Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP230019S
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00:01 Hello Friends, I'm Jill Morikone.
00:02 I just want to welcome you to another special edition of 00:05 Three ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:07 We're in the midst of our journey through second Quarter. 00:09 This is on three cosmic messages. 00:12 The incredible three angels' messages 00:15 of Revelation chapter 14. 00:16 We're on Lesson Number 7: 00:18 Worshipping the Creator 00:20 taken directly from the first angel's message. 00:23 If you want your own copy of the Adult Bible Study Guide, 00:26 you can go to 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 00:29 Download your own copy 00:31 and get ready to follow along with us 00:33 as we open up and study the Word of God together. 00:36 Music... 01:06 Hello Friends, I'm Jill Morikone. 01:08 We are always delighted when you tune in every week 01:11 as we explore the Word of God together 01:13 on 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:16 We're in the middle of our journey 01:18 through the three cosmic messages 01:20 of Revelation chapter 14. 01:22 This Lesson... Lesson Number 7 is: Worshipping the Creator. 01:26 I want to introduce to you my family 01:28 on the Set with me right now. 01:30 To my left, Professor Daniel Perrin. 01:32 It's a privilege and joy to have you 01:34 and I so appreciative your insights 01:36 into the Word of God on Sabbath School. 01:38 Perrin: Thank you very much and I love to be here 01:39 and my lesson is Monday's lesson: Worship the Creator. 01:43 Jill: Amen, Pastor John Dinzey, always glad to have you on. 01:47 Dinzey: It's a blessing to be here. 01:48 I've enjoyed these lessons... wonderful. 01:50 I have Tuesday: A God Who is Close. 01:53 Jill: Amen, Pastor Ryan Day, 01:55 always love to hear your insights, Brother. 01:58 Ryan: Amen... always a blessing to be a part of this 01:59 Sabbath School Panel. 02:01 I have Wednesday's Lesson entitled: 02:02 Gospel, Judgment, Creation. 02:04 Jill: Mmmm... last but not least 02:06 Pastor James Rafferty... delighted to have you here. 02:09 Rafferty: Good to be here, Jill, 02:11 I have Thursday's Lesson which is entitled: 02:13 The Creator on the Cross. 02:15 Jill: Hmmm... amen, before we go any further, 02:17 we want to go to the Lord in prayer 02:18 and Pastor James, would you pray for us? 02:20 Rafferty: Yes, "Father, I just want to thank you 02:22 for these three cosmic messages. 02:24 Thank you for the Quarterly and all the insights 02:27 that we are gaining and sharing with our Viewers. 02:30 We just pray that your Holy Spirit will be with us 02:32 to guide and direct our hearts to Jesus. 02:34 Help us to see Him in the midst of these messages 02:37 as the essence of the everlasting gospel. 02:39 We ask it in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:42 Jill: Amen... if you've been with us week to week, 02:45 you know that we have studied already the everlasting gospel 02:48 in Revelation 14 verse 6 02:51 and we spend a couple of weeks 02:53 on Fear God and give glory to Him 02:55 and the hour of His judgment has come. 02:59 Now, we step into one of my favorite portions 03:03 of the three angels' messages. 03:05 The first angel's message which is: Worshipping the Creator. 03:09 As humans, we often take our very existence for granted. 03:14 Do we not? 03:15 There's a philosophical question 03:17 that sometimes people ask themselves. 03:19 How do we exist? 03:21 How can there be something from nothing? 03:25 How can that have even happened? 03:28 How did the world evolve 03:30 or if it did not evolve and there was a Creator God, 03:34 how can something exist where there was nothing before? 03:39 Something exists because in the beginning Genesis 1 verse 1, 03:44 God created the heavens and the earth. 03:49 That word "Created" in the Hebrew, I love it, "Bara. " 03:52 It means something that God made out of nothing 03:56 and it's always used with God is the One... 04:00 God is the subject. 04:02 God is the One doing the creating. 04:04 In other words, there was nothing 04:06 and God created something. 04:08 There was darkness... God created light. 04:10 There wasn't any vegetation or plants or animals or water, 04:13 or fish or anything, 04:15 God created "bara" something out of nothing. 04:19 "In the beginning, God... " in contrast to Atheism, 04:23 "created" in contrast to evolution... 04:26 "created alone... " in contrast to Polytheism, 04:31 "God rules over creation... " in contrast to Pantheism. 04:37 Matter had a beginning as opposed to materialism 04:40 and the ultimate reality is God 04:44 as opposed to humanity. 04:45 Panel: Hmmm... 04:47 Jill: The first angel's message in Revelation 14 verse 7, 04:50 "Fear God, give glory to Him, 04:52 for the hour of His judgment has come; 04:55 and worship Him who made heaven and earth, 04:57 the sea and springs of water. " 05:00 This... we're going to spend two weeks on this concept 05:04 of worshipping the Creator. 05:06 This week we focus on: Worship God as Creator. 05:09 Next week, we talk more about the Sabbath and creation 05:13 and the Sabbath and eternal rest. 05:16 Our Memory Text is found in Revelation 4. 05:18 Revelation 4 verse 11, 05:21 "You are worthy, O Lord, 05:24 to receive glory and honor and power; 05:27 for You created all things, 05:28 and by Your will, they exist 05:30 and were created. " 05:32 On Sunday's Lesson, we look at John the Apostle 05:36 exiled to the Island of Patmos. 05:40 The title of Sunday's Lesson is: A Companion in Tribulation 05:44 but before we get to that, 05:47 I want to talk for just a moment about worship. 05:50 If we're talking about worship the Creator, 05:52 the central issue in the book of Revelation 05:54 is worship. 05:56 The central issue in the great controversy is worship. 06:01 Even the central issue in the battle in heaven 06:04 between Michael... Christ and the angels, 06:07 and Satan or the Dragon and his angels, 06:10 was over whose way was right 06:12 and loyalty to God 06:14 or loyalty to Satan and his deceptions in his lies 06:20 against God. 06:21 The same thing we see with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 06:25 The same thing with Cain and Abel... 06:27 it was about worship was it not? 06:29 The... the... their own works which was Cain with the fruit 06:34 or faith in the coming Messiah 06:37 which was Abel with a sacrifice of the lamb. 06:40 Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. 06:44 The issue was worship. 06:46 The three Hebrews on the Plain of Dura... 06:49 the issue was worship. 06:51 Would they bow down and worship the golden image 06:54 that Nebuchadnezzar had set up? 06:56 Or would they stand true in their allegiance 06:59 to the Creator God? 07:01 The second temptation in Jesus was over worship, was it not? 07:07 To bow down to Satan and worship. 07:09 In fact, Jesus said in Luke chapter 4 verse 8, 07:13 "You shall worship the Lord your God. " 07:16 He's speaking in response or rebuttal to Satan. 07:19 "And Him only you shall serve. " 07:21 In our day, I think of 1st John 2 verse 16, 07:24 John says, "All that is in the world... 07:27 the lust of the flesh, 07:28 the lust of the eyes, 07:30 the pride of life... 07:31 is not of the Father but is of the world. " 07:33 You see, today we choose to either worship Christ, 07:35 or to worship ourselves 07:36 or to worship the things of the world. 07:39 And the three angels' message we see, 07:42 "Worship the Creator... " that's in the first message 07:44 or... we believe we evolved. 07:47 We see worship on Sabbath 07:49 or we worship on Sunday the first day of the week. 07:53 We see in the second angel's message, 07:55 worship in Babylon... that false system of worship 07:59 or worship Christ and His truth 08:01 and as Revelation 18 says, 08:03 "Come out of her my people. " 08:05 And the third angel's message, 08:07 we see worship the beast and his image 08:09 on the false day of worship. 08:11 Worship Christ on the Sabbath day... 08:15 He sanctified and set apart. 08:16 "And receive the seal of the living God. " 08:20 You see, it's all about worship. 08:23 Worshipping Christ, though, is not always easy, is it? 08:27 It goes against the natural tide. 08:29 This is what John discovered... the Apostle John discovered. 08:33 He lived, of course, the longest of any of the apostles. 08:37 He was not martyred early like many of the other ones were. 08:41 The Roman Emperor Domitian 08:43 had started the persecution of the Christians 08:46 and John appeared before him 08:47 and was sentenced to be put into boiling oil. 08:50 We know that the Lord preserved his life 08:52 and he did not die. 08:54 And he was later exiled to the Island of Patmos 08:58 which is off of modern-day Turkey. 09:00 This would have been A.D. 95 09:03 and it would have been more than 60 years 09:06 after the death of Christ. 09:08 Patmos is a small rocky island, maybe ten miles long... 09:12 six miles wide 09:13 and prisoners and undesirable people were banished there 09:19 and John was banished to the Island of Patmos 09:23 and there, the Lord Jesus Christ showed up 09:26 and gave him these visions 09:28 and we have the book of Revelation as a result. 09:31 In Revelation 1 verse 9, 09:34 John's speaking, he says, "I, John, 09:36 your brother and companion in the tribulation 09:39 and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, 09:41 was on the island that is called Patmos 09:44 for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. " 09:48 The takeaway I see in that verse 09:50 is that a righteous life will bring about persecution. 09:54 We know Paul says in 2nd Timothy 3:12, 09:56 "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus 09:59 shall suffer persecution. " 10:02 If we jump back just a couple of verses to Revelation 1 verse 1, 10:06 it says, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 10:08 which God gave Him to show His servants... 10:10 things that must shortly take place. " 10:13 There is a purpose in your life and in mine 10:17 in trial and persecution. 10:19 David wrote many of the Psalms 10:22 while he was being hunted and pursued by Saul. 10:25 Isaiah lived during difficult times and died a martyr's death. 10:30 Ezekiel wrote in exile. 10:32 Jeremiah's life was one of trial and persecution. 10:35 Paul wrote some of his epistles from prison. 10:38 John wrote from exile on the island of Patmos 10:42 and yet, there was a purpose 10:43 in the midst of that trial and persecution. 10:46 I don't know if we're going to get to all of them 10:50 but I had six purposes of persecution and trial 10:53 in the life of a Christian. 10:55 We say, "What is the purpose of persecution? 10:57 What is the purpose of trial?" 10:59 Purpose number 1 is to develop righteousness in the soul. 11:03 Hebrews 12 verse 11... 11:06 this is not a verse I like very much, 11:08 "Now no chastening... chastisement... 11:10 for the present seems joyous, but grievous: 11:12 nevertheless afterward 11:14 it works the peaceable fruit of righteousness 11:17 to those who are trained by it. " 11:20 What does that mean? 11:22 Trials develop in me the fruit of the Spirit 11:26 and the righteousness of Christ is developed more fully 11:30 under trial and persecution. 11:32 Purpose Number 2: 11:33 Persecution and trial is to learn the Word of God. 11:39 Psalm 119 verse 71, 11:43 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted... " 11:45 wait a minute... it's good? 11:46 I don't rejoice in trial, 11:48 seriously, God, it's good that I've been afflicted, why? 11:52 "That I may learn your statutes. " 11:54 You see, we can learn the Word of God 11:57 in a specially way under times of persecution and trial. 12:02 Purpose Number 3 12:03 is to teach us to rely on God not ourselves. 12:07 This is Paul talking in 2nd Corinthians 1 12:12 verses 8 and 9, 12:13 "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, 12:15 of our trouble which came to us in Asia: 12:18 that we were burdened beyond measure... " 12:21 do you feel burdened beyond measure? 12:22 Have you experienced trials and persecution beyond measure? 12:26 "Above strength, so that we despaired of life. 12:30 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves... " 12:32 why? 12:34 "That we should not trust in ourselves 12:36 but in God who raises the dead. " 12:39 Trials and persecution 12:41 teach us to rely on God not ourselves. 12:45 Purpose Number 4: 12:46 Trials help us grow in patience. 12:50 James 1 verse 3, "Knowing this, 12:53 that the testing... or the trials of your faith 12:55 produces patience. " 12:58 Trials develop patience in the life of the Christian. 13:01 Number 5: 13:02 Trials develop character in the life of the Christian. 13:07 Romans 5:3 and 4, 13:09 "Not only this, we glory in tribulations, 13:11 knowing that tribulation produces perseverance... 13:15 remaining under pressure... " 13:18 perseverance produces what? Character. 13:20 "and character... hope. " 13:23 The purpose of trials is to develop character 13:26 and finally, Number 6: 13:27 The purpose of trials and persecution 13:29 is to enable you and me to bless and encourage someone else. 13:33 This is Paul again, 2nd Corinthians 1:3 and 4, 13:38 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 13:41 the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 13:44 who comforts us in our tribulation... 13:46 in our persecution in our time of trial... " 13:48 why? 13:50 "So that we can comfort someone else who is in trouble, 13:54 by the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. " 13:57 So, when we're walking through persecutions and trial, 14:01 it can be a difficult time 14:03 but in the midst of that, 14:05 God can have an overarching purpose in our life. 14:09 Perrin: Thank you, Jill, that was a good lesson 14:12 and I am Daniel Perrin and I have Monday's Lesson: 14:15 Worship the Creator 14:17 and the Lesson begins with these words, 14:19 it says, Revelation 14:7, ends with a clarion call 14:24 to worship the Creator. 14:26 I have to admit that I had to go to a dictionary 14:29 to look up what a "clarion call" is. 14:32 A clarion is a shrill war trumpet 14:34 from the Latin word: Clar... 14:36 in other words, it is an instrument 14:39 that is blown to summon people to the battle 14:42 to let them know where the point of conflict is. 14:44 And is there a conflict? 14:46 Is there some sort of battle around creation? 14:48 Wouldn't we expect with God's Word and Scripture being so clear 14:52 from the very first verse... very first word, 14:55 that we as Christians would be united around this one teaching 14:58 that God is our Creator. 15:01 But God predicted through the Apostle Paul to Timothy 15:05 that this day would come 15:06 in that letter to Timothy... 15:08 a young pastor encouraging him when trials were coming. 15:11 Chapter 1 verse 1 of 1st Timothy 15:14 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times... " 15:19 that's where we are right now, 15:21 "some will depart from the faith, 15:23 giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. " 15:27 So, this is talking about Christians 15:30 who take the truths of God's Word and set them aside. 15:33 Skipping now to 2nd Timothy, hear even more, 15:37 chapter 4 verse 3, 15:39 "For the time will come 15:40 when they will not endure sound doctrine; 15:42 but according to their own desires 15:44 because they have itching ears 15:47 they will heap up up for themselves teachers 15:50 and turn their ears away from the truth, 15:53 and be turned aside to fables. " 15:55 And so, we know through Scripture that this experience... 15:59 this time is coming 16:00 when there would be a great challenge to God's authority 16:02 and God's Word. 16:04 Peter said the same thing in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 5, 16:08 "they willfully forget... " 16:10 willfully forget... 16:12 "that by the word of God the heavens were of old, 16:15 and the earth standing out of water and in the water. " 16:19 Well, they willfully forget because the same God who created 16:22 is also the God who gives us a law and it's a law of love. 16:26 And hearts hardened by sin and selfishness 16:29 is that sometimes ours that we want to reject a Lawgiver 16:33 and want to do things our way. 16:34 And so, the enemy... he begins to attack the faith of God 16:39 and he attacks the foundation... 16:41 the very foundation where it all starts 16:43 because if he can destroy a foundation, 16:45 everything else is going to crumble. 16:47 And you can take any teaching of the Bible... 16:50 absolutely any one of them 16:51 and they all trace their origin back to God as Creator. 16:55 We as Seventh-day Adventists, we don't have a written creed, 16:59 we believe in the whole Word of God. 17:01 That's what we believe. 17:03 And yet we express that through 28 statements about what the... 17:07 what the Bible teaches 17:09 and you can walk through any one of those 28 statements 17:11 and every one of them... if God did not create, 17:14 then that one could not be true. 17:16 And so, our enemy knows 17:18 if we can detract people's mind from God as Creator, 17:21 the whole story of salvation 17:23 that you and I find a blessing to our lives 17:26 and eternal life falls underneath it. 17:29 Let's just take one of those though, 17:32 I want to read to you Isaiah 45 verse 12, 17:35 "I have made the earth, and created man on it. " 17:39 That is God's own word... 17:41 that is God's own words. 17:43 That is His testimony. 17:45 "I've made the earth and created man on it. " 17:48 Well, if God did not create the earth 17:51 and make man on it, 17:52 then, what is this statement? 17:53 It's a lie... 17:55 it's... it's dishonesty at the highest degree. 17:58 If we do not accept God as Creator, 18:01 then we take the entire Word of God 18:04 and we set it aside 18:05 and we put something else in its place. 18:08 "God said this... but I think this. " 18:10 And so, in Exodus 20 verse 11, we find this, 18:15 "In six days the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, 18:18 the sea, and all that is in them, 18:20 and rested on the seventh day. " 18:21 If God did not create... 18:23 He certainly didn't rest at the end of His creation 18:26 and so, when we place human opinion above the Word of God, 18:30 we deny God's Word... 18:32 we deny His wisdom... 18:33 we reject His authority... 18:35 we set Him aside as Lord of our lives 18:38 and to be Lord is to be the One we offer obedience. 18:42 So, 1st Thessalonians 2 verse 13, 18:46 says, "When you received the word of God 18:48 which you heard from us, 18:50 you welcomed it not as the word of men, 18:52 but as it is the truth, 18:54 the word of God, which also works effectively 18:57 in you who believe. " 18:59 If we deny the Word of God, 19:00 we deny the work of God... His power to work in us. 19:04 Creation establishes it all. 19:06 When we deny creation, 19:08 we also deny the attributes of God 19:11 that are worthy of praise. 19:13 From the very first verse of the Bible, 19:16 we're introduced to an all powerful God 19:18 who by His word creates. 19:20 He begins creation... 19:22 He continues it. 19:24 He's the One who says it's complete. 19:25 He's the One who assigns everything its place. 19:28 It's... He's the center... not the universe... 19:31 the earth is not the center, God is the center. 19:34 He's pre-existent... He's before creation... 19:37 He enters it only by His will. 19:40 He's creative and He's giving 19:42 and He is intricate... 19:44 there's no detail too small for God to care about 19:47 and He is all wise. 19:49 Now, the... the lesson goes big... 19:52 it goes with the sun 19:53 but we could also go small. 19:55 We could go into every cell in the mitochondria 19:58 and the Krebs cycle within there... 20:00 the rods and cones in your eyes 20:02 and every stand of double helix DNA 20:04 and those four molecules of proteins and the ribosomes 20:07 and I can't tell you all about it. 20:09 But everything is going to illustrate who God is. 20:13 But let's go to the sun for just a minute 20:15 because that's where the lesson took us. 20:17 The sun is the closest thing we find in Scripture 20:20 sorry, in nature to a perfect sphere. 20:23 It's white because it emits all colors. 20:26 You enjoy looking at color, all of that comes from the sun. 20:29 Eleven million degrees Fahrenheit on the surface 20:32 but if you take something from the center... 20:34 the plasma... 27 million degrees 20:37 just enough to cover the head of a pin, 20:38 and set it a mile away, 20:40 it will still emit enough radiation to kill me. 20:43 There is a... 20:44 the... the sun is the engine which causes photosynthesis. 20:47 Every green thing that grows... 20:50 in other words, all energy that is consumed 20:52 comes from the sun 20:54 and half of the oxygen of the earth 20:56 is produced by plant life in the oceans 20:59 because of photosynthesis from the sun. 21:02 You enjoy a fresh breeze upon your face... 21:04 every bit of wind is caused by the sun. 21:07 Clouds in the sky all caused by evaporation from the sun. 21:12 Every river... every bit of rain... 21:14 every river ecosystem... all caused by the sun. 21:17 You love the Northern Lights... the Southern Lights... 21:20 all of that... sun's charged particles. 21:23 Do you like moonlight? 21:24 That's just sunlight... reflected. 21:26 Panel: Laugher. 21:28 Perrin: Vitamin D... Serotonin... 21:29 what I'm trying to say here is 21:31 that we take all of this for granted. 21:33 But you look at this thing 21:34 and then some people then turn and worship the thing... 21:36 the sun.. all right, 21:38 but it is God who holds it in His hands. 21:40 This is out of my reach... 21:42 this is too much for me to be able to control, 21:44 but there's nothing too big for God. 21:46 Listen to this, Matthew 5:45, 21:48 "He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good. " 21:53 He gives His blessing even to those who don't deserve it... 21:57 even to those who don't... who reject it. 21:59 Psalm 148 verse 8, 22:01 "Fire and hail, snow and clouds; 22:04 stormy wind, fulfilling His word. " 22:07 All of creation is in obedience to the will of God 22:10 illustrating to us a life that is lived 22:13 saying, "Lord, You're the One who created... 22:15 You're the One who provides. " 22:17 Psalm 147 and verse 4, 22:20 "He counts the number of the stars; 22:22 and He calls them all by name. " 22:25 We design some names... some weird ones... 22:28 RX 36... 22:30 Panel: Laughter. 22:31 Perrin: God is way more creative than that 22:33 and each one... He knows and cares about. 22:36 But the... the amazing thing is that God who knows the stars 22:39 also knows me. 22:41 "By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made 22:43 and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. " 22:46 And this is why we say, 22:48 "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. " 22:51 Because it's not enough for us just to say, "Okay, 22:54 I accept that God is Creator. " 22:57 This is where we say, 22:58 "Oh come, let us worship and bow down... " 23:02 says Psalm 95 verse 6. 23:04 "Let us kneel before the LORD our God... our Maker. 23:08 For He is our God, 23:10 and we are the people of His pasture, 23:12 and the sheep of His hands. " 23:14 What does that mean? 23:15 He cares for us. 23:17 The God who holds the stars in place... 23:19 the God who created that sun 23:22 which gives you all those wonderful things. 23:25 That God cares for you and it's our privilege... 23:28 it's our honor to worship Him. 23:30 Revelation 5 verse 11, 23:33 this wonderful book reveals to us what goes on in heaven 23:37 and here's what's going on in heaven in God's dwelling. 23:41 The four living creatures and the 24 elders 23:44 worshipping constantly with these words, 23:46 "You are worthy, O Lord, 23:48 to receive glory and honor and power; 23:51 for you created all things, 23:53 and by Your will, they exist and were created. " 23:57 It's not enough for us just to know about the Creator, 24:01 we offer ourselves in worship saying, 24:03 "You are the Leader... 24:05 You are the Lord... 24:06 You are the One I trust with my life. " 24:09 Jill: Amen, thank you so much Daniel. 24:11 I was just thinking as you were teaching, 24:13 you're an excellent teacher 24:14 and I was thinking a you were teaching... 24:16 what a blessing at 3ABN that we have Daniel here. 24:19 He taught High School Bible for years and years and years 24:23 and now he's here teaching you at home and teaching us, 24:27 so, thank you 24:28 and we're glad the rest of you are here too... I just... 24:30 Panel: Laughter. 24:31 Jill: We're very grateful, 24:32 I was just thinking because Daniel's the newest member 24:34 of the team. 24:36 We're going to take a break and we'll be right back. 24:37 Music... 24:43 Ever wish you could watch 24:44 a Three ABN Sabbath School Panel again? 24:46 Or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:49 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 24:54 A clean design makes it easy 24:57 to find the Program you're looking for. 24:59 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:02 so you can follow along. 25:04 Sharing is easy. 25:05 Just click "Share" and choose your favorite Social Media. 25:09 Share a Link... 25:10 Save a Life... for Eternity. 25:12 Jill: Welcome back to our study on... Worshipping the Creator 25:15 and we pass it over to John Dinzey and Tuesday's Lesson. 25:19 Dinzey: Thank you so much. Tuesday's Lesson is: 25:22 A God Who Is Close 25:24 and this is a message in itself... 25:27 A God Who Is Close. 25:28 And so, the Lesson brings out that God is our Creator. 25:32 He created the sun... the moon... as you heard 25:34 in the marvelous message by Daniel Perrin a moment ago. 25:37 He is our Creator... 25:39 He is such a marvelous God, 25:41 He cares about each and every one of us. 25:44 And Pastor Mark Finley brings out in the Lesson, 25:47 "The same God who unleashed His infinite power 25:50 to create the universe 25:51 unleashes that infinite power to defeat the forces of evil 25:55 that wage the battles for our souls. " 25:58 We are talking about the three angels' messages 26:00 in Revelation chapter 14 26:02 and this is part of that message... 26:04 understanding that God is our Creator. 26:07 And in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, 26:10 there's talk about another creation, 26:13 and it says there in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, 26:15 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 26:18 he is a new creation; 26:21 old things have passed away; 26:23 behold, all things have become new. " 26:26 This is a message that needs to be proclaimed 26:29 and 3ABN has been proclaiming it 26:31 and it's a message of hope for each and every one of us. 26:35 We all have a past that is marked with sin... 26:39 a past that we don't want other people to look at. 26:43 But God says, "I will make you a new creation... 26:47 old things have passed away... 26:48 all things become new. " 26:49 He gives you a new beginning and we praise the Lord for that. 26:54 He continues to create in us, 26:56 if we ask Him... 26:58 remember David said, 26:59 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, 27:01 and renew a right spirit within me. " 27:03 You can ask Him to do that right now for you. 27:06 How is your life? 27:07 You examine yourself and you see there's sin in you... 27:10 the Creator can create in you a new heart 27:13 and give you a right spirit. 27:15 In the book... devotional book... 27:18 To Be Like Jesus, page 356, 27:22 it says, "When Jesus speaks of the new heart, 27:26 He means the mind, the life, the whole being. 27:29 To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections 27:32 from the world 27:33 and fasten them upon Christ. 27:36 To have a new heart is to have a new mind... 27:38 new purposes... new motives. 27:40 What is the sign of a new heart? 27:42 A changed life. 27:44 There is daily... hourly... dying to selfishness and pride. " 27:48 That's what God wants to do for us. 27:49 If you want a new heart, 27:52 He will give you new ways to think... 27:54 new ways to do things. 27:56 He will totally transform you 27:58 and He will make all things new for you. 28:01 What a wonderful God that is! 28:03 This is a God that is close to each and every one of us. 28:06 He's not far from anyone of us, 28:08 In Psalm 139, beginning in verse 15 we have, 28:11 "My frame was not hidden from You, 28:14 when I was made in secret, 28:16 and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 28:19 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. 28:22 And in Your book they all were written, 28:24 the days fashioned for me, 28:26 when as yet there were none of them. 28:28 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! 28:32 How great is the sum of them! 28:34 If I should count them, 28:35 they would not be... 28:37 they would be more in number than the sand; 28:39 and when I awake, I am still with You. " 28:42 And so, this is a marvelous God that we serve... our Creator. 28:46 And in Acts chapter 17 verse 27, 28:49 it says, "So that they should seek the Lord, 28:53 in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, 28:58 though He is not far from each one of us... " 29:02 He's not far... He is so near. 29:06 As a matter of fact, 29:07 He is standing near you right now 29:09 and He has His holy angels 29:11 and we understand that there's a guardian angel 29:14 for each and every one of us. 29:16 What a marvelous God! 29:17 He is there to protect us. 29:19 You know if the devil had his way, 29:20 you would have been destroyed long ago. 29:23 But God limited... "No, you can only go this far. " 29:26 "No, you can't do that. " 29:28 And so, we see the evidence of that in Job chapter 1. 29:32 The devil had tried to get to Job 29:34 and he saw protection. 29:37 He says, "Have you not set a hedge of protection above him?" 29:40 God is good and He's close to each and every one of us. 29:44 In the Lesson, 29:45 Pastor Mark Finley brings this out 29:47 and I'd like to share it with you. 29:48 "Though the Lord dwells in a high and holy place, 29:53 He is also with him who has a contrite and humble spirit... " 29:58 that's in Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15, 30:01 As Jesus Himself said talking about His faithful followers, 30:05 "I in them, and You in Me; 30:07 that they may be made perfect in one, 30:10 and that the world may know that You have sent Me, 30:13 have loved them as You have loved Me. " 30:16 Wow! did you catch that? 30:19 Jesus is saying that You love them as much as You love Me. 30:25 The love of God for you 30:27 is beyond any measure that you can come up with. 30:30 There is no ruler long enough. 30:33 There is no measuring stick long enough 30:36 to measure God's infinite love for you. 30:40 And this is something marvelous to consider. 30:43 I remember Dr. Meshach Samuel when he was in the area, 30:46 he said something that caught my attention. 30:48 He said, "In India, there are millions of gods. " 30:52 He didn't say how many 30:53 but I happened to look on the Internet and found out 30:56 there are over 33 million so-called gods of Hinduism. 30:59 The Hindus worship many gods 31:02 and, you know, I remember a time when we were visiting 31:06 the Indians... Huichol Indians in Mexico... 31:09 we were taken there 31:11 by the second Seventh-day Adventist pastor 31:13 that they've had in fifty years 31:15 and the only way you can get there 31:18 in a quick time is by a little plane 31:22 and this is the second Seventh-day Adventist pilot 31:23 to go to these Huichol Indians. 31:25 And if you want to get there some other way, 31:29 you will have to take a pick-up truck 31:31 and then, there's only so far you can go. 31:34 You have to stop and get on foot 31:36 and walk for about another eight hours to get there. 31:39 Panel: Hmmm... 31:41 Dinzey: And as we were going through there 31:42 and as we were going through there, I asked him, 31:43 "Can I take video?" 31:45 He says, "Yes, you can, but you have to be very careful 31:47 because they don't want to be videotaped. " 31:50 So, I was walking with the video camera... being respectful 31:53 and as I was pointing the camera in a certain direction, like, 31:56 if you're walking with it, 31:58 he said, "Be careful, do not point the camera to that... 32:00 to that bush... " 32:02 I said, "To that bush?" 32:03 He said... I said, "Why not?" 32:05 He says, "That is one of their gods. " 32:08 And I said, "You know, this is remarkable 32:11 that some how the devil has confused people 32:14 and they make a god out of anything. " 32:16 You know, we think of today that there are no pagans 32:19 but there are still people worshipping 32:20 false gods and statues. 32:23 And, Pastor Meshach... Dr. Meshach said something 32:27 and this is what caught my attention, 32:29 he said, "They have all these gods, 32:30 but there's not this concept that we are his children... 32:34 or that we are children and that God loves us 32:37 and I was so glad to find out that God loves me 32:40 and I am one of His children. " 32:43 Isn't that marvelous? 32:44 You can be a child of God. 32:46 You can choose to become a child of God 32:49 and God is very close. 32:51 Isaiah chapter 43 verse 10 32:52 tells you a little bit about how close that is. 32:55 It says, "You are My witnesses," says the Lord, 32:57 "And My servant whom I have chosen, 33:00 that you may know and believe Me, 33:03 and understand that I am He. 33:05 Before Me, there was no God formed, 33:07 nor shall there be after Me. 33:09 I, even I, I am the Lord, 33:11 and besides Me, there is no savior. " 33:13 Beside... besides God, there is no Savior. 33:16 There's no other God. 33:18 Only one Creator God 33:20 and Him... we should serve. 33:22 He is worthy of our worship. 33:25 The verse that I was mentioning earlier 33:27 about how close God is is really Isaiah 49:15 and 16, 33:31 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, 33:35 and not have compassion on the son of her womb? 33:39 Surely they may forget, 33:42 yet I will not forget you. " 33:44 God does not forget you. 33:46 You heard that, you know, that every one of us 33:50 has a fingerprint like no one else has. 33:54 You are an individual. 33:55 There is no one like you. 33:57 God created you... unique 33:59 and He loves you uniquely just the way you are 34:03 and it continues in Isaiah 49, 34:06 "See, I have inscribed you on the palm of My hands; 34:11 your walls are continually before Me. " 34:13 It's like your name is on His hand. 34:16 You are on His mind. 34:19 God loves you 34:20 and this is why I want to bring this to you 34:22 from 1st John chapter 3 verse 1, 34:25 one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 34:28 It says, "Behold what manner of love 34:32 the Father has bestowed on us, 34:35 that we should be called 34:37 children of God! 34:38 Therefore the world does not know us, 34:40 because it did not know Him. " 34:42 Consider when we go from being enemies of God 34:47 to being children of God 34:50 and this is why John invites us to behold that love. 34:54 It is a love that is beyond our comprehension. 34:57 It is not a passing glance to behold this love... 35:00 it's to stop and consider, 35:02 "Wow! God loves me 35:05 more than I could possibly understand... " 35:08 and He's not only near us... He wants to be in us. 35:11 Colossians chapter 1 verse 27, 35:13 says, "To them, God willed to make known 35:15 what are the riches of the glory of this mystery 35:18 among the Gentiles: 35:20 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. " 35:22 Allow Christ in... and you will have the hope of glory. 35:27 Panel: Amen... amen. 35:28 Ryan: Thank you so much, Pastor Dinzey 35:30 for that beautiful explanation. 35:31 My name is Ryan Day and I have Wednesday's Lesson 35:34 entitled: Gospel, Judgment, Creation 35:37 and the Lesson brings out... 35:39 I love the way he puts it here, 35:41 he says, "Look at the first angel's message. 35:42 Everlasting gospel. 35:44 Hour of judgment. 35:45 Worship the Creator. 35:47 Look at how closely related these ideas are. 35:50 When we stand before the Creator in judgment, 35:53 it's only the gospel that gives us any hope at all. 35:57 'There is therefore now no condemnation 35:59 to those who are in Christ Jesus, 36:00 who do not walk according to the flesh, 36:02 but according to the Spirit. '" 36:03 It's Romans chapter 8 and verse 1. 36:05 No condemnation now... and certainly not in the judgment. 36:09 The message of God as Creator is so central to present truth, 36:13 especially when evolution, 36:15 even when dressed up in "Christian" garb, 36:18 threatens to destroy the entire foundation 36:21 of the Christian faith. 36:22 Yet, amid the onslaught of evolutionary thought, 36:26 God has raised up a church, 36:28 a people whose very name itself 36:30 is a witness against the idea of evolution... 36:33 a people who are to proclaim the foundational truth 36:36 of God as our Creator and Redeemer. 36:40 And it is certainly true that this evolutionary theory 36:43 has dominated our current society... our modern world... 36:47 and... and you expect these secular non-believing world 36:51 to believe and search things like this 36:53 but when you get inside the Christian church, 36:54 and you start to realize that these ideas and these perspectives 36:58 and these beliefs of evolutionary theory 37:00 are being embraced by professed Christians... 37:03 brothers and sisters who profess to believe in the Creator God... 37:07 it's quite interesting. 37:09 In fact, when I was studying this out, 37:11 I couldn't help but think of the text found in 1st Timothy 37:13 chapter 6, verses 20 to 21 when Paul tells Timothy, 37:17 he says, "O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, 37:20 avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions 37:23 of what is falsely called knowledge... " 37:26 that's the words in the New King James Version... 37:28 of course, if you read the King James Version, 37:30 he says, "and oppositions of science falsely so-called... " 37:33 and I just thought of that because I know that there's some 37:36 disagreement among the theological scholarly world 37:39 as to what this means 37:40 but my mind went to that... 37:42 in fact, we know that it is for sure evolutionary theory... 37:45 is... is Science falsely so-called 37:47 that in the sense that it is destroying 37:49 and very much trying to break down the very foundation 37:53 of God as Creator 37:54 and as Brother Daniel Perrin brought out so clearly, 37:57 once you destroy the belief that God is Creator, 38:00 then, all of the other beliefs... 38:02 the very foundation of Christianity itself 38:04 and the very foundation of our relationship between us and God 38:08 begins to crumble as well. 38:09 Of course, Ephesians chapter 3 verse 9, 38:12 Colossians chapter 1 verses 13 to 17, 38:15 Revelation chapter 4 verse 11, 38:17 Romans chapter 5 verse 17 through 19... 38:20 all of these establish a powerful truth 38:22 and that is the very foundational truth 38:24 and what we as Bible-believing Christians should 38:28 rest in the foundation of our faith and that is 38:31 that God is Creator and He is absolutely Redeemer 38:34 and without Him being Creator, 38:36 He certainly cannot be our Redeemer. 38:38 Ephesians chapter 3 verse 9 says, 38:40 "And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, 38:44 which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, 38:47 who created all things through... " whom? 38:50 Jesus Christ... I love that. 38:52 That while the Godhead all was involved in creation, 38:55 Jesus Christ our Savior... our Redeemer 38:57 was the One actively speaking the words... 39:00 "Let there be light... " kshoo... there was light. 39:02 "Let there be a mountain over there... " 39:03 Kshoo... there was a mountain... 39:05 let there be people here... Khshoo, khshoo, khshoo... 39:06 hoooo... He breathed into their nostrils the breath of life, 39:09 the Bible says... and man became a living soul. 39:12 Christ is our Redeemer... He is our Creator... 39:14 Colossians 1 verses 13 through 17 39:17 also helps reiterate this same truth... 39:20 speaking of Jesus Christ, it says, 39:22 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness... " 39:24 Redeemer... 39:26 and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love 39:30 in whom we have redemption through His blood, 39:33 the forgiveness of sins. " 39:34 This is speaking of Christ 39:35 but then notice how it connects the redeeming aspect 39:37 to His creative work. 39:39 "He is the image of the invisible God, 39:41 the firstborn of all creation. 39:43 For by Him, all things were created that are in heaven 39:46 and that are on earth, visible and invisible, 39:48 whether thrones or dominions 39:50 or principalities or powers. 39:52 All things were created through Him and for Him. 39:56 And He is before all things, 39:59 and in Him all things consist. " 40:02 I almost said "co-exist. " 40:03 Ha... ha... but Revelation chapter 4 verse 11, 40:07 of course, why should we worship God? 40:09 why does He deserve our worship 40:11 when the first angel's message says, 40:12 "To worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, 40:15 and the sea and the fountains of waters? " 40:16 Revelation 4:11 tells us, 40:18 "You are worthy, O Lord, 40:19 to receive glory and honor and power; 40:21 for You created all things, 40:24 and by Your will, they exist and were created. " 40:27 You know, I go back to the story of Job. 40:29 My wife and I recently with a fine tooth comb 40:32 went through and read through the book of Job together, 40:34 and, you know, I'm just always just amazed 40:37 by reading those first couple of chapters of Job 40:39 because it just baffles me... 40:41 it reminds me of Satan's power, 40:44 his... his... his soul for his goal 40:46 to try to distort God in our minds 40:49 and it's quite interesting 40:50 that when you read the first couple of chapters of Job, 40:52 he does exactly that by implying an accusation against God 40:55 and here's the reality, 40:56 as I read those chapters... as I'm sad in my heart, 40:59 because many people only worship God 41:01 for the very reasons that the devil says 41:04 that God is being worshipped. 41:05 In other words, he implies, 41:07 he says, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, 41:08 remove Your hedge of protection from Job... 41:10 take away all of the goodies that You've given him 41:12 and he will curse you to Your face. " 41:14 In other words, the implied accusation there 41:16 that You, God, in and of Yourself, 41:18 are not worthy to be worshipped. 41:20 And my heart breaks because I ask myself the question, 41:23 "How many people when the... the trials come, 41:27 the tribulations come, 41:28 the bills may not get paid, 41:30 I don't know... 41:31 or some shaking incident happens in their life, 41:34 where, you know, the clouds are hanging low 41:36 and the darkness... 41:38 they're having to walk through that darkness 41:39 in that time of despair 41:40 they... they... they tend to, 41:42 you know, lose their faith in God 41:43 and wonder, "God, why me?" 41:45 But yet if the birds are chirping 41:46 and the dogs are barking and the sun is shining, 41:48 and the bills are getting paid and the money is in the bank 41:50 and the lights are on and the food is there 41:52 and you got a nice car to drive and nice home to live in 41:54 and all the goodies are there 41:55 and everything just seems to be going fine and dandy 41:57 in your life, "Oh, God is then worthy to be worshipped. " 42:00 God wants to know, "Will you worship Me just because... 42:03 because I am the Creator of the universe. " 42:06 You know, I don't have time to read this 42:08 but we see that the devil has always tried to attack. 42:12 It was one of his central areas of attack 42:15 has always been on the creative power of God... 42:17 the creative works... 42:19 the creative reality of God as Creator the universe. 42:22 You can read in Patriarchs and Prophets page 36, 42:25 I encourage you to find that book... 42:26 find that... just in the very first chapter, page 36, 42:29 where it talks about how Satan... Lucifer at this time, 42:32 when he was in heaven, one of the... 42:34 one of the main things that sparked his rebellion 42:36 or kind of, you know, launched him into this rebellion 42:39 was that he was jealous of the fact that the Father, 42:41 you know, brought Jesus Christ the Son 42:43 close to Him 42:45 and shared with Him the plans of creation 42:47 and did not include him. 42:48 We also read this in: Spiritual Gifts, volume 3, 42:51 page 36, that should be easy to remember, 42:53 Patriarchs and Prophets, page 36 42:56 and Spiritual Gifts volume 3, page 36. 42:58 Both tell the story of how Satan hates Jesus Christ as Creator. 43:03 He hates the Father because of their creative work 43:06 because it reminds him that they did not include him 43:08 in this creative work 43:10 of which he could not have done because he's not God, 43:13 he's not divine... he is not the Son of God. 43:15 The... the Lesson goes on to say, 43:17 "Look at how closely tied Jesus as Creator 43:20 is to Jesus as Redeemer... " 43:22 and we see this all the way through the Bible 43:24 as we saw in Colossians 1 a few moments ago. 43:26 But I found some startling statistics, 43:28 I want to try to share this 43:29 in the last couple of minutes that I have. 43:31 This is just showing you just how much the devil 43:34 is... is... is taking time to attack God's... 43:37 God's identity as Creator of the universe. 43:39 You know, expect the secular world 43:41 to have these particular thoughts 43:43 but Christian world... 43:44 This is a Gallup Survey that was done a few years ago in 2019, 43:47 some people might consider it dated 43:49 but it was the... it was the only one that I could find 43:51 that was most recent. 43:52 But this comes from Washington, D.C., 43:54 and it says, "Forty percent... " 43:55 and this is all... this is Christians and non-believers... 43:57 "Forty percent of the US adults 44:00 ascribe to a strictly creationist view of human origin. " 44:04 So, in other words, a Biblical view of Creationism. 44:06 And then he goes on to say, 44:07 "Believing that God created them in their present form 44:09 within roughly the past 10,000 years. 44:11 However, more Americans continue to think 44:14 that humans evolved over millions of years 44:17 either with God's guidance... 33 percent... " 44:19 you know... God helped... with evolution... 44:21 "or, God had nothing to do with it. " 44:24 In other words, we were fully developed through evolution... 44:26 the 23 percent... 44:27 that's Americans in general 44:28 but when you look within the study that they did, 44:31 they isolated the religious groups 44:33 and they looked at the statistics among Christians. 44:35 Get this, this is the... 44:37 this Protestants... 56... 44:38 only 56 percent of Protestants who took this... 44:42 this... this survey, believed the Biblical belief 44:45 that only God... 44:46 God is responsible for our creation, period... end of story. 44:48 33 percent said, "Well, we were... 44:51 we evolved... evolution is the reason why we come about 44:55 but God helped guide it along... " 44:56 and then six percent... small number but again 44:59 six percent of Protestants say 45:01 that God had nothing to do with creation at all. 45:03 It was all evolution. 45:05 And then you get into Catholicism 45:06 and the numbers were quite interesting 45:08 but then you look among the college degrees, 45:10 those who had no college degree, 45:11 48 percent believed the Biblical model 45:13 while 30 percent of those with no college degree 45:16 believe, God gave a little bit of guidance 45:18 and 16 percent... God had nothing to do with it at all. 45:21 But then you look at those with college degrees 45:24 and this is what was shocking to me, 45:25 not really shocking but I found it interesting. 45:27 Only 23 percent of those with college degrees said, 45:30 "God is responsible for it all. " 45:31 Panel: Hmmm... wow! 45:33 Ryan: Forty percent said, "God helped with evolution. " 45:35 And 33 percent of those with college degrees 45:39 said... God had nothing to do with it. 45:40 It's a powerful statistic, my Friend. 45:42 If you don't think the devil's attacking God as Creator, 45:44 then, look again... notice what the Bible says, 45:46 "Worship Him who created all things. " 45:49 Rafferty: Amen... amen. 45:50 My name is James Rafferty and I have Thursday's Lesson 45:54 which is entitled: The Creator on the Cross... 45:57 The Creator on the Cross. 45:58 The lesson starts out by saying this: 46:02 However much we can and do marvel and worship 46:05 the Lord as our Creator, there is more to it. 46:08 As we have already seen, but worth looking at again, 46:11 is the idea that our Creator is also our Redeemer. 46:15 The God who created us 46:17 is the same God who redeemed us. 46:20 The God who said, "'Let Us make man in Our image, 46:22 according to Our likeness. " Genesis 1:26, 46:25 is the same One, who, on the cross, cried out, 46:27 "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" 46:30 That is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 46:34 Matthew 27 verse 46. 46:36 Talk about the reason to fear God or, even more so, 46:39 to give glory to Him and to worship Him, as well! 46:43 The author goes on to say: 46:45 How can we, as fallen human beings, 46:48 adequately respond to such an amazing truth as this? 46:51 What could we possibly do in response? 46:55 We are told, in the first angel's message, 46:57 what to do: 46:59 "Fear God... give glory to Him, 47:01 for the hour of His judgment has come; 47:03 and worship Him that made heaven and earth, 47:06 and the springs... or fountains of water. " 47:09 You know, this message in Revelation chapter 14 47:12 entitled: The Everlasting Gospel, 47:14 seems out of place 47:16 because when you look at the book of Revelation as a whole, 47:19 lot of people think, "Oh, gloom and doom 47:21 and judgments and plagues 47:23 and beasts and dragons and rrrrr... " 47:26 What's the everlasting gospel doing in that book? 47:29 Why is it there? 47:31 That's what I used to think 47:32 when I first actually started studying the Bible. 47:34 I wondered about, you know, 47:36 these earthly powers coming together... 47:38 religion... Church and State... 47:40 and forming an alliance to enforce the Mark of the Beast 47:44 and to force everyone to buy or sell otherwise... 47:47 or force everyone to receive the Mark in the hand or the forehead 47:50 or they can't buy or sell 47:51 and... and in the context of that, 47:52 you've got these... these group of people 47:54 who are following Jesus and they're... 47:56 you know, they're without fault and... 47:57 and they give this everlasting gospel message 47:59 and it just seemed like popping out in the middle of nowhere 48:02 like in... a... a... a... in the desert, 48:05 like, an oasis in the desert. 48:07 And as I continue to study this message, 48:10 I started to realize, you know, the book of Revelation 48:12 isn't actually separated from the rest of the Bible. 48:16 In fact, the book of Revelation is actually a summation 48:20 of the entire Bible 48:21 and in the book of Revelation, 48:22 all the books of the Bible meet and end. 48:24 And so, when you go to the book of Revelation, 48:27 you actually have to... in order to understand... 48:29 you have to go back to the rest of the Bible. 48:32 A lot of it is in code... a lot of it is in symbol. 48:35 But there's a lot of thoughts in the book of Revelation 48:37 through almost directly from the rest of the Bible. 48:40 For example, the three angels' messages. 48:43 Let's take a look at that in Luke's gospel, 48:46 Luke chapter 23... really interesting parallelism here 48:50 in Luke chapter 23. 48:51 You know, when you start out in Luke chapter 23, 48:53 you have this Church-State unity. 48:55 In verse 1, the whole multitude of the Jews... 49:01 the Sanhedrin... the ruling class 49:03 who were out to crucify Christ... 49:05 the whole multitude led Him to Pilate. 49:07 Right? So right there, Luke chapter 23 49:10 in verse 1, you have this uniting of Church and State. 49:14 In fact, in Luke chapter 23 and verse 12, 49:17 Herod who is supposedly the Head of the... 49:19 of the Hebrew Jewish Nation and Pilate unite together 49:24 in their purpose to crucify Christ. 49:26 So, right here, you've got that very same concept 49:29 that's found in Revelation chapter 13 49:31 of the uniting of Church and State. 49:33 Now, when you go a little bit further in here, 49:35 it's truly interesting because once they bring Jesus to Pilate, 49:39 you know what Pilate says about Jesus? 49:41 "I find no fault in Him. " 49:44 Now, that reminds us of Revelation chapter 14, 49:47 a people who follow the Lamb wherever He goes 49:50 who are faultless... 49:51 who have no fault. 49:52 They stand without fault before the throne of God. 49:54 Now, that doesn't mean they're going to... 49:56 they're going to stand without fault before the world. 49:57 The world is going to find plenty of fault 50:00 with those who give the everlasting gospel 50:02 just like the world... Church and State 50:05 found plenty of fault with Jesus Christ 50:07 when He was brought there to His cruel trial. 50:10 But what about the everlasting gospel itself. 50:13 You think about Jesus hanging on the cross 50:16 and you realize... He is the gospel. 50:18 Jesus hanging on the cross is the gospel 50:21 and notice what when He says... as you look here 50:23 in Luke chapter 23 and verse 34, 50:25 and we know this verse really well as Christians 50:28 but there may be some listening here who aren't, 50:31 "As Church and State unites... 50:33 as religious people and political people come together 50:36 to crucify Jesus, 50:37 He looks down upon them 50:39 as they are putting nails in His hands and feet... 50:41 as they are lifting Him up on the cross... 50:43 as they are mocking Him... 50:45 He looks down on them... 50:46 He lifts His head to the Father and He says, 50:48 'Father, forgive them, 50:50 for they know not what they do. '" 50:53 That is the everlasting gospel... 50:55 that is the everlasting gospel. 50:57 It's a beautiful picture if you think about it 50:59 because Revelation is simply duplicating 51:02 what has already taken place in the context 51:04 of the cross of Calvary. 51:06 But there's more... there's much more. 51:07 When you look in Luke chapter 23 and verse 38, 51:11 you can parallel that with this phrase in Revelation 14 51:15 that the gospel is supposed to go to every nation, 51:17 kindred, tongue, and people 51:19 because in Luke chapter 23 and verse 38, 51:21 it says that when Jesus was lifted on the cross, 51:23 a superscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, 51:26 of Latin, and of Hebrew 51:28 and you know why? 51:30 Because they wanted all the world to be able to read 51:34 about this Man who claimed to be the Messiah... the Son of God. 51:38 So, you've got that same parallel there 51:40 and then, you go a little further here 51:42 and you find in Luke chapter 23 and verse 46... 51:45 Luke 23 verse 46, 51:46 "And when Jesus cried with loud voice... " 51:49 well, that's the way the third angel's message is given... 51:53 it's given with a loud cry, 51:54 it's given with a loud voice. 51:56 So, you have Jesus here 51:57 paving the way for the three angels' messages. 51:59 The... the... the center of the three angels' messages 52:02 is found in the cross of Calvary. 52:03 In fact, look here in Luke Chapter 23 and verse 40, 52:06 there's these thieves that are hanging next to Jesus, 52:09 one on the left and one on the right 52:12 and as they begin to behold Christ 52:14 and behold His mannerisms... His spirit... His attitude... 52:17 the way He relates to all of this, 52:18 it says here in Luke chapter 23 and verse 40, 52:22 that the... one of the thieves answering the other thief 52:25 who was mocking Christ rebuked him saying, 52:27 "Dost not thou fear God?" 52:31 Panel: Hmmm... 52:32 Rafferty: All of a sudden, the cross of Christ 52:35 has produced a Godly fear in one of the thieves 52:38 that are hanging there next to Christ. 52:40 You see, this is what the gospel produces. 52:42 You cannot have a clarion call to fear God and give glory to Him 52:46 unless you have the proclamation of the gospel 52:49 because it is the gospel which produces that fear. 52:51 It is the gospel that causes us to give glory to God 52:54 and to worship God. 52:56 And this is what the Sabbath School Lesson is bringing out 52:58 so powerfully in relationship to the cross 53:01 and Christ hanging upon the cross. 53:02 Look at this one... in Luke chapter 23 and verse 47, 53:05 Luke 23 and verse 27, 53:07 "Now when the centurion saw what was done... " 53:09 in other words, he watched Christ... 53:11 he watched everything that was taking place... 53:12 what did he do? 53:13 He glorified God... 53:15 this is not a professed believer... it's not even a Jew, 53:17 this is a hardened soldier... 53:19 a hardened soldier 53:20 and what is he seeing? 53:23 He's seeing the gospel. 53:24 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 53:26 Rafferty: He's seeing Jesus Christ 53:27 hanging on the cross. 53:28 He's seeing the revelation of forgiveness to the entire world, 53:31 even to those who are crucifying Him 53:33 and it breaks His heart. 53:34 He says, "We need to give glory to... to God... 53:36 this is amazing. " 53:38 And then... and then the next phrase... 53:39 now, remember, all these phrases are found in Revelation 14. 53:41 They're borrowed from the gospel. 53:43 The next phrase is found in... 53:46 in Luke 23 verse 43, 53:48 I'm going to see if my Panel... my guests here... 53:49 my fellows can... can pick out what's taking place here. 53:52 It's the thief on the cross in verse 43, 53:54 "Jesus says unto him, 53:56 'Verily, verily I say unto thee... '" 53:57 because he puts faith in Christ... 53:59 "today, 54:00 thou shalt be with Me in paradise. " 54:02 You know what's taken place right there? 54:03 The judgment... 54:05 the judgment. 54:07 That thief has just been judged and he's going to be in paradise. 54:10 Panel: Hmmm... okay. 54:12 Rafferty: God has made a judgment call on the thief 54:14 and promised him... "You're going to be with me in paradise. " 54:17 Fear God... give glory to Him... 54:18 the hour of His judgment is come 54:20 and worship Him... 54:22 that's exactly what we see taking place in verses... 54:26 well, verse 6... 54:27 when Jesus died, they take His body off the cross 54:30 verse 56... sorry... 54:32 "And then they returned, 54:33 and prepared spices and ointments; 54:35 and they rested on the Sabbath day 54:36 according to the commandment. " 54:38 And guess what commandment that was? 54:40 It was the fourth commandment. 54:41 Panel: That's right. 54:43 Rafferty: The fourth commandment is in the context of the cross. 54:44 This is the everlasting gospel 54:46 and it's producing a fear... 54:47 a glory... 54:49 a judgment... 54:50 a worship of God who created heaven and earth? 54:52 and then we've got the... the "Babylon is fallen... " 54:56 Remember the thief says this, 54:57 the... the... the soldiers say this... 54:59 the religious leaders say... 55:01 "Save yourself... save yourself, 55:02 save yourself. " 55:04 Well, Babylon is saying the same thing. 55:05 But that all falls in the context of the cross of Calvary. 55:07 He's not there to save Himself, He's there to save us. 55:10 And then, there's darkness over all the face of the earth. 55:12 That's the wrath of God... 55:14 in Revelation chapter 14's three angels' messages, 55:16 we have the wrath of God. 55:17 Jesus experienced that wrath. 55:19 He was forsaken of God. 55:20 And then you have this... 55:22 pause... 55:24 well, that's it. 55:25 Oh... the faith of Jesus. 55:27 The faith of Jesus... verse 46, 55:29 Jesus dies and He says, 55:30 "Into Thy hands, I commit My spirit. " 55:33 Panel: Hmmm... 55:34 Rafferty: Despite the feeling... 55:36 despite the circumstances... 55:37 despite what everything... 55:38 everything was happening all around Him, 55:40 Jesus Christ committed Himself to the Father. 55:42 He trusted in the Father... 55:43 He trusted in... in His Father's love 55:46 He had faith that God would deliver Him 55:49 from all the circumstances that surround Him. 55:51 So, the three angels' messages 55:52 are not some unique message 55:54 plunked into the book of Revelation, 55:55 the three angels' messages is the everlasting gospel 55:58 here... right here 55:59 in the book of Luke... and the gospels of Matthew... 56:01 in Mark and John. 56:02 Panel: Hmmm... 56:04 Jill: Amen, thank you so much Pastor James. 56:06 I love that comparison. 56:08 I'm going to study that more. 56:09 Thank you... you're a fabulous teacher... 56:11 each one of you... thank you. 56:13 Ryan, Pastor Johnny, and Daniel, 56:14 thank you for sharing from the Word of God 56:16 and I've learned so much today. 56:18 I want to give each one of you a moment 56:19 to share a final thought. 56:21 Daniel: Yes, all of creation... 56:23 even in its deteriorated condition 56:25 still teaches about God, 56:26 so, as you are able... go outside 56:29 and in the words of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, 56:30 look at the birds of the air... 56:32 look at the flowers of the field 56:34 and worship your Creator. 56:35 Dinzey: Amen, I take you back to Colossians chapter 1 56:39 verse 27 and it says, 56:40 "Christ in you is the hope of glory. " 56:42 Jesus is pictured in Revelation 3:20 56:44 standing at the door and knocking 56:46 and if you open the door, He will come in. 56:49 Christ in you is the hope of glory. 56:51 Let Him in. 56:52 Ryan: Someone told me one time not to wear my tie like this 56:56 because they said it was an LGBTQ tie. 56:58 But I'll tell you... it's not that... 57:00 because it has the colors of the rainbow... 57:02 I look at this as my creation tie. 57:04 Jesus is Creator 57:05 and when I look at it, 57:07 it reminds me of His creative power. 57:08 He controls the waters... 57:09 He controls nature... 57:11 He puts the rainbow in the sky... 57:12 it's Jesus Christ who is Creator 57:14 and we should worship Him because of it. 57:16 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 57:17 James: And one more parallel here 57:19 in Luke chapter 23 verse 24, 57:21 "Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. " 57:23 In other words, he gave the death sentence to Jesus Christ. 57:26 You know, Jesus Christ took the death sentence upon Himself 57:29 so that we would not be hurt in the second death. 57:31 Jill: Amen... thank you all so much for your study of the Word. 57:35 You are men of the Word and of God. 57:37 I'm so grateful you're part of the 3ABN family. 57:39 We're grateful that you are part of the 3ABN family as well, 57:43 we hope you've enjoyed this study 57:45 as we've discussed: Worshipping the Creator. 57:49 I want to close with a verse 57:50 we've used several times this week 57:52 but I think it bears repeating. 57:54 Revelation 4:11, "You are worthy, O Lord, 57:57 to receive glory and honor and power; 58:00 for you created all things, 58:03 and by Your will, they exist 58:05 and were created. " 58:06 Join us next week: The Sabbath and the End. |
Revised 2023-07-26