long to know Jesus better 41:13 and better and better. 41:17 And Babylon says, "No! 41:22 No, you can't have it because 41:26 the law has been done away with. 41:28 It's been changed and replaced 41:29 with something else. 41:30 And thus you cannot know God 41:31 to the depths He calls you to. 41:33 You cannot walk fully 41:34 in the freedom 41:35 He longs for you to have." 41:37 And millions of honest, 41:39 God-loving people suffer because 41:41 of this every single day. 41:46 And now we're ready to sum up 41:47 the second angel's message. 41:49 The first angel said, 41:50 "Honor and worship the Creator, 41:52 for justice is coming, and time 41:53 is running out." 41:54 The second angel essentially 41:54 says this. 41:56 Best way I know to put it today. 41:57 May change as I grow over time. 41:59 "Trying to earn my salvation, 42:00 or setting aside 42:01 God's law, won't work." 42:04 "Fallen," the text said. 42:05 And just in case 42:06 we miss the point, 42:07 it actually says it twice, 42:07 right? 42:08 "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the 42:09 Great." 42:10 She's not out leading the race. 42:12 Babylon's not 42:13 winning all of this out there. 42:14 No, no, no, she's fallen down. 42:17 "Trying to earn my salvation, 42:18 or setting aside 42:19 God's law, won't work." 42:21 And notice this carefully. 42:22 Anyone or any organization 42:24 that says you must 42:25 earn your own salvation, 42:27 or that God's law has been 42:28 altered or done away 42:29 with is Babylon, 42:32 be they Catholic, Protestant, 42:34 pagan, evangelical, 42:35 or Seventh-day Adventist. 42:42 And right now I think we should 42:43 go back to Bob. 42:48 "Hey, Bob. Bob, it's me, Shane, 42:50 your next-door neighbor. 42:51 I know, I know, last time 42:52 wasn't so good. 42:53 Sorry about -- 42:54 just give me give me another 42:55 chance here, if you would, Bob." 42:56 And because Bob is a nice guy, 42:57 he lets me in. 43:01 "Hey, Bob. 43:02 Listen -- I apologize. 43:05 You know, I kind of messed up 43:06 with the first message, 43:07 and maybe I've done it again 43:08 with the second. 43:08 I'm real sorry about that. 43:09 Listen -- I did some more study, 43:11 and actually it says something 43:13 different than what I thought. 43:14 You know, Bob, 43:17 there's nothing you can do 43:20 to make God love you any more 43:22 than He already does right now, 43:25 and there's nothing you can do 43:26 to make Him love you 43:27 any less than He does right now. 43:30 He just loves you. 43:33 If you decide to follow Jesus -- 43:34 and I hope you do -- 43:35 but if you do, you don't 43:36 have to clean yourself up first 43:38 before you come to Him. 43:38 He will 43:39 take you just as you are, Bob. 43:41 And, Bob, did you know 43:42 something? 43:43 If you choose Him 43:44 as your Lord and Savior, 43:46 He won't leave you that way. 43:48 He loves you too much 43:48 to do that. 43:50 You can become at last the kind 43:52 of person that God, 43:53 and, Bob, I'm guessing 43:54 that you have always dreamed 43:55 you could be -- a person of love 43:58 and of justice, of mercy 44:00 and dignity and kindness 44:02 and all of those things. 44:04 He loves you, 44:05 and He gave His life 44:06 that you can become 44:07 that kind of person. 44:09 Bob, what do you think? 44:10 Are you okay with that?" 44:16 And Bob thinks that's 44:18 pretty good. 44:20 He'd like to know more about 44:21 that kind of a God, 44:23 which brings us 44:25 to angel number three. 44:28 Turn in your Bibles, please. 44:29 Page 830. Revelation 14:9. 44:35 It's the last angel. 44:37 We've looked at number one. 44:39 We've looked at number two. 44:42 And now, number three, 44:43 verse 9, Revelation 14. 44:46 "A third angel followed them 44:47 and said in a loud voice, 44:50 'If anyone worships the beast 44:52 and his image 44:54 and receives his mark 44:56 on the forehead or on the hand, 44:58 he, too, will drink of the wine 45:00 of God's fury, which has been 45:02 poured full strength 45:03 into the cup of His wrath. 45:05 He will be tormented with 45:06 burning sulfur in the presence 45:07 of the holy angels 45:08 and of the Lamb, 45:10 and the smoke of their torment 45:11 rises forever and ever. 45:13 There is no rest day or night 45:15 for those who worship the beast 45:16 and his image, 45:17 or for anyone who receives 45:18 the mark of his name.'" 45:27 Well, not a single amen 45:28 in the house of the Lord 45:29 this morning. 45:30 [ Laughter ] 45:30 Right? 45:33 No praises from the lips 45:34 of the saints here. 45:35 I'll tell you what. 45:36 Let's see what Bob thinks, 45:37 shall we? 45:39 Let's try this out. 45:41 "Hey, Bob! 45:42 Bob, it's me again. 45:43 It's your neighbor Shane. 45:44 Yeah, I know, 45:46 I've been here before. 45:46 There's only three angels. 45:47 I'm not coming back after this, 45:48 all right? 45:49 Just one more chance, okay?" 45:51 And because Bob is a nice guy, 45:53 he's going to let me in, so... 45:55 "Hey, Bob, listen. 45:57 You're pretty 45:58 excited after we left last time. 46:00 I know. That was good stuff. 46:00 Well, as it turns out, God has 46:02 just one last final message here 46:04 before He returns, and He 46:06 wants you to know about it. 46:06 I got to tell you, Bob. 46:07 This is the best. 46:08 This is the greatest. 46:09 You're going to love this! 46:09 Listen. 46:10 God is going to have 46:11 a great, big party 46:13 at the end of time. 46:15 And you are not only on the 46:16 guest list -- you are on the 46:18 menu." 46:19 [ Laughter ] 46:21 "God's going to have this great, 46:22 big end-time barbecue, 46:24 and you are going to be 46:25 his shish kebab! 46:27 [ Chuckles ] 46:28 You see what I did there, Bob? 46:29 Like shish 'ka-bob,' right? 46:29 Got that? 46:31 Yeah. See? That kind of thing? 46:32 Right? See? You're going to 46:33 sizzle and fry and never die! 46:38 Now, truly, we do have a spot 46:39 in that Bible study. 46:39 If you want to come, 46:40 I can set you up. 46:41 I'll drop by, pick you up. 46:42 It's not a problem." 46:47 Not only is Bob 46:49 not coming to my Bible study, 46:52 but at this point, 46:53 Bob may not have much interest 46:54 at all in ever 46:56 cracking open the book again. 46:58 Right? And let's be honest. 47:03 Some of you listening right now 47:06 may be in somewhat 47:08 of the same boat. 47:11 You know, we found some 47:12 good news in the first angel, 47:14 and we found some good news 47:15 in the second angel. 47:16 But it kind of seems like 47:17 all bets are off when you get 47:18 to angel number three. 47:20 And let's be clear. 47:22 This is indeed the strongest 47:25 warning in all of Scripture -- 47:28 the strongest one. 47:29 I mean, there are other warnings 47:30 that God gives 47:31 sprinkled throughout Scripture. 47:32 This is the granddaddy 47:33 of them all. 47:35 There's nothing that tops 47:35 this one. 47:38 And yet... And yet... 47:42 I believe it is possible 47:43 to find some good news 47:45 even in this third angel. 47:48 But if we're going to find 47:49 this good news, we have to 47:50 understand at least two things. 47:53 Number one, God respects our 47:56 power of choice. 48:00 God respects 48:02 our power of choice. 48:04 You are made 48:05 in the image of God. 48:05 Whether we recognize 48:07 that fact or not is irrelevant. 48:08 We are made in the -- 48:09 for this particular point, 48:09 it's irrelevant. 48:10 That means 48:11 that we are free moral agents. 48:13 We have the ability to choose. 48:15 And God looks at us, 48:16 and He says, "You can 48:18 choose for or against me." 48:19 Now let that sink in. 48:20 The most powerful force in the 48:22 universe, the creator of all, 48:23 the Lord of all, will be stopped 48:25 by two letters from your lips. 48:27 N-o. 48:27 If you say no, 48:29 Jesus isn't going to come in. 48:31 Jesus is a gentleman. 48:32 He will not come in 48:33 where He's not wanted. 48:37 He's not interested in twisting 48:38 anybody's arm into the kingdom, 48:40 because someone that is 48:41 convinced against their will 48:42 is of the same opinion still. 48:44 Love to be loved 48:45 must be chosen freely. 48:48 And Jesus knows this. 48:49 And so, He has established 48:50 this rule that He will not 48:52 cross that line. 48:52 He's a gentleman. 48:53 He will not 48:54 come in where He's not wanted. 48:55 He will respect 48:56 your power of choice. 49:00 And secondly, if we're going 49:01 to find any good news 49:03 in the third angel's message, 49:05 we need to know 49:06 about little Johnny. 49:10 I want you to imagine that you 49:11 take your family on a picnic, 49:13 and it's a beautiful spring day, 49:14 and the temperature 49:15 is nice and warm, 49:16 and the sky is blue, 49:18 and the grass is green. 49:19 You lay out your picnic there 49:20 on this beautiful 49:21 picnic blanket, and you 49:22 and your children are there. 49:24 And there's birds 49:25 that are singing in the air, 49:26 but you can't hear 49:27 any of those birds, 49:29 because 100 yards away 49:31 is an eight-lane freeway, 49:34 four lanes in either direction. 49:35 It's heavy traffic time. 49:36 They're all going 80 miles 49:37 an hour, and there are no 49:39 guardrails on the freeway. 49:42 Now, why it is that you chose 49:43 to have a picnic at this place, 49:44 I have no idea, but I respect 49:45 your power of choice. 49:46 So, that's where 49:47 we're going to be, okay? 49:48 So, you've got your picnic there 49:49 and you're eating your sandwich 49:51 and just enjoying 49:52 this beautiful spring day, 49:53 when suddenly you realize 49:57 that little Johnny is not 49:59 where he's supposed to be. 50:01 I mean, 50:02 just a few moments earlier, 50:03 little Johnny was over there, 50:04 eating his sandwich on that 50:05 side of the blanket there, 50:06 and you took 50:07 a bite of your sandwich. 50:08 You look up again, 50:08 and little Johnny is not there, 50:10 and this sense of horror 50:11 comes over you, 50:12 and you think to yourself, 50:13 "Oh, no. Oh, no. 50:14 Surely Johnny is not..." 50:18 And you look up towards 50:19 the freeway, and, sure enough, 50:21 Johnny is. 50:23 Johnny is sprinting 50:25 for all he's worth, 50:26 straight towards that eight-lane 50:28 freeway with no guardrails. 50:32 And because you are a parent 50:34 who loves their children, 50:36 you throw your sandwich 50:37 onto the blanket, 50:38 you jump to your feet, 50:39 you cup your hands to your mouth 50:40 and you say, 50:43 [ Quietly ] "Johnny? 50:45 Johnny? 50:47 Johnny, you stop right now. 50:50 I've told you a dozen times 50:51 not to run and play next 50:52 to the freeway. 50:53 John, Johnny, you stop. 50:55 Johnny, you come... 50:56 Oh, Johnny." 50:57 [ Laughter ] 51:00 "Ooh! 51:03 Oh, well." 51:05 [ Laughter continues ] 51:10 "Dear, do we have 51:11 any more of those chips? 51:11 I don't think this sandwich 51:12 is going to do it." 51:16 Is that what a parent who loves 51:17 their children would do? 51:19 No. Instead, 51:21 a parent who loves their child 51:23 would realize the situation, 51:25 see little Johnny 51:26 sprinting towards destruction, 51:27 throw their sandwich down, 51:28 jump to their feet, 51:29 cup their hands and say... 51:30 [ Screaming ] Stop! 51:32 Stop! Johnny, stop!" 51:35 And then you would start 51:36 sprinting for all your worth 51:40 to try to catch up 51:41 with little Johnny, okay? 51:44 And imagine 51:45 that Mr. and Mrs. Smith 51:48 are about a quarter-mile away. 51:50 They've just had a newborn baby, 51:51 and they're pushing the little 51:52 baby in the carriage there, 51:53 and they see off here 51:54 in the distance, they see you 51:56 shaking your fist and yelling. 51:57 They can't make out what 51:57 you're saying, 51:58 but they know you're yelling, 51:59 and you're running 52:00 and shaking your fist. 52:01 And this little kid is running 52:02 away from you. 52:03 And Mr. Smith says 52:05 to Mrs. Smith, 52:06 "Well, honey, look at those 52:07 abusive parents over there. 52:08 Pfft! 52:09 Probably going to beat the kid 52:10 when he catches him. 52:12 I'm sure glad we're not like 52:13 those parents. 52:14 Aren't you, Mrs. Smith?" 52:15 And Mrs. Smith says, "Oh, yes. 52:16 I'm so glad we're not like 52:18 those parents. Yeah." 52:23 And, of course, the truth 52:26 is exactly the opposite. 52:28 It is because of love 52:30 that the parent does what 52:31 he does, what she does. 52:35 At the end of time, 52:37 God loves people too much 52:41 to just let them slide away 52:43 into destruction. 52:47 He is willing to do almost 52:49 anything to save them, 52:50 even if it means 52:51 raising His voice. 52:54 Ladies and gentlemen, 52:55 never apologize for the tone 52:57 of the third angel's message. 52:59 It may be the only thing 53:01 that brings back your friends 53:03 and mine from the edge 53:04 of oblivion. 53:08 There's much more that we could 53:09 say about this third angel, 53:10 but time prohibits. 53:11 Let's go ahead and sum this up. 53:14 The first angel said, 53:15 "Honor and worship the Creator, 53:17 for justice is coming, and time 53:18 is running out." 53:19 The second angel said, 53:20 "Trying to earn my salvation, 53:21 or setting aside 53:22 God's law, won't work." 53:24 And the best summary 53:24 I know of right now -- 53:25 as I grow, I may alter and 53:26 change this -- but right now, 53:27 this is the best way 53:28 I know to say it. 53:29 The third angel says, 53:30 "I can choose my own 53:31 destruction, but God in His love 53:34 will do all He possibly can to 53:36 change my mind." 53:37 >> Amen. 53:40 >> And right now 53:42 we need to go back to Bob. 53:47 "Hey, Bob. 53:48 It's me, your neighbor Shane. 53:51 Just one more time, please. 53:54 Just -- just once. Right?" 53:56 And because Bob is a nice guy, 53:58 he's going to let me in. 54:02 "Hey, Bob. Listen, uh, you know, 54:03 I'm, uh, I'm real sorry 54:05 about how last time went. 54:06 This last, 54:09 you know, this third message 54:10 that God wants you to hear, 54:12 you know, just right here 54:12 at the end of time. 54:14 So, I did some more studying. 54:15 And what God actually is trying 54:16 to say is..." 54:17 And at this point, 54:18 Bob reaches down, 54:19 and he picks up the Bible 54:21 that we gave him 54:21 a couple of weeks ago. 54:22 And he says, 54:23 "Hold on just a moment, Shane. 54:25 Listen. Um, I think 54:26 you might be a little confused 54:27 as to what's actually 54:28 happening here with this whole 54:29 three angels' message stuff. 54:30 You know, you left me 54:31 this Bible, 54:32 and after you left it with me, 54:34 particularly after the last time 54:35 that you were here, man, 54:36 I just thought, 'Pfft, that's 54:37 way out there. 54:37 I got to figure this out.' 54:38 And I began to study, and, man, 54:40 I have been in this thing 54:41 for hours and hours and hours. 54:43 It's got this concordance 54:44 in the back. 54:44 And I'm looking up stuff here 54:45 about spiritual adultery 54:47 and the mark of the beast 54:48 and all this stuff. 54:49 I got to tell you. 54:50 I think you're barking up 54:51 the wrong tree, Shane. 54:52 God is not doing this 54:54 to be mean to me. 54:54 God is saying this 54:55 to try to get my attention. 54:57 I mean, He loves me, 54:58 and He wants to be to be ready 54:59 when He comes back. 55:01 In fact, you know, last night 55:02 after reading 55:03 all these hours in here, 55:05 I asked Jesus to be my Lord 55:06 and Savior, 55:08 and He's the leader of my life. 55:11 You know, Shane, 55:13 you ought to read this book." 55:14 [ Laughter ] 55:16 "It's pretty good." 55:21 And Bob is right. 55:23 It is a good book. 55:25 You know, there's one more 55:27 installment in this series, 55:28 and you might be wondering, 55:30 "Well, that's all three angels. 55:31 What could you possibly put 55:32 for part four?" 55:33 Come on out, and we'll see. 55:34 There's one last thing 55:37 that you need to know 55:38 before we're ready to, 55:39 at least in my opinion, 55:40 fully understand 55:41 the unique mission of the 55:42 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 55:43 So, I hope 55:44 you can join us next week. 55:45 But until then, let's remember 55:47 something very, very important. 55:49 There are all kinds of neighbor 55:51 Bobs out there, 55:54 by the millions. 55:56 And they're sincerely looking 55:57 for truth. 55:59 They want something better 56:00 than what they have. 56:01 They are looking, if I can 56:03 put it this way, for religion, 56:05 pure and undefiled, 56:08 not meaning religious ceremonies 56:09 and structures 56:10 and all these types of things, 56:12 but religion that is saturated 56:12 in Jesus Christ, 56:14 that has Jesus Christ 56:15 at the center of it, 56:16 that Jesus is the locus. 56:17 He's the hub on the wheel. 56:18 Everything leads back to Christ. 56:20 And we present equally 56:22 the blessings of His grace 56:24 and the blessings of His law 56:25 to help us to become, 56:26 by His grace and His power, 56:27 the people He's always dreamed 56:28 that we could be. 56:29 There are millions 56:31 of our neighbor Bobs out there, 56:33 and they will be blessed 56:35 if we share with them 56:37 the message of Jesus Christ 56:38 and the three angels. 56:39 May each one of us prove 56:41 faithful to the unique mission 56:43 that God is charging us with. 56:45 >> Amen. 56:51 >> Thank you for taking the time 56:52 to join us in worship today. 56:53 I'd like to spend just 56:55 another moment with you here 56:56 at the end of our program 56:57 to share a word of hope. 57:00 In fact, that's what this little 57:01 book is all about. 57:04 In these uncertain times -- 57:05 and let's face it, they're 57:06 uncertain all over the planet -- 57:08 this book, entitled 57:09 "The Great Hope," 57:11 will help you understand 57:12 not just what God has planned 57:13 for your future, 57:15 but for the future of the entire 57:16 human race. 57:18 You know, light keeps shining 57:20 on this dark, old world, 57:21 and new truths, 57:22 long forgotten, are being 57:24 constantly rediscovered. 57:26 If you need a fresh dose of hope 57:28 in your life these days, 57:29 or if you know somebody else 57:30 who could sure use 57:31 that gift of hope, 57:32 then I'd like to invite you 57:33 to grab your phone 57:35 and dial our toll-free number. 57:36 877, the two words "HIS WILL." 57:40 That's 877-HIS-WILL. 57:43 And at no charge to you, 57:44 we'll get a copy in the mail 57:45 to you right away. 57:47 Till the next time we meet, 57:49 may the peace and hope 57:50 of the Lord Jesus Christ 57:52 be with you always. 58:00 ♪ 58:02 ♪ 58:12 ♪ 58:22 ♪ |
Revised 2024-05-06