Welcome to Sacramento Central Seventh-day Adventist church. We're so glad that you're tuning in, whether you're watching us live on our website right now at 'saccentral.org' or on the various television networks or listening on the radio. It doesn't matter, we're just glad that you are joining with us for another central study hour coming to you from Sacramento central seventh day adventist church here in sunny Sacramento, California. We're continuing our Christmas songs and our first one today is #119 - '
Angels from the Realms of Glory' is a request from alex in hungary - we don't get many requests from hungary so good morning alex - corrine and cheryl in india, abel in puerto rico, and shermila in saudi arabia, and many other states in the u.s. And countries around the world.
#119 - We're going to sing the first, second, and fourth stanzas. I love Christmas songs and I want to tell you, if you're watching live on a television - if you're watching on television - that today, December 14th, 2013, you can tune into our website at 'saccentral.org' and watch our Christmas concert, which will take place at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm pacific time - December the th. And we would love for you to join us. Tell your friends. Tell your family.
It will be a wonderful program. We have an orchestra and a choir and soloists and groups and it's going to be a wonderful time so I encourage you to tune in and join us December the 14th :00 pm and 7:00 pm at 'saccentral.org'. Our next song is another favorite - 'away in a manger' - #124. This is from Joseph in australia, veronica, jasmine and angel in the bahamas, Michael in California - and I think that's you, Michael, carlos in venezuela, and masambo in zambia and many more places. #124 - We're going to sing all three stanzas.
Thank you so much for requesting that wonderful song. If you have a favorite you would like to sing with us on an upcoming program, you just have to go to our website at 'saccentral.org', click on the 'contact us' link and any song in the hymnal you can request and we will sing that for you on an upcoming program. At this time let's bow our heads for prayer. Father in Heaven, thank you so much for coming to this world and you knew before you came what you were getting into. You knew that you were going to be born to peasants and you were going to live a very hard life, but you loved us enough to choose that and we thank you.
We thank you for loving us, for coming down here so many years ago, and giving us an example and a hope that this isn't the end for us. We have a future with you and I pray that we will each remain faithful so that one day we can see you come when you come again in the clouds of glory. Please be with us as we open up Your Word and we study together. Please be with Pastor Doug and we thank you so much that he is here to bring us our lesson study today, in Jesus' Name, amen. Welcome, friends to Sacramento central and if some of you here are visitors, we'd like to welcome our visitors as well.
And we have a special offer that goes along with our lesson today. The lesson is talking about our particular prophetic message and the - we're going to be talking about the three angels' messages and so our free offer today is 'angel messages from space' and anybody who would like a copy of this, this is - these offers are really great. They've got illustrations and they've got a lot of Scriptures, questions and answers, and it brings the whole Bible study together. If you'd like to better understand the three angels' messages that go to the world just before Jesus comes back, that you find in Revelation 14, then send for this - 'angel messages from space' - ask for offer #137 and the number to call is 866-study-more - -788-3966 and we will send that to you for free. And as I mentioned, our study today is lesson #11.
We've been going through the study on the sanctuary and we have a memory verse. But I tell you what, just to save a little time, before we get to the memory verse, we gave out some verses - someone here has Revelation chapter 10, verse - who is that? Okay, we'll just - we'll get a camera on you so they're - you're ready because you're first in line jolyne, okay? And our memory verse is Revelation 14, verses 6 and 7 and I hope you'll all say this with me. Most of us should know this by heart. Revelation 14:6 and 7 - you ready? "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people - saying with a loud voice, 'fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.'" Alright, well I'd love to jump right in and start elaborating on that, but I'm not going to do that yet. Turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 10, and we'll tell you where we're going and why we're going there for our study today.
This is one of the shortest chapters in the book of Revelation - Revelation chapter and we're going to do a quick overview of this chapter - matter of fact, I'm going to have you read the first verse. Jo, if you're ready for that. Revelation 10:1, "I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire." Alright, so first thing is we're going to be talking about this time - what's known as 'the great disappointment'. Now, there have been several times in the Bible where God's people have experienced great disappointments - things did not play out the way they anticipated.
On one point, they thought they were going to cross over into the promised land, but because the ten spies brought back a faithless report, they were told, 'nope, you're not ready yet.' Forty more years - actually it was thirty-nine more years in the wilderness and they had to wander during that time. During the time of Jesus the disciples went out preaching. Jesus sent the disciples out preaching 'the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' And what do you think the apostles thought Jesus meant by that? What was their picture of the kingdom being at hand? Almost without exception they thought that meant that sometime in the next few months, Jesus was going to use his miraculous power and the Romans would be overthrown as the power and they would see The Son of David sitting on the throne of David the monarch - reestablished and back like the glorious days of Solomon and they would be a world empire again. And so, as they went out saying, 'the Kingdom of God is at hand. the Kingdom of God is at hand.
' They were thinking political kingdom, to a large extent, and we know now that's not what it was going to be. That's why when the two disciples were walking on the road to emmaus, they were so disappointed. Not just them, but the twelve apostles and all the followers and disciples of Jesus were devastated. And those two - cleopas and his friend, they said to Jesus on the road to emmaus, 'we were hoping that it was going to be he that would redeem Israel.' And even as Jesus was getting ready to go to heaven and he met with the disciples just before he ascended - I think it was Phillip that said, 'will you at this time establish the kingdom?' Well, you know, they weren't thinking about the Spiritual kingdom. Jesus said, 'the Kingdom of heaven is within you.
' They kept thinking about an external kingdom. And you might wonder, 'why did Jesus send them out preaching 'the Kingdom of heaven is at hand' when he knew they had the wrong idea of what that was? Well, what they said was the truth, but still they were preaching 'the Kingdom of heaven is at hand'. There was another time of great disappointment, oh a little more than 150 years ago, where Christians around North America and different parts of the world started to study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation and especially the prophecy about the cleansing of the sanctuary, and they studied the times given in those prophecies and they all seemed to point to 1844. They had the time correct. They had the event wrong.
And so, they went out in the power of the Spirit and said, you know, 'get ready. The bridegroom is coming.' Which is a true message. It is true, the bridegroom is coming, right? But they forgot that part of the parable that says, 'while the bridegroom tarried.' There is an apparent delay just before the Lord comes. And so, they were devastated. It was called 'the great disappointment' and some people take it to mean, 'well, because they preached that message about the second coming of the Lord and there was this great revival but Jesus didn't come, the message must not have been from God.
' Wrong. God gives messages and then sometimes, because of events or because of misunderstandings, they don't happen exactly as they expect. Did Jonah go through nineveh and say, 'forty days and nineveh will be destroyed'? Did he? Was God the one telling him to preach that message? Was nineveh destroyed after forty days? No, because they repented. And so, sometimes circumstances are different. Sometimes they might misunderstand the message.
There was a great revival under what they called 'the advent awakening' or 'the millerite movement' and - just for those who are watching, so you don't misunderstand, it was not Seventh-day Adventists that predicted the second coming of the Lord in 1844. There were no Seventh-day Adventists. The church was not organized until 1863. It was the millerite movement. They were what you call 'adventists' because they believed in the soon return of Jesus.
You can see the word 'advent' outside a catholic church. I've seen catholic advent churches. There are adventists from all different backgrounds. If you believe in the soon coming of Jesus, you are technically an adventist. So Seventh-day Adventists do not believe in setting dates for the second coming and so I've heard people say, 'aren't you the ones who said Jesus was coming in ?' No.
It was the millerite movement. There were people who were part of the millerite movement that then came into the seventh-day adventist church and they studied and they realized that they had made some mistakes. But, no, we do not believe in setting dates. This great disappointment was prophesied in history. When you look at the prophecies of Daniel in Revelation, you are looking at different phases of the work of God's people.
In Daniel it talks about a phase of God's people being oppressed by the Babylonians and there was the phase where it was the medo-persians. The persians were actually pretty good to them, they let them rebuild the temple. Then there was - but they dominated them. They were their rulers. Then there was a phase of the Greeks also.
For the most part, alexander the great wasn't that hard on them. They had a guy named antiochus epiphanes who was really a pill. And then there was the time of the Romans and it talks about the division of the roman empire. And so the history of God's people is outlined in Daniel. You find the history of God's people outlined in the seven messages to the seven churches.
You've got the religious history of God's people. You have the seven trumpets - sort of a military history of what happens with God's people. You have the seven seals of Revelation which includes the four horsemen of the apocalypse - it kind of gives a political history of God's people. And so God is showing, prophetically, what is going to happen to his people over time through these different visions. In chapter 10, you find prophesied, what we would call 'the great disappointment'.
It was this great global awakening that would happen before the second coming, but he doesn't come as they expect. So, you heard the first verse, this mighty angel comes down. He's giving a message that says 'in a cloud and a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, his feet were like pillars of fire. You know, that's similar to what you see in Daniel 10 - do you have your Bibles? Daniel 10, verses 5 and 6, "I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of uphaz! His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of His Words like the voice of a multitude." Here in Daniel you've also got this mighty angel giving a message. Now, it could have been the same angel even though 500 years go by - almost 600 years - they don't age, do they? You know gabriel speaks to Daniel in chapter 9, then gabriel speaks to mary in Matthew chapter 1.
Gabriel has no more gray hair - well, it doesn't say what his hair color was, but he hasn't aged. Angels live - they have eternal life, don't they? The good angels. Daniel 12, you've got more angels - these men in linen. Daniel 12:6 and 7, "and one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river," - just like Revelation where they stand above the river - or the waters - "'how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?' Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever," - and so here you've got these angels that are helping to interpret and to explain these prophecies. Now some prophecies are for a specific time.
You understand present truth prophecy? Let me give you an example: a present-truth prophecy would be where Noah says, 'get into the ark a flood is coming.' Now, if I started telling you 'get into the ark a flood is coming' you might say, 'pastor doug, that's not a present-truth prophecy.' But I could say, 'it's in the Bible.' Well that was a message for that particular time. If I said, 'pack your stuff, we're leaving Egypt.' Well, that is in the Bible, but that was a specific message for a specific time for God's people. And so, different prophetic messages appeal to different times. If I were to say to you, 'leave Jerusalem and surrender to the Babylonians.' That was a prophecy of Jeremiah. Well, that was a specific prophecy.
That was present truth for them. If they wanted to survive the siege, they needed to surrender. And so, there are different messages that go out at different times. In Revelation 10 there was a message to go to the world - the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. There was to be a revival among God's people.
It was the end of this age of philadelphia and they were entering the age of laodicea. And all that was happening - so let me read some of Revelation and then we'll unpack it. We've got a lot more to cover. And it says he had a little book open in his hand - I'm in Revelation 10, verse 2,"he had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.
When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.'" Does it tell us in Daniel chapter 8 that some things are to be sealed up until the time of the end in Daniel 12? "The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer," - notice it says the creator of the heavens, the earth, the sea. We also find that in Revelation chapter 14. It's a message connected with a message to return to the creator. That's later on in your lesson.
- "But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets." Oh, one more thing, 'there should be delay no longer' - that's right there in verse 6. I think if you've got king James it says, 'time should be no more'. That word is actually 'delay'. Yeah, in the original it says 'delay'. Now why is that important? Have people in the past foretold that Jesus is coming soon? Have people picked dates for it before? 1844 Was not the first date and harold camping did not set the last date.
There will be others that will be picking days and hours in spite of what Jesus said that tells us that no man knows the day or the hour. Some are thinking, 'well, when the adventist church started, one of our messages was the eminence - the soon coming of Jesus. That's over 150 years ago - what's taking so long? This is exactly what the Bible said would happen. What's the last thing Jesus says in Matthew chapter 24 when he talks about the signs of his coming? 'If that evil servant says in his heart, 'my Lord delays his coming' and begins to eat and drink with the drunken and smite his fellow servants, the master of that servant will come in a day that he's not looking for him and an hour he's not prepared for.' When Moses went up to mount sinai to get the ten commandments - you know the people heard the voice in chapter 19 - in chapter 20 he goes up. He doesn't say when he's coming back, they just know he's going to get the codified version of that law they agreed to.
Forty days go by and the Bible says, 'when the people saw that Moses' - Exodus 32 - 'delayed coming down' - what happened to the church during that time when they said, 'boy, we didn't think it was going to take this long. What is taking him so long? Maybe we misunderstood when he said, 'I'm coming back'. Maybe he died up on the mountain and he's not coming back. Maybe it was a spiritual coming back.' And all these things began going through the minds of the Israelites. 'What had happened to Moses?' He hadn't come back.
Could that happen to the church again? When they saw Moses delayed, there is an apparent delay. That's why it says, 'when the bridegroom tarried' - there is an apparent delay. Samuel the prophet said to king Saul, 'before you go to battle with the philistines, wait for me. I will come offer sacrifice for you.' That was always the priest's job to intercede and sacrifice before the army went into battle. That's when he was supposed to say, 'if any of you are scared, let him go home.
' And he was to declare this speech. Well, Saul saw that his soldiers were starting to get scared and the priest had not come. Six days went by. Samuel said 'after seven days I'll come.' The seventh day arrived and he waited a little bit - maybe it was ten in the morning and he said, 'he's not here.' He's missed the early morning sacrifice. I better do it myself.
' By the way, I don't want to miss the chance to remind you that only certain people were to act the part of priests. It didn't matter whether you were the King, God had specified who was to do it and His Word was very clear that he picks who he picks. Well, the King said, 'it doesn't matter - whether it's the priest, whether it's me - I can do it.' So Saul offered the sacrifice and then Samuel came. It says because Samuel was delayed - Saul was being tested during that delay. Would his faith hang on? Would he wait on God? Here's the patience of the saints.
He lost faith. He lost patience. He offered the sacrifice himself. He altered the worship the way God said it should be done. the King was not supposed to do it any more than king uzziah was supposed to burn incense in the temple - and he got leprosy for doing that.
Saul lost the Kingdom. Samuel finally came. Moses came. What were the children of Israel doing while they got impatient waiting for Moses to come? They said, 'look, we don't know what happened. We're not sure what that God looks like.
We're going to have to adjust things a little bit. Let's modify our worship a little bit.' So they made a golden calf and they began to worship. And they sort of co-mingled the worship of jehovah with the worship of the pagans around them. And they worshiped and then they had a potluck - it says they ate and drank and the potluck got carried away because by the time it was over they weren't wearing their clothes anymore. There was a little immodesty in the worship of God, you might say.
And then Moses came. Is the Lord trying to tell us something? That maybe there'll be an apparent delay just before Jesus comes back and God's people will be tested? And will there be a movement to alter worship just before Jesus comes back? Be more like those around us. Well, it didn't end well for those that lost faith during the time of delay. He says, 'delay will be no longer. So this message was to be preached - I'm back in Revelation chapter 10 and verse - Revelation 10, verse 9, "so I went to the angel and said to him, 'give me the little book.
' And he said to me, 'take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.' Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it," - a little later, in other words - digestion set in - 'my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, 'you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and Kings.'" Now this is sort of a repeat of what happened to the advent people - this great revival that took place at the beginning of the time - the conclusion of philadelphia, the beginning of the church of laodicea - and it talks about eating the little book. Someone look up for me psalm 119:103. Who has that? Mike, let's get you a microphone.
Okay. In the meantime I'm going to read Ezekiel 2, verse 9. This may sound familiar. Ezekiel 2, verse 9 - I'm going to read on to chapter 3, verse 3 of Ezekiel. "Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll" - that's a book - "a scroll of a book was in it.
Then he spread it before me; and there was writing on the inside and on the outside," - a book written on both sides - "and written on it were Lamentations and mourning and woe. Moreover he said to me, 'son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll," - eat the book - "and go, speak to the house of Israel.' So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that scroll. And he said to me, 'son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.' So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness." That sound like Revelation? Like what we just read? Okay, mike, you've got psalm :103. Psalm 119:103, "how sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" So back when they studied the prophecies in the early 1800s and they discovered how to unfold - these words that the angel had uttered that were sealed, the words of Daniel that were sealed - it said, 'sealed until the time of the end.' The time of the end begins with the last stage and phase of the church that we entered in the phase of laodicea - the church of laodicea - and all of a sudden the prophecies and how to understand the prophecies was all unfolded. And people became so excited and the truth about the Gospel was so exciting it was honey in their mouths.
If you love Jesus and you hear he's coming, I mean, what does a believer long for more than that? And they took that message, 'behold, the bridegroom comes' to the world. But then they found out that he tarried. It was sweet in their mouths but then it became bitter. And the final message that they're given is, 'you must prophesy again.' It's not over. The disciples thought when Jesus came and he Marched into Jerusalem and they said, 'hosanna to The Son of David' and he cast all the money changers out of the temple they said, 'this is it! This is it!' And within a few days he was dead.
And Jesus came to him and he said, 'you must prophesy again. It's not over yet. You thought your work was done after I sent you out - the twelve - and I sent out the seventy and you proclaimed me king saying 'hosanna' as I Marched into Jerusalem on a donkey.' He said, 'no, you've only begun. You've got a big work to do.' They thought they were done. They thought 'all of Israel is here.
Everyone knows.' He said, 'no, no. The message has to go much farther than that. The message has to go to the world Jesus said. You've got to go to Jerusalem and Judea and samaria and the outermost parts of the earth.' And so they realized, 'wow, we've got a lot left to do.' There was a great disappointment. Sweet in their mouths one day.
Bitter in their belly a few days later. That's what - you know, history repeats itself. Have you seen that happen? With ancient Israel - it happened with the church. It's happening with the church in the last days. There's a time of great disappointment and God said, 'you still have a message to preach to the world.
' Are we doing that now? Is the message going into all the world? Is there an effort to compromise worship during that same time? There's a battle about messages too. In the days of Jesus was there a battle between the message of Jesus - the Word of God - and the apostles and what the established church was saying in Jerusalem? Was there a struggle back in the Bible? Can you see even a struggle between the people of God when eli was the high priest and what the established church was doing and people who were faithful, like hannah? You can often see that there's a struggle sometimes. Are we going to see a similar struggle, possibly, in the last days happening? God wants us to be faithful to the word. He said, 'you may prophesy again.' And you notice when you see Revelation 14 - part of Revelation 14, verse 6, "then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" - that's what we read there in Revelation 10. 'You must prophesy again.
' Why would he say 'again'? Do you say again if you haven't done it the first time? They were going to have to give this message again, except it was going to go everywhere. And we see this throughout the study here. I'm going to just try and pace myself a little bit. So let's go ahead to Revelation - we're going to break down Revelation 14 in its components. Now just to give you the context of Revelation 14, go to Revelation 14 and, let me see here, look in verse 14 - Revelation 14:14, "then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat one like The Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel...crying out with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, 'thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.'" Alright, who is it that's sitting on the cloud? Jesus. What's happening when The Son of man sitting on the cloud is coming to reap? Isn't that the second coming? Alright, so that's Revelation :14. So what message goes to the world just before Jesus is seen coming in the clouds to harvest the earth? It's Revelation 14 verse 6 on. And part of that message - let me ask you here - when you look in Revelation 14, for instance, verse 9, "then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his Mark on his forehead or on his hand,'" - is that past or future? That's future. And so, here you've got the Mark hasn't been established yet.
Nobody has the Mark of the beast yet, but we're to give a warning about that just before Jesus comes. Are we all still together, right? You read about that also in Revelation 13, it talks about the Mark of the beast and it identifies the beast. All of these chapters in Revelation sort of back up and overlap so we won't miss it. And here, now, it's bringing us right up to the message that goes to the world before Jesus comes. It talks about the 144,000 in the beginning of chapter 14, that have their father's name written in the forehead.
That's important because when you're in Revelation 13 it talks about the Mark of the beast in the forehead. Everybody's got something in the forehead here in Revelation - 'mystery Babylon the great' written in the forehead of the false church; the seal of God and the name of God written in the forehead of the true church. And we don't have time to study what all of those things mean right now, but there's a message that we're to take to the world, beginning especially with verse , "then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven," - now what does the word 'angel' mean? Messenger. And can one angel give a loud voice? Like a megaphone. Police helicopters now have very powerful megaphones.
First of all, trying to hear somebody talk when you're in a helicopter is almost impossible. You have headphones on - I've flown in - I've actually flown helicopters and you've got your headphones on - it's very loud, especially if the windows are open. When you have a helicopter flying over and someone's shouting at you, it's really hard. So the police have developed these very powerful - we have them in Sacramento - you ever heard it before? It's kind of unnerving when they fly over your neighborhood and they say, 'please go in your house. There is a criminal on the loose in the neighborhood.
Do not open your doors.' They're trying to track someone down that's running through the neighborhood and they're afraid he's going to enter one of these houses. There are these powerful megaphones. I couldn't believe it. Message coming from the midst of heaven - well, angels can do better than helicopters, right? And so these angels are giving this megalophonia - and that's where you get the word megaphone, it's from a latin word and it talks about powerful. When we say 'mega' you know what that means, right? Mega chips, mega drink - everyone knows - yeah, mega sodas and - so it means 'big, powerful'.
And so this mega message is going to the world just before Jesus comes. Flying in the midst of heaven - up - position of visibility - people can hear better. When someone spoke they often spoke from mountains so the people below could hear without obstruction. And it says this angel is giving a message to go everywhere and it's the message of the everlasting Gospel. Why is it called the everlasting Gospel? You know that's what we call our church-service program here in Sacramento - the everlasting Gospel.
It's only found one time in the Bible, that phrase - here - you just read it in Revelation 14. Why does it call the Gospel the everlasting Gospel here? Did the everlasting Gospel start with the birth of Jesus or did the everlasting Gospel go all the way back to the Garden of Eden? From the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Was Abraham saved by a different Gospel than Peter and John were saved by or was it the same everlasting Gospel? Have there been efforts for people to preach another Gospel, a different Gospel? Yeah, there's a counterfeit Gospel isn't there - out there? But the Gospel - the true Gospel has not changed. It is the same - Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. So to emphasize that the Gospel in the last days is still preaching the message that was once delivered to the saints, it is called the everlasting Gospel.
The truth of salvation has not changed and so that's the message that's to go to the world before Jesus comes. It's not a modified Gospel. It's not a culturally correct Gospel. It is the same Gospel that saved people all through history, right? So that angel has that everlasting Gospel that he is preaching to the world - to all the world - every tribe, tongue and people. By the way, is the adventist message going into all the world? It is - faster than ever before.
Not only because of print - for years it was print - and then they started using reel-to-reel tapes and cassette tapes and then radio and then television and now the internet and dvds and just every - and missionaries and training and every possible way. There are so many creative ways the Gospel is going to the world that even the barriers of governments can't block it anymore. It's coming up on people's smart phones in countries where you're not allowed to preach about Jesus and so the Gospel is going into all the world. That's why Jesus said - I'm excited - no, Jesus didn't say 'I'm excited', I said that. That's why Jesus said, in Matthew 24:14, "and this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
" Even though it appears that there's a delay, Jesus said, 'in such an hour you think not, the son of man comes.' You know, I hear people say, 'you know, Jesus is going to come and the whole world is going to be falling apart.' And there are going to be problems. You're going to see natural disasters. You're going to see financial problems and you're going to see financial recovery. Don't be mistaken into thinking that you're going to have to see all the polar caps melt before Jesus comes and every - all the people are going to be swimming for the surface and all the mountains are going to be - and then Jesus - you know how probation's going to close? Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah'. What was the weather like before the door was closed on the ark? Beautiful weather.
'As it was in the days of lot.' What was the weather like in sodom the morning that fire rained down? Probably beautiful. They knew not until the flood came and took them all away. They were eating and drinking and building and planting. You hearing that? It seems like the economy's booming, to me. A lot of people out there are giving a message that, you know, every time there's some other new disaster - yes, there's going to be an increase in natural disasters.
Jesus said there will be wars. He said there'll be rumors of wars, but the end is not yet. In other words, don't make the next natural disaster or the next war make you think the end is here. You will see those things increase in intensity - are we seeing that with storms and earthquakes and tsunamis? You'll see them increase with frequency. But then the sun'll come back up again.
Those things are to warn us to get ready, but life will continue to go on until Jesus comes. Does that make sense? Is that biblical? So - I know, I hear people that just they think that it's going to be just - we're going to see the plagues and then that will mean get ready. When you see the seven last plagues, probation's closed at that point. We need to get ready while the sun is still shining. 'Such an hour as you think not, The Son of man is coming.
' Alright, so fear God - let's go back to Revelation. Now what does that angel say? "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment" - will come? It either says in your Bible, 'is' or 'has come'. So when this message begins, you've entered the last age of the church - laodicea means a judging of the people. Christ has entered his last phase of his heavenly ministry and the judgment of the people on earth - the day of atonement on earth is happening. The cleansing of the sanctuary on earth from the truth that has been cast to the ground is happening.
There is a revival that is happening among God's people here as well as what Jesus is doing in heaven. That work has shifted. "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come; and" - there is a message - a call - "worship him" - there is a call to worship the true God. Worship him as opposed to what? All the counterfeit worship, all the corrupted worship, all the Babylonian worship that's out there right now. Worship him - and it identifies him - it separates him from every other God - it says, "worship him who made" - worship the creator.
"Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." Now where do you find a reference again to the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water? Somebody - yeah, look up for me - is it Exodus chapter 20, verse 11? Who has that? Got a hand over here. Let's get you a microphone. There's a call to worship the creator that comes. How many of you have heard about what they call 'the alpha of apostasy'? If you know what I'm talking about when I say the alpha of apostasy - I'm just curious - hold up your hand. If you don't know, don't hold up your hand.
Wow, it worries me that you don't know. You know, Ellen white, she talked about the alpha of apostasy and she talked about the omega of apostasy. The alpha of apostasy was when our premier institution of education and medical work in battle creek under dr. Kellogg, who had done a wonderful work but he slowly began to change his theology and change his world view. He wrote a book called 'the living temple' and in it he basically taught pantheism.
He co-mingled sort of new-age philosophy about God is sort of in everything and is to be worshiped in everything, as opposed to the Bible model of God is a unique creator and independent of that. And that was called the alpha of apostasy. I think the omega of apostasy is going to be when Seventh-day Adventists that believe - our whole church is founded on the belief that in six days - literal days - the Lord made the heaven and the earth - when a church that believes in the literal coming of the Lord and that he is a literal creator - when they begin to teach that God really created through a process where there always has been death and dinosaurs were killing each other and slowly man evolved from lower forms of life and then one day God said, 'I'm just going to give him the spark of a soul'. You know, this is what the pope said is an accepted view of creation now. He said, 'yes man was, maybe, a lower form of life, but at some point God said, 'I'm going to declare you unique.
' But, you see, the problem with that view, if you believe in these long time periods, then the sin in the world is not the result of man's fall. There was death and there was killing and there were animals eating each other before man ever sinned, according to that. I mean, people have said, 'well, I believe in creation but God used evolution to do it.' That doesn't work with the Bible because Jesus said it's six days. Jesus says Noah's real. You can't believe - Jesus said, 'if you don't believe Moses you don't believe me.
' And so I think that's probably - a good definition for the omega of apostasy is when Christian Seventh-day Adventist institutions start to teach that the preferred view of origins is evolution and they're putting the reasoning of man ahead of the declaration of God's Word because there's some things they can't figure out. I also don't think it's scientific. But what is the message that's supposed to go to the world? The message of evolution or the message of creation? Alright, you're going to read a verse for us. Exodus 20:11, "for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
" Amen. Do we believe that? Do we still believe in six days? It wasn't in six million years. We're not celebrating every Sabbath day the memorial of God doing things slowly over millions and billions of years. That's not what the Bible tells us. It's - we're worshiping a God that is able to create instantly and he is able to recreate.
He is able to sanctify and justify you just like that. God is able to make you a new creature. And so, you know, all of that is involved in that message. And then, moving on in our study here, it says that angel says with a loud voice, "fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and the springs of waters.
" And then the third angel follows saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city" - we've got to stop here. You notice there's a contrast being made between the worship of the true God and the worship of the false God. It's saying the true God - seal of God - worship him that created as opposed to Babylonian worship. And, you know, what was one of Daniel's problems? As soon as he went to Babylon they tried to feed him with the food of Babylon and he said, 'no, I can't - I will not defile myself with the Babylonian diet.' In Revelation we just read that eating the book represented the truth of God. Some people are eating from the wrong book - they're eating from the wrong truth and they're being defiled by Babylonian food, you might say.
And so then, in that context, it says there's a great struggle that takes place between those who have the seal of God and those who have the Mark of the beast. Now how important is it for us to understand these things? You know I - very common question Pastor Ross and I get on our live Bible answer program where people call in Bible questions from all over the country - all different kinds of people - and they say, 'why does it seem like the God in the new testament and Jesus are so loving and merciful and kind and in the Bible you've got these plagues and wrath and it seems like God is so judgmental and harsh. Why such different Gods?' And I say, 'I don't think you're reading the whole old testament and I don't think you're reading the whole new testament. Because in the old testament you'll find a lot of grace and mercy and love and in the new testament you'll find some judgment and wrath and plagues. And the most fearful declaration and curse that you see in Scripture is actually found in the new testament.
I think it's right here in the third angels' message. "Another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'" - Talking about Babylon and her daughters - "then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'if anyone worships the beast'" - I actually meant earlier to say the second angels' message, I'm sorry - "then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'if anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his Mark on his forehead or his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the Mark of his name.'" So here you've got - does that sound a little tough right there? That sounds like a pretty strong statement, don't you think? And look at how it immediately contrasts those who have come out of Babylon with those who are suffering the penalty for being in Babylon. "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
" So you've got two groups that are contrasted and one group has the seal of God and one group has the Mark of the beast. If you look, for instance, in - it talks about the rage of nations. Someone look up for me Revelation 12:17 - who has that? Get you a microphone over here. You can read, for instance, in Revelation 11:18, "the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth." You know, just even as taking that on its surface value, this is a sign - it talks about God's people being judged. Did you catch that? We're living in the only time of the world's history when man has the ability to destroy the earth.
Everywhere I turn someone says, 'global warming. We are doing it to the planet.' Whether or not you agree with that, I'm a pilot. I fly over the countryside and I just see what used to be forests are now developments. I mean, things are changing. There's no question about it that the planet is going under a change that man is having an impact on the environment.
You can't even sail across the pacific right now without running into what they call 'the great pacific garbage patch'. It's a swirling confetti of garbage bigger than the state of Texas - absolutely - out there in the middle of the pacific. So we are doing something. We are destroying the earth. It also sets a time - it says the nations are angry.
What are they angry about? Let's read that verse. Go ahead. Revelation 12:17, "and the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." So what is this anger about? The dragon is wroth - why? Because God's people are keeping his commandments. The dragon wants to destroy her. This is the battle between Babylon and the bride.
God's church and the enemy. Anyway, there's much more I have to share in this lesson. I don't have time - not today - maybe I'll get some more next week. But do send for the free offer. It's offer #137 - it's called 'angel messages from space'.
And call that number on your screen it's 866-study-more - -788-3966. Thank you, God willing we'll study together again next week. In 3 - 2 - 1 - action. This documentary covers a span from the first coming of Jesus and what was going on in the church up until just before the second coming of Jesus. It shows the great apostasy that crept into the church and then, ultimately, the great revival through the great reformation.
This is a life and death battle. It's not just something that's happening in hallucinations of a prophet, those things are played out in real history. Today we are shooting multiple scenes. A lot of props are going to be in play. Now right over here we have a door that luther will be nailing his 95 theses into.
As you can tell, it's not the whole door. In film you just cut down to what you're going to see and so this is what we're going to see. And then over here we've got these shields coming together. We're going to be putting in some texture and painting these red. We're lighting, right now, the eucharist and so we're going to go scene by scene - a little piece by piece of what the actual chalice, the bread, the wine - and then after that we're going to fly in the goblet that the woman in Revelation 17 is holding.
She's drinking blood and we're going to have the blood dripping down. When putting together a film you have tons of practicals and props that are on your set and you've got to do the research. You've got to find out what was used during that time. John was writing on patmos and everybody thinks that he's using a scroll with ink, but he was actually - he would have been using like a lead stencil. We try to put those real elements in there without causing any distraction to the audience where they'll be like, 'no, that's not what was used.
' Then you have, like the reformation periods, the renaissance era and the dark ages - all those details from the types of candles that they were using or possibly the types of parchment that they might have been writing on, we had to recreate that kind of stuff. We learned, as we interviewed the historians, because they've really researched a lot of the ancient history and most of us have layman's knowledge of these things. It really added a lot of valuable insights to the picture that kind of gave it detail and color and brought it to life. Amazing Facts changed lives. By the time I got to high school abuse was just a way of life for me.
I just thought that that was the way it was and that many people were going through that and I found out that a lot of the girls were not going through the abuse that I was going through. I started acting out and playing up and misbehaving in school. I felt when I spoke to mom she was too busy worrying about where dad was - what dad was doing. When I spoke to the older siblings they couldn't be bothered - I had stupid questions. I seemed to feel very lonely all the time and I just forgot, at that point, where God was and felt that I didn't need him because, anyway, when I did need him he was never around for me.
I was living a very, very busy life working 'til 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning and then drinking alcohol 'til 5 o'clock so that I could get to sleep for a few hours, wake up, and then get back to work at 8 o'clock at night. So my life continued and spiraled until I decided I needed to do something different. So I packed my bags and spent 11 months crossing africa from zimbabwe all the way through to switzerland. Met a lady in - a missionary who spoke to me about God and gave me a Bible and that was when I started thinking, again, that 'God, maybe you led me on this trip.' And that was the start of me really rethinking, 'what am I doing with my life?' I'd made a decision that 'God, this time I'm never going to let you go. I know you've never let me go.
It was always me who let go.' My return to Jesus was the most amazing feeling that I'd ever experienced. I felt as if this time I'd made a connection with God. Together we have spread the Gospel much farther than ever before. Thank you for your support. In six days God created the heavens and the earth.
For thousands of years man has worshiped God on the seventh day of the week. Now, each week, millions of people worship on the first day. What happened? Why did God create a day of rest? Does it really matter what day we worship? Who was behind this great shift? Discover the truth behind God's law and how it was changed. Visit Sabbathtruth.com. If you've missed any of our Amazing Facts programs, visit our website at 'amazingfacts.org'. There you'll find an archive of all our television and radio programs including 'amazing facts presents'. One location. So many possibilities. Amazingfacts.org.