Sermon

Conclusion: Don't Worry--Look to Jesus! (Pastor Aaron Trelfa, 10/01/22)

Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist Church

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. All right, good evening everyone. I want to welcome you back to our sixth and

  2. final presentation for Three Angels, One Message. This has been quite the journey.

  3. We have covered so many different things. We have looked at wonderful topics. We

  4. have looked at concerning topics, but most importantly we have seen Jesus in

  5. the midst of all of it, and I for one have been encouraged by it. I hope you

  6. have too. I hope if you're watching on Facebook you have been encouraged with

  7. these as well, that maybe if this is the first time you've studied this in-depth

  8. in this particular singular passage in the Bible, Revelation 14 verses 6 and

    Revelation 14:6

  9. onwards, that you will have walked away with something. You will have walked away

  10. with an increased faith. You will have walked away with an increased

  11. appreciation for the book of Revelation. Maybe that's not where you typically go

  12. the epistles from Paul are a favorite. Old Testament narratives are a favorite.

  13. The Gospels are of course one of my favorites, but that doesn't mean that we

  14. should stay away from Revelation. We've seen that it's rich. We've seen that it's

  15. deep, and we've seen that it's important and vital for right now. So tonight we're

  16. going to finish this up. We're going to have a slightly shorter, probably

  17. noticeably shorter compared to the last two presentations. Tonight's title just

  18. simply, Don't Worry, Look to Jesus. Let's pray before we begin. Heavenly Father, we

  19. thank you for a beautiful Sabbath afternoon. We thank you for the rest

  20. that we could enjoy, the fellowship with family and with friends, and so we pray

  21. now that you would be with us as we close out today. Be with us as we look one

  22. more time at these important passages and words from your inspired writings of

  23. the Bible, for we pray in Jesus name, amen. Amen. One of the more significant

  24. events of World War I was the sinking of the Cunardosian liner, the RMS

  25. Lusitania. It occurred on Friday, May 7, 1915, as Germany waged submarine warfare

  26. against the United Kingdom. Good evening, come on in. Great Britain, Ireland, and

  27. the British Royal Navy had blockaded Germany. The ship was identified and

  28. torpedoed by a German U-boat, and it sank in only 18 minutes. The vessel went down

  29. 11 miles off of Kinzale, Ireland, killing 1,198 people and leaving 761 survivors.

  30. It's pretty tragic really by any measurement. The sinking turned public

  31. opinion in many countries against Germany. This contributed to the American

  32. entry into World War I, and it became an iconic symbol in military recruiting

  33. campaigns as to why the war was even being fought to begin with. I guess this

  34. would be World War I's Pearl Harbor, if you will. A story associated with this

  35. disaster has relevance for Bible-believing Christians, especially

  36. for Seventh-day Adventists living in last days of human history. Lord Joseph

  37. Duveen was the head of a prestigious art firm in the United States. In 1915, he

  38. planned to send one of his experts to England to examine some ancient pottery.

  39. He booked passage for his associate on the Lusitania. The German Embassy had

  40. issued a warning that the ocean liner might be torpedoed. Lord Duveen wanted to

  41. call off the trip. I can't take the risk of you being killed, he said to his young

  42. pottery expert. Generally, if a country that is waging war with so many other

  43. nations says, I might torpedo that boat if it comes this way, one should probably

  44. listen. So you can hardly fault Lord Duveen for not wanting his young

  45. associate on that ship with the looming threat. Don't worry, the young man

  46. replied. I am a strong swimmer. When I read what was happening in the Atlantic,

  47. I began hardening myself by spending time every day in a tub of ice. If you've

  48. ever done any of this, I mean that's common for like athletes, you know,

  49. they're sore, they get in that ice bathtub at the end and it helps with the

  50. inflammation and so on. I could not do that, at least not initially. This man was

  51. taking the initiative though. He says that at first I could stand it for only

  52. a few minutes, but this morning I stayed in that tub for nearly two hours. A long

  53. time. I don't know how you kept that ice frozen, seems like it would have melted

  54. off and become a little bit more tepid, but he was conditioning himself, he says.

  55. Naturally Lord Duveen laughed, it sounded preposterous, but the young man sailed,

  56. the Lusitania was torpedoed, we know. The amazing thing is that the young man was

  57. rescued after five hours in the chilly waters of the Atlantic, still in

  58. excellent condition. Just as this young man took the warnings seriously and

  59. prepared himself in advance for the tough times that were coming, so Jesus

  60. gives a message in advance to prepare us for his soon return. We've studied them.

  61. It has been our focus for these previous five presentations. The three angels

  62. message, flying in midair with the everlasting gospel to preach to

  63. everybody on the planet, is especially designed by Christ to prepare each one

  64. of us for his second coming. It is, and it's a way of preparing us in the

  65. most vital of senses, whose allegiance do we pledge ourselves to? Is it to God

  66. in Christ, or is it to something else? These end time messages are heaven's last

  67. appeals to a dying planet. I'm gonna be honest, I'm kind of ready for the planet

  68. to kick the bucket. If it's dying, it might as well get over it because I'm

  69. sick of the results of sin. I'm tired of it. The hurricane, as they are, I'm sure

  70. they will be finding lost loved ones as they clean up from this hurricane. As we

  71. have earthquakes and we have riots that turn violent, as we have the various

  72. increases in crime and overdoses and loneliness and depression, all of it

  73. comes to an end when Jesus returns. Come Lord Jesus is my cry. But before then, we

  74. have to listen to God's last appeal. We ignore them at our own peril. They come

  75. to us from God's heart of divine love and to casually set them aside or to

  76. treat them with careless indifference is to risk eternal loss. We are not playing

  77. around with light semantics or hyperbole with this my friends. It is this

  78. important. Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica writes this, but you

  79. brethren are not in darkness so that this day, that would be the day of Christ's

  80. return, that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and

  81. sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not

  82. sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober. There is much talk in

  83. evangelical Christianity about Christ's return coming as a thief. Paul is telling

  84. us that we should not be caught as a thief. Christians should know when it's

  85. coming. Christians should be looking for his coming. Christians should be prepared

  86. for Christ's coming so that it doesn't catch us as a thief. The Christians who

  87. are looking for Jesus to come as a thief are the Christians who aren't looking at

  88. all. That's what this amounts to. We have no excuse Paul says. We are not of the

  89. night. We should not be asleep. We should be prepared for it. These messages help us

  90. do that. They should be a wake-up call. If you have found yourself spiritually

  91. slumbering and these messages have been that ringing in your ears, wake up and

  92. pay attention, praise God for these messages. We should thank him for it. They

  93. are of little use if we hit the snooze button and carelessly dismiss them. They

  94. are of little use if we ignore them. They are of little use if they do not

  95. radically change our lives. We read this from Testimonies Volume 8 commenting on

  96. the nearness of Christ's return and the importance of being prepared. The end is

  97. very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break

  98. upon the world as an overwhelming surprise. Note that the surprise breaks

  99. upon the world. We who are prepared are not going to be caught as if we were

  100. overwhelmingly surprised. That's for them, not for us she says. Well how do we do

  101. that? Jesus in John 17 says, you sanctify them by your truth. Your word is

  102. truth. That's where we start our preparation. We start by digging into the

  103. truth of God's word. He also says, and you shall know the truth and then the truth

  104. shall make you free. I have heard people say that it's better that I don't read

  105. the Bible so then I can claim the bliss of ignorance. God winks at us in our

  106. moments of ignorance. Well my friends, if you choose to be ignorant, you are

  107. choosing the opposite of freedom. If you choose the ignorance, then you are

  108. choosing to be what the Bible says as a slave to sin rather than a bond servant

  109. to Christ. Because when you are linked up with Jesus, only then can you truly be

  110. free. Because the truth that we find in him is liberating. It's restful. It's

  111. peaceful. It says I've forgiven you and not only that but I've cleansed you from

  112. the unrighteousness. The truth that we find in Jesus, the truth that we've

  113. studied through these passages, that we've seen that the gospel permeates

  114. each of these angels messages, is that it will bring us to a place where

  115. we can have hope in something beyond this world. We can have something higher

  116. than us. But what it also means is that these messages don't leave room for

  117. compromise. They don't. Because we either have the truth as it is in Jesus or we

  118. don't have truth at all. We've looked at Babylonian truth and that's really

  119. truth mixed with error. Compromised truth. Confusion. These messages appeal to

  120. us to decide for Christ and not falsehood. Truth not error. Scripture not

  121. tradition. The teachings of God's Word and not the traditions of men and the

  122. freedom of the Lamb, not the coercion of the beast. That's what these messages

  123. call us to. When you have allied yourself to Christ, not turned aside by any means

  124. but wholly consecrated to Him in His service, then you are proudly displayed

  125. as one of His saints. And God wants to show you off. Here is the patience of the

  126. saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of

  127. Jesus. In your own way, when you are found among these people, in your own way

  128. you will pick up the banner long held by faithful Christians throughout history.

  129. You don't have to be the street corner preacher or the the evangelist who

  130. stands on the stage. You don't have to be the writer just going at it for

  131. hundreds and hundreds of pages to be published and scattered abroad like the

  132. leaves in autumn. If that's not you, that's okay. Maybe you're a prayer warrior.

  133. Maybe you're someone who serves and you you like to rake leaves as a gift to

  134. someone else free of charge. Because then you can tell them about how God saved

  135. you free of charge. In your own way, when you are counted among the saints, you

  136. will pick up the banner long held by faithful Christians throughout history.

  137. And in your own way, you will add your voice to the proclamation chorus. You

  138. don't have to be like someone else. Be like you. That's enough for God and He

  139. wants to proudly put you on display. Truths long obscured by the darkness of

  140. error and tradition, including the true Bible Sabbath, will be proclaimed to the

  141. world just before the return of our Lord. God's people are identified as a body of

  142. Christ-centered believers, filled with the faith of Jesus who lovingly keep

  143. His commandments, including the fourth one, the Sabbath. God's people, though,

  144. will not be proclaiming the gospel alone. God's people will not be facing

  145. persecution alone. God will move mightily among His people to combat the enemy of

  146. souls because there's going to come a time when God will say enough to that

  147. enemy. Enough! You've ruled long enough, sir! That's what God will say to Satan.

  148. You see, the three angels of Revelation 14 are joined by another in Revelation

  149. 18. Revelation 18, this angel gives power to the proclamation of the three angels

  150. so that the earth is lighted with the glory of God. Revelation 18 focuses on

  151. the major events leading up to the climax of human history and the final

  152. ultimate triumph of the gospel. Let's look at these briefly. Revelation 18 in

  153. verse 1, After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great

  154. authority and the earth was illuminated with his glory. Illuminated, mighty,

  155. powerful was this angelic host. The angel comes down from the glorious presence of

  156. God in the throne room of the sanctuary. Commissioned to proclaim God's last

  157. message of mercy and to warn the inhabitants of the earth what is coming

  158. upon this planet. If we look just for a moment about this great authority, the

  159. great authority here in this verse comes from the New Testament Greek word

  160. excusia. Jesus uses this word, this very word, excusia in the gospel of

  161. Matthew in connection with sending out the disciples. Let's see how Jesus uses

  162. it then. Matthew 10, 1, when he had called his 12 disciples to him he gave them power,

  163. excusia over sicknesses, other maladies and cripplings, but hear this, and over

  164. the evil spirits so they could cast them out of the men and women possessed by

  165. the devil. In other words, God ascends his disciples out with the divine power to

  166. be victorious in the battle between good and evil. Satan and his demonic forces

  167. could not stand before the disciples because God, because Jesus had given

  168. them his excusia, his great authority, his holy power. And so when they said get

  169. out of her in the name of Jesus Christ or get out of him, the spirits obeyed.

  170. They didn't have a choice. They could not stand up to the authority from on high. In

  171. Matthew 28, 18, and 19 he once again takes up this word, excusia, as he sends

  172. out his disciples, but this time he sends them everywhere because that is the

  173. Great Commission. Everywhere with all authority in heaven and on earth to go

  174. and to make disciples of all nations. Filled with the power of the Holy Spirit,

  175. going forth with the authority of the risen living Christ, the New Testament

  176. Church lighted the earth with the glory of God. In a few short years, the

  177. disciples had proclaimed the gospel in the then known world. We know, we know,

  178. that there were civilizations in far-off Asia and South America and I'm certain

  179. North America at that point. In terms of the scope of the Christian movement, in a

  180. couple of short years, the Christian faith had gone throughout the mightiest

  181. empire on the planet at that time. The seat of development at that time, Western

  182. Europe, the Middle East and then up into the Roman Empire. That's what we mean by

  183. the then known world. Colossians 1.23, Paul makes this clear. At the end time,

  184. the Holy Spirit will be poured out in unprecedented power. The gospel will

  185. rapidly be spread to the ends of the earth. What we will, what we did see back

  186. then, that will be repeated again right before Jesus comes back. That same

  187. excuse you, that same authority is going to be given to God's people today as we

  188. take up that banner and proclaim the gospel like the disciples did. Thousands

  189. will be converted in a day. God's grace and truth will impact the entire planet.

  190. Well, if this is true, and it is, if it is true, and it is, it is not wise for us to

  191. open our hearts to receive, or is it not wise for us to open our hearts to receive

  192. the outpouring of the Spirit to finish the work of God on earth. Again, aren't we

  193. tired of Satan wreaking havoc amongst God's people? Would you like to help move

  194. it along and tie it up with a bow? God wants you to join him in this. Is it not

  195. wise to ask Jesus to take anything out of our lives that would hinder this

  196. outpouring of the Holy Spirit, whatever it is, and everybody usually has at least

  197. one thing that we can, we can self-reflect on and say, I'd kind of like

  198. that scrubbed. Could a magic eraser be taken to it and Mr. Clean applied?

  199. Spiritually speaking, we understand. Is it not wise to seek God for the heart

  200. cleansing necessary to receive the latter rain of the Spirit in all his

  201. fullness? The great controversy between good and evil in the universe is about

  202. God's honor. The only reason we care about worship is because it honors God

  203. when we worship him. You can't divorce them. It is about God's honor, his

  204. reputation. Satan, as a rebellious angel, declared that God was unjust, that he

  205. demands worship, but he gives little in return. The evil one declares that God's

  206. law is arbitrary, restricting our freedom and limiting our joy, and people pick up

  207. those same accusations today verbatim and they hurl them heavenward all over

  208. again. It hasn't stopped just because time has passed. In fact, there are just

  209. now more people on the planet to pick up the chorus. But the cross, Jesus

  210. self-sacrificing, condescension from heaven to earth as a baby, a life serving

  211. others, a ministry directing minds heavenward, finally outstretched hands

  212. and bleeding wrists and feet and brow, the cross, that old rugged cross, that

  213. proved the myth. It proved the lie to be a lie because when he came forth in glory

  214. from that tomb, resurrected and made majestic again, he demonstrated just how

  215. far God's love would go in self-sacrifice, contrary to the lie, to

  216. redeem fallen humanity. It exposed the myth of Satan. On the

  217. cross, Jesus answered Satan's charges and he demonstrated that God is loving and

  218. just. Well, God's people charmed by that love, concerned about God's honor, his

  219. end-time people will reveal his glory. That's what we are to reveal, his loving

  220. self-sacrificing character. We're to reveal it to a self-centered, godless

  221. world. The earth is illuminated by the character of God when we do that. What a

  222. wonderful calling. I can't imagine a more noble cause to be involved in than to

  223. demonstrate the character, the glory of God to others. That's awesome. That's

  224. certainly better than displaying your favorite brand of t-shirt or your

  225. favorite sports team, even if we like sports. Oh, show people God. Show people

  226. love. Show people his glory and his character. That's a noble calling. Moses

  227. had asked God to show him his glory back in Exodus 33 and God replied with, I will

  228. make all my goodness pass before you. And so in addition to physically showing

  229. himself, just a portion of his backside, it's all sinful humanity could behold.

  230. God declared himself. When he says, my goodness is going to pass before you, he

  231. then goes on to say, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and just, and just,

  232. forgiving the sinner. He declared his character and he equated that with his

  233. glory as God's goodness is his character. At the end time, the Holy Spirit will be

  234. poured out in unprecedented power. The gospel will rapidly be spread to the

  235. ends of the earth and God's people will be filled and the earth then will be

  236. filled with the glory of God when we are so completely overwhelmed with his love,

  237. when we so totally comprehend its depth and so fully grasp how amazing that

  238. grace is that our characters are changed by that redeeming love. When we

  239. exemplify that, then the earth is filled with the glory of God. As the Apostle

  240. John declares in 1st John 3, behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed

  241. on us, that we should be called the children of God. There are a lot of

  242. titles that people strive for today. I would encourage every one of us to strive

  243. for this child, or for this title, a child of God, a son or a daughter of the most

  244. high. Revealing his love in our personal lives reveals his glory, his character.

  245. Ellen White says this in January 28 of 1893, the message of Christ's righteousness

  246. is to sound from one end of the earth to the other. The message of Christ's

  247. righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other. That's the

  248. proclamation of the gospel. This is the glory of God which closes the work of

  249. the third angel. It's so connected to the messages that we have been studying, you

  250. cannot divorce them. So let us ask, where are we in the stream of time? Where are

  251. we in the great panorama of last-day events? When you read through the books

  252. of Daniel and Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel even has connections to today. If you look

  253. through Revelation and what Paul talks about in Thessalonians 1 and 2 about

  254. the end times, what Peter talks about, John calling out the Antichrist, all of

  255. those macro discussions about the end times. Where are we? Where are we in the

  256. march of history? Well my friends, we are poised on the verge of a religious,

  257. political, and an economic union. This union is one that is unholy, it is

  258. unsanctified of God because inevitably or ultimately it will be used to

  259. persecute God's people. This unholy union of religion, politics, and economics will

  260. be used to bring God's people to heal. That's where we are and I do believe

  261. that we are on the verge of it. I do believe and we've presented some

  262. evidence to support this, that a lot of the groundwork is being laid for, again,

  263. I believe rapid movements in this direction. The accumulated figures of

  264. sin are rapidly reaching their limit in God's record book. His grace lasts long

  265. towards this earth and I believe our sins are just piling high exponentially

  266. today. It's rather startling. God is preparing a people to proclaim the

  267. marvels of His grace, the greatness of His love, the goodness of His character,

  268. the righteousness of His law, and the beauty of His truth. Bathed in His

  269. righteousness, God's people are justified by His grace and sanctified through His

  270. power. They love His truth, live His truth, and then we proclaim His truth.

  271. That's what God's people do and He is preparing us for that today. Can we say

  272. like Paul, for me to live is Christ? For me to count all things but loss for

  273. Christ. Christ is our all in all. Do you care not for earthly fame or human

  274. accolades? Position, prestige, and earthly praise. Does it mean little to you? Is

  275. this your catchphrase, if you will? For me to live is Christ. Are you empowered by

  276. His Spirit? Do you proclaim His love and share His grace? Well, the earth will then

  277. be lighted with the glory of the character of God when this is your

  278. battle cry. For me to live is Christ. The Holy Spirit is poured out in lather rain

  279. power. Hearts are touched, lives are changed, the world is reached, and Jesus

  280. comes again. I look forward to that day. I do. The title for tonight's presentation

  281. is just don't worry, look to Jesus. It's very simple and it's very true. We aren't

  282. going to go into all of everything that proves that Jesus is going to come back

  283. in the ample evidence in the Bible. It's so saturated with it. I would encourage

  284. you to study on your own, but Jesus is coming back soon and we should be

  285. prepared for it. Look to Him, focus on Him, and a lot of the other cares will

  286. start to fade out of the periphery. It's very true. The story goes like this many

  287. years ago. Lord Cecil, a first cousin of the late Queen Victoria, was converted

  288. to Christ. His life was dramatically changed as many lives are after being

  289. converted to a faith in Jesus Christ. He now had a burning passion to share the

  290. Christ who had done so much for Him. Has Christ done so much for you? It's worth

  291. asking. Lord Cecil's one desire was to preach the gospel. He traveled to

  292. North America, he spent much of his time in Canada, he shared the love of Christ

  293. everywhere he went, in large cities, in remote villages, among farmers, in the

  294. lumber camps, and in quiet seaside towns. He was a man who knew what he wanted to

  295. do, and everywhere he went, he did it. Let me tell you about Jesus. Lord Cecil

  296. tells the story of one day passing the house of a man whom he knew was

  297. once a Christian, but had seriously drifted away from Christ. Maybe we know

  298. someone like that. Maybe we are someone like that, or have been. It's a relatable

  299. story for many, many people. Lord Cecil saw the man at his woodpile,

  300. industriously chopping wood for his cook stove. Knowing the man to be a

  301. backslider, one who had once been a faithful witness for his Savior, but now

  302. was no longer attending church, Lord Cecil paused and shouted to him a

  303. simple sermon. The Lord is coming brother, the Lord is coming. He said no more, and

  304. he continued walking. A simple sermon. Well the admonition of the Lord is

  305. coming burned its way into that man's soul. The words reached the core of his

  306. being. Like a two-edged sword, it pierced his heart. His conscience smote him. These

  307. words echoed again and again in his mind. The Lord is coming. It seemed he could

  308. not forget them. That urgent appeal from God's servant that the coming of the

  309. Lord was near so impressed the man that he recommitted his life to Christ and

  310. he returned to church. Living in the light of the second coming of Christ is

  311. powerful and it changes lives. My friends, the Lord is coming. The Lord is coming.

  312. Friend, the Lord is coming. Are you ready for his return? Are you ready for that

  313. day when Jesus will stream down the corridors of heaven, splitting open the

  314. eastern sky, riding on a cloud of angels, singing his praise. This time not as a

  315. lamb to the slaughter but as a king conquering and victorious. Glorified, not

  316. bloodied. He is coming to take his own back home. Will you be found among them?

  317. Look to Jesus, my friends. Are you ready for the day when the earth will be

  318. lightened with the glory of God? Do you want to help in lightening the earth

  319. with the glory of God? This world is on a collision course and there is only one

  320. hope. The hope of the coming of Jesus. We look forward to that day and I pray that

  321. as we do, you don't worry but you look to Jesus. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we

  322. thank you so much for these encouraging words. We thank you that even though

  323. there seems to be so much chaos and noise all around us, we can find the

  324. solace in you. So Lord, I pray for that peace from on high. I pray for the

  325. presence of your Holy Spirit. I pray that we as your people will be prepared for

  326. your soon return so that we look at you with open and welcoming arms. Not

  327. something to fear. Certainly not a day that should catch us unawares. Lord, may

  328. we be faithful to you through to the end and may we also in our own way proclaim

  329. the Lord is coming to any who would hear. As we pray in Jesus name, Amen.

  330. That does conclude our series. I want to thank you for attending. We've had some

  331. things, I think several of us have made every one. That's very good. If I had gold

  332. stars, I don't. I told you we would have a Q&A time. There might be a possibility

  333. of someone looking online. If anyone is watching us live, you can type into the

  334. chat box a question and we'll do our best to read it out and include it. I

  335. wanted to kick us off with something. I wanted to kick us off with a verse that

  336. comes right after the passage that we've been studying. Most people when they talk

  337. about the three angels messages, they talk about Revelation 14 verses 6 to 12.

    Revelation 14:6–12

  338. Rightfully so. It's a great place to end. It kind of leads right up to it. It's

  339. kind of a crescendo. It's the patience of the saints, those who keep the

  340. commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and so on. It's a beautiful way of

  341. doing it. I like to also include in that verse 13. I want to lead into it by

  342. saying that I really don't know why very many people preach on it. Maybe you've

  343. read it and you've wondered about it. Maybe you've looked at it and you said,

  344. I don't really know what to think about it. So I want to give it a minute or two's

  345. consideration. It reads like this, and I heard a voice from heaven. This

  346. is after, immediately after. Here is the patience or the endurance of the saints,

  347. those that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Right after

  348. that we have, I heard a voice from heaven saying, right this, blessed are the dead

  349. who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed says the Spirit that they may

  350. rest from their labors for their deeds follow them. I came to that one day and

  351. I've read it several times and usually I just kind of skip past it. For the most

  352. part if you are reading a three angels message you just get to 12 and you're

  353. like, I'm done. But this comes right on the heels of, here's the description of

  354. God's saints and then it's, and then it's blessed are those who die, yeah right

  355. there, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Well it seems like

  356. an interesting thing to follow after. Here are the saints who do all of these

  357. things. Here's why I think it is there.

  358. John is writing at a time shortly after Paul was addressing concerns. Revelation

  359. was most likely the last book of the Bible ever written. It was probably

  360. written around a hundred AD-ish, right before the Apostle John died. Before that

  361. Paul had all of his writings. Well in one of Paul's epistles he talks about, he

  362. talks to the people, he writes to the church, then they are obviously concerned

  363. with loved ones dying. And he goes, well take heart, hold on, and then he talks

  364. about the resurrection, right. That's the context. Hold on, you don't have to lose

  365. heart, you are not ignorant of what happens when people die because the

  366. resurrection, all right. There will come a day we'll all be reunited and caught up

  367. in the air, and those if you live until Jesus comes back you're not going to go

  368. ahead of your dead loved ones, we all get to go together. That's the

  369. errant, tralfa paraphrase. You know John is probably dealing with something

  370. similar a couple of years after Paul, where people are still maybe concerned

  371. one, that Jesus hadn't come back. They believed in the early church that in

  372. that singular generation Jesus was going to go to heaven, maybe hang out for a

  373. year or five or ten, and come right back. The Bible writes about Christ's return

  374. as imminent and also be patient for it. They focused on the imminence of it, and

  375. they believed that to be now, my generation. They also believed that

  376. there was a little bit of Greek misunderstanding with things, that

  377. there wasn't perhaps a resurrection. Paul handled that. John writes, you know, at

  378. the ending of the first century AD, and I'm sure some Christians

  379. were still concerned that their loved ones were dying and Jesus hadn't come

  380. back. What is going on, John? So he writes after the description of the saints,

  381. blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on, that they may rest from

  382. their labors for their deeds follow them. In other words, it is sad when we lose a

  383. loved one, but if someone dies with the faith of Jesus, that won't be the last

  384. time we get to see them. That faith follows them. God remembers them in the

  385. grave. He knows them by name, and those deeds, if you will, the keeping, the

  386. deeds being the keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, those two

  387. things would be counted as deeds. That follows them through time, however long

  388. time takes to pass, and then Jesus comes back and they get resurrected. I have

  389. heard it said before that God in His mercy is going to allow some saints of

  390. His to fall asleep in death so that they don't have to go through the tough

  391. persecution times of the end. That it's gracious of God to let His loved ones

  392. die the death of sleep knowing that He knows them by name, that their faith

  393. stays with them through the grave, and they will be resurrected. The next

  394. thing they know, they're just going to see Jesus and angels and everyone's

  395. shouting hallelujah, and here we go and off you go.

  396. That's, you know, we have this, we have sometimes this notion that we bend all of

  397. our energies in keeping people alive and alive and alive and alive. I think

  398. sometimes we lose the nobility or the possible nobility in giving them a

  399. gracious death. Sometimes it's better to just allow someone to die keeping this

  400. part in mind, because when a heavenly angel says blessed are the dead who die

  401. in the Lord from now on, why should I look to violate that? I've kind of been

  402. convicted of that. That's not to say that we're looking to, we don't want it to end

  403. prematurely, we're not saying that, but we are keeping things in the context of

  404. how Scripture tells us to treat death. It is very sad. We don't mean to diminish

  405. the sadness of losing a loved one. I went through that just this last year when

  406. when my last grandfather passed away, so I don't have a grandparent alive anymore.

  407. That's a whole generation gone for me and my family. It was very sad, you know,

  408. we cried, we mourned, you know, we visited and we reminisced, but this is, this

  409. right here was the passage that I preached on for his memorial service,

  410. because Paul also says that we should comfort one another with the words of

  411. the resurrection. So that's, I actually think we should give it a little bit

  412. more consideration than we do perhaps at the back end of these these passages, so

  413. I wanted to start off the Q&A section with that. I'm going to turn it over now,

  414. do we have anything, don't have anything online? That's fine, is there anyone here

  415. who has a question?

  416. A special resurrection?

  417. Before Jesus comes, before he died, he told to the people that crucified him that this,

  418. that when he's gonna come back for second time, they're gonna see him again.

  419. Yes.

  420. So I heard some preacher says that this applied to that, because it's supposed,

  421. according to the Bible, in the second, no, the first day, the first

  422. resurrection, I mean, is when Jesus is coming back, right? But there's gonna be

  423. special people that is gonna resurrect a little bit before he's coming to fulfill

  424. that prophecy that Jesus said.

  425. Okay, so we've heard that there is a special resurrection for some people,

  426. you've heard it applied to the verse that we just discussed. Here's, I don't

  427. believe that, right up front, I don't think that's the case. Here's why I don't

  428. think that's the case. The verse that we just studied says, blessed are those who

  429. die in the Lord, right? In other words, those would be saints, okay? Jesus told

  430. the Pharisees, those that went out of their way to condemn and crucify him, that

  431. you will see the Son of Man returning back, right? Coming in glory, right? Okay.

  432. That one could not imagine that the Pharisees who were the guiltiest of them

  433. all for crucifying the Son of God would then be called blessed in another part of

  434. the Bible, okay? The Bible talks about two resurrections. You have a second,

  435. that's the one that's actually called a second, which means you automatically

  436. apply first to the other ones. You have two main resurrections in the Bible. One

  437. are the righteous, that's the first resurrection. The righteous are raised to

  438. dead and then they are in their glorified bodies, reunited with the living

  439. righteous. They are caught up together in the air and then they join Jesus and off

  440. they go. That's the first resurrection. The Bible then accounts for a thousand

  441. years, a millennia. Time will pass. We come back to earth with the new Jerusalem

  442. and then you have the second resurrection. That would be for the wicked,

  443. the unrighteous. They are raised back to life to face their judgment. Their

  444. reward, if you will, for having been wicked and pledging their allegiance to

  445. the enemy of souls rather than the life giver. The Bible doesn't tell us how

  446. long time passes. I actually believe that some time passes between the second

  447. resurrection and the lake of fire, but that's when the final judgment scene

  448. occurs in the Bible. So two resurrections. Jesus in a special way does tell

  449. these Pharisees that they will get to see him return in glory. There's some

  450. debate over whether that means that they will see him and the new Jerusalem and

  451. everybody returning in glory at the second resurrection or if it means that

  452. for that subset of people because their sin was that egregious in condemning the

  453. son of man to die and lying about him and so on that they will be resurrected as

  454. a part of the first resurrection but not to glory only to see Jesus glorified

  455. because the last time that they saw him he was bleeding and bruised and so on. So

  456. in other words it would be a very specific and very unique circumstance for

  457. that small subset of humans because they just kept saying you're not God, you're

  458. not God, you're not God and they got everybody else to rally around that and

  459. he'll go well you'll get to see but that seems to be restricted to that. It

  460. certainly wouldn't apply to this because that would not be a blessed

  461. a blessed thing. Anything else? Paul says no he's got it all figured out. He's

  462. gonna write books. Alright is there anything I mean it doesn't even have to

  463. be about these passages is there some other spiritual question or end time

  464. events things or so on and so forth? Yes. So I had a good friend pass away last

  465. week childhood friends with a bunch of friends with that and so through

  466. conversation and everybody's Catholic and every you know I kept hearing well

  467. he's in heaven and in all these things and I was so to the point where I didn't

  468. know when or what to say on this when I heard this and talked about it because

  469. it was talked about you know that was their comfort and so I was just

  470. wondering when is a good time to actually discuss the state of the dead

  471. and what have you with some of my friends. I don't know what you know where

  472. to go from there I never I never counted this at my time where I am right now

  473. yeah wanting to I want to say is because we're we're we're talking to friends I'm

  474. talking to friends I haven't even talked to in a while and from and it just

  475. seems like it's almost like an opportunity that's in front of me to

  476. take that this whole scenario further beyond you know just what's happening

  477. now so so I wait a while do I do this what I mean I don't even know

  478. generally speaking the worst time to do an apologetic study on the state of the

  479. dead is when people are mourning the dead that's the worst time to do it why

  480. because when when the state of the dead what happens when you die the biblical

  481. teaching that people are resting in a sleep-like state unconscious not with a

  482. detached ethereal spirit that goes somewhere else continuing on in

  483. consciousness but the Bible does say that that the dead know nothing they

  484. don't return to their house their thoughts perish with them their emotions

  485. perish with them God knows them but that's it that's how the Bible talks

  486. about it that that we get to go to heaven at the first resurrection that's

  487. what the Bible says if you believe otherwise though if you do believe that

  488. when you die and you go to heaven because I mean really how many people go

  489. to hell when they die if you believe that your your friend your loved one

  490. goes to heaven when he dies and then you sit down and you say let me tell you

  491. what the Bible says just like that you have yanked someone's best friend right

  492. out of heavenly halls and right into the dirt when you are mourning a person and

  493. you're remembering and you're reflecting on them that is not the time to do that

  494. that takes a lot of reconfiguring a worldview spiritually speaking so we

  495. we on that category if there are differences of understanding we comfort

  496. one another in the faith that the person had in Jesus we comfort one another in

  497. knowing that we will be reunited with them again in heaven we take solace in

  498. some of the common ground that we do have and then you let some time pass and

  499. then maybe bring it up in a future conversation but in the moment is really

  500. one of the easiest ways to turn someone away from studying the Bible is if

  501. they're mourning and they're working through it and you go well on top all of

  502. that let me up in your worldview and that's basically what that would be yeah

  503. yeah no I and I don't disagree and someone may come to that your friends

  504. may come to that in the moment of mourning is what I'm saying is when it's

  505. it's usually not the time that they're going to be comforted yeah yeah yeah

  506. yeah no I would I would I would say I would say prayerfully ask that the Holy

  507. Spirit grant you the discernment and the opportunity to take advantage of the

  508. next moment when it comes you don't have to wait forever seven years maybe too

  509. long but the next time it rolls around if you are praying each day God I want a

  510. chance to offer the hope that how the Bible says death is one let the

  511. opportunity come and then to help me to take advantage of it in a loving and

  512. kind and gracious way God God will answer those kinds of prayers so so be

  513. praying for that pray and pray and pray is the best thing but for them to be

  514. talking to somebody out of town you can't really communicate that well over

  515. the phone unless the spirit wants you to yeah that is I mean I'm you know if

  516. your friends are you know maybe you need to get on on zoom or FaceTime that

  517. usually is a little bit better than than just over the phone but again if the

  518. opportunity presents itself and the Holy Spirit speaks then then by all means

  519. take advantage of it where they in New York some of them okay what do you see

  520. going on there Kevin nothing oh no oh okay a pause is okay what is the

  521. church's belief for when the three angels messages like have come to pass

  522. like we believe that they've already come to pass but then the second angel

  523. says Babylon is fallen but it hasn't technically fallen yet right so how

  524. what's the timeline of the three right so one in English is fallen is is like a

  525. completed action okay in the Greek you can phrase things where it's it is an

  526. action that has started and then it continues until completion so it would

  527. be like falling it's just not it's not translated falling because it's probably

  528. not a preposition is it the preposition no it's not the preposition blanking on

  529. it see Greek was always tough for me something like that yeah yeah the

  530. present continual way of writing things so you don't do in that sense that takes

  531. a different form but it still kind of denotes a starting and an ongoing

  532. traditionally the Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that the the three angels

  533. messages in their importance in their end time relevance in their uniqueness

  534. for the Seventh-day Adventist Church kind of kicked off in the early part of

  535. the 1800s we believe that that I believe it was the first angel we believe you

  536. don't you don't pinpoint dates for these things but we believe that the first

  537. angel was a part of the early Miller right movement because that really was a

  538. call back to a better understanding of what it is to to fear God to look for

  539. his return to kind of like we need to get out of this this relative lethargy

  540. that we are in and get going then shortly after the disappointment when

  541. the Seventh-day Adventist Church or when the people who are yes disappointed but

  542. they were still trying to figure out things all of a sudden the light about

  543. the Sabbath the light about food reform the light about what happens when you

  544. die the light about the sanctuary and heaven the light about all these other

  545. things in other words it's bringing clarity back into what had been

  546. confusion that's the second angel so we believe that roughly the timing of the

  547. second angel applies to the back end of the Miller right movement and the early

  548. Adventist movement so that that's kind of when a lot of those things that long

  549. believed and long understood but also long forgotten we're coming right back

  550. to the forefront and then as we kept preaching on the Sabbath as we kept

  551. preaching on some of these other doctrines and we looked around and we're

  552. like well we've got blue laws on the books you know those blue laws many

  553. states many local areas still have Sunday blue laws that require businesses

  554. to be closed you can't do laundry you can't do this you can't do that they're

  555. just simply not enforced well as our church saw those and and really they had

  556. a lot of pushback on the Sabbath message early on the second and the second

  557. angels message really rolls into the third rather quickly and rather

  558. seamlessly because if you're saying that religious confusion is falling and we

  559. should get out of it well quickly if you're if you're pointing a finger and

  560. saying don't do that well the institutions that are involved in that

  561. aren't going to generally take that kindly and so then they're going to say

  562. well you need to stop it hush down be quiet get in line etc etc so then that

  563. would be the third angel you know we believe that while they had kind of a

  564. rough starting point in that in the in the early mid 1800s they don't actually

  565. end until Christ comes back that that is an ongoing process until Jesus returned

  566. the reason why it's fairly unique to Seventh-day Adventism one no one else

  567. preaches on it I've talked to people out of the Church of Christ out of Baptist

  568. Catholics certainly don't preach on a Methodist don't preach on it I don't

  569. know another denomination that preaches from these passages certainly in the way

  570. that we do not with the urgency not with the detail not with the personal

  571. application to God's people as a message in preparation for Christ's return very

  572. unique to Seventh-day Adventism does that answer your question okay I heard

  573. it mentioned today I'll go ahead I don't want to with that in mind thinking about

  574. this the true Sabbath and how that's gonna become clear to everybody in the

  575. world what do you think that's gonna look like for people who have worshiped

  576. on Sunday their entire life it's hard for me to kind of wrap my head around

  577. that idea that they're going to understand that they've been wrong all

  578. of this time and how is that going I mean what do you think I mean it's

  579. just it's just conjecture I know but what do you think it's gonna look like

  580. because I have a lot of I have a lot of family that are Sunday keepers I

  581. grew up a Sunday keeper so I just I'm curious as to what that light bulb

  582. moment is going to be yeah because we're guessing we're guessing on a lot of this

  583. one reason why I believe it's so important we preach on it is because one

  584. there are millions of Seventh-day Adventists around the globe that are

  585. preaching on this and and then in addition to that our radio waves are

  586. going everywhere our pamphlets are going everywhere is getting to a point where

  587. ignorance is tough to claim in our own personal lives the reason why I believe

  588. we should at least at least reference it at least live it out faithfully is

  589. because as we get closer to a time of a deciding point and that deciding point

  590. is probably going to be when you start to hear chatter like the world is such a

  591. hot mess we can all get we we should all have a rest day it'll give the the

  592. environment a break it'll help the families they're a mess it will help our

  593. mental psyche everybody is depressed and anxious right now it will do all of that

  594. oh by the way look at this everybody's already you know keeping the same day

  595. let's just do that when it comes to that when you actually start to hear the

  596. legislation I believe that's going to be an attention grabber for the individuals

  597. that have just kind of been hearing it all these years and not yet making a

  598. choice because then they will look at it and go ah I remember so-and-so telling

  599. me that this might happen one day and I know I kind of dismissed it but here it

  600. is you know today it is it sounds crazy to say that that some of these things

  601. are going to happen five years ago three years ago it sounded crazy to suggest

  602. that because of a virus everyone was going to be forced to stay home three

  603. years ago that was crazy talk that the government was just going to make you

  604. stay home over a pandemic we've had pandemics no one was ever forced to stay

  605. home before like that you know from sea to shining sea now we know what happens

  606. so so I mean that's really not a big surprise anymore if people want to

  607. suggest it right now it sounds like it could be crazy to think you know

  608. worship could be forced but like I proposed in a previous message if they

  609. can make you stay home to worship why can't they also make you go on that day

  610. to worship I mean they've already demonstrated that they will enforce a

  611. type of worship all we've got to do is expand that into the next arena I don't

  612. and I believe that that that it's going to come out basically the mark of the

  613. beast is the culminating focal point of decision that's what it is because when

  614. a legislation is passed people have to choose do I keep with the legislation

  615. the legislation because they say so or do I recognize that it violates a

  616. freedom of conscience and I need to look at this a little bit more why are they

  617. asking me to violate a freedom of conscience if you all you if all you do

  618. is ask the question why are they asking me to violate this then you might be led

  619. into something else I just encourage people to ask the question sometimes and

  620. again if we are faithfully sharing that message someone's gonna go hey I've heard

  621. this before I've talked to some the back burner but it seems to seems to be

  622. coming up we've got the microphone here and then I think I saw a hand here and

  623. then we'll go backwards okay so we'll go in that order so just keeping with that

  624. topic you know we all have friends and family that that we know that you know

  625. our Sunday keepers a lot of folks I know family included our Catholics you know

  626. you just said there at the end that that there's going to be a point where

  627. there's legislation put in place that you're gonna be forced to you know to

  628. keep Sunday or whatnot and and at that point the decision needs to be made or

  629. need to ask questions or whatever and and the mark of the beast comes into

  630. play there okay look right now maybe there are legislation but nobody keeps

  631. it or you know it's very loosely kept but you know I guess my question is you

  632. know folks that are are keeping Sunday or you know use of this tradition that

  633. they've known their whole life maybe have heard about the Sabbath right you

  634. know I'm thinking my family they know something about the Sabbath because of

  635. us they may not know at all right some may some folks that we've had deep

  636. discussions with may know about the Sabbath and for whatever reason haven't

  637. chosen to follow the Sabbath or you know just stayed with their tradition that

  638. they're used to their whole life my question there is is the mark of the

  639. beast in play there so the mark of the beast is not in play right now I'd

  640. firmly unequivocally believe that to be the case right now in the United States

  641. you can freely go on Sunday through Saturday whichever day you want to

  642. worship you can claim that as your day of worship and you can go and you're

  643. allowed to do so so so no you know that's that's not the point that we're

  644. at right now people who are following in their traditions what we understand is

  645. if you are aware of a truth and you choose to ignore the truth the longer

  646. you ignore it the less sensitive you become to it right that's why we

  647. encourage to regularly kind of bring it up because each time you bring it up

  648. that reintroduces it we don't have to be rude about this but in a kind way if we

  649. are bringing it up or if we are demonstrating faithfully each time we do

  650. that that places it right in front of a person at least as an FYI which means

  651. that as time passes and things get much more difficult than they are right now

  652. we prayerfully hope that they will remember each of those moments we placed

  653. it in front of them that's what we that's what we remember the reason why

  654. and and here's the mark of the beast as a deciding moment is not for I would say

  655. it's not for people like you and I right now for those of us who are sitting here

  656. and we are listening to these things and maybe we have already pledged ourselves

  657. to faithful worship of the Creator God the mark of the beast is not going to be

  658. that we will have we will have gotten to that point and we shouldn't be making

  659. our decision then right now we're making our decisions and then we're trying to

  660. strengthen our faith in those decisions that's the best process when I talk

  661. about that will be like a culminating deciding point will be for people who are

  662. still just kind of kind of just going about their days they're going through

  663. the motions they're doing their traditions maybe they've listened maybe

  664. they've studied maybe they've dug into it and I go well maybe you know not for

  665. today this seems at the mark of the beast as as a final deciding point is

  666. for people like that yeah there aren't there aren't any consequences the only

  667. the only consequence that I would see right now is you do slowly start to

  668. callous you callous yourself against the spirits prompting each time that

  669. biblical truth is set before you and right now we're using the Sabbath as the

  670. example but fill in the blank with any other biblical truth each time the truth

  671. is laid before us and we go I get it but not today we callous ourselves just a

  672. little bit that's why when we when we talked to this morning about the slow

  673. compromises that get us to a point of failing the devil rarely hits us with

  674. the largest big we are not offering up you know living people before a statue of

  675. Baphomet the first day as a as a as a temptation you know we may never get

  676. there but the devil doesn't care you know he cares that we give up something

  677. no matter how small it is because that does callous us to the Holy Spirit's

  678. promptings so that's it is it is tough and I've got family you know I would

  679. love for some of my family to come around to things to what I of course

  680. accept as Bible truth I wouldn't be the pastor in an Adventist church otherwise

  681. but I accepted I would love for them to one it's true two I do believe that it

  682. is more freeing than some of the alternative conclusions the alternative

  683. beliefs three I do believe that it gives us greater comfort in the tough times

  684. like when someone dies I do accept all of that but how I've talked to my

  685. friends and to my family members is I look for ways to lay it out so they

  686. can't claim ignorance so maybe it gives them something that they can reflect on

  687. and choose maybe they'll come back and they'll ask more and I've got some

  688. family members where that just simply started with hey Seventh-day Adventists

  689. are not weirdos hey we just we studied the Bible and we have slightly different

  690. conclusions but I also have a great deal of respect for Methodists and some

  691. Catholics and I do so I don't know that was a long-winded way around did that

  692. answer your question absolutely that that can see be some of the most

  693. powerful apologetics if you will is not to sit down and go let me give you the

  694. ABCs of this particular doctrine because first and foremost we are called to

  695. demonstrate God's character to the world what is his character love grace mercy

  696. long-suffering kindness gentleness meekness etc if all you do is look at

  697. the fruits of the Spirit you will not find PhD level scholarly type studies

  698. and proving people wrong you will find God's character displayed in his people

  699. to show to others that will do more if that is your starting point your middle

  700. point your ending point and everything else just kind of gets built on it

  701. absolutely correct yeah

  702. I'm semi familiar with that quote again I don't remember exactly but but there's

  703. a lot of truth to that it you know you can say all the things and in fact right

  704. now there's a there's a lot of scandal in many of of our country's biggest

  705. churches with our prompt most prominent speakers because on the platform or even

  706. in their studies and in their books they said all the right things and then they

  707. don't live godly lives they are caught up in fraud or unfaithfulness or you know

  708. something of that and so then then people go well how can I even listen to

  709. the words they have to say if it were the other way around maybe you're not

  710. the most eloquent speaker but you live a godly life that's the best sermon

  711. someone can give I know we had we had one back there well it's not really a

  712. question it was just a comment I have the same question many times before what

  713. what grace is said but I think so that reading the spirit of prophecy we need

  714. to trust in the Lord and that is gonna come they later grain and when that

  715. happened I think so God is gonna give us the they know the will not the power by

  716. ourselves but his power so the people can see Jesus in us and that is what is

  717. gonna convert people of the truth because so far if you ask me what I'm

  718. experiencing in at work there's people from many denominations and what it for

  719. all the things that they're going on so one day I arrived to the break room and

  720. I just throw the question do you think that Jesus is coming soon and all of

  721. them believe that Jesus is really coming soon before it was just a seven-day

  722. Adventist but now people from other denominations and even people that they

  723. don't believe in God they know that something is something is gonna happen

  724. and the spirit of prophecy even mentioned that so the same than the

  725. things are going on I think so we don't get yet to the probation day but I

  726. think so the lorries start talking to the hearts of the people and if now is

  727. not the end the time that we're living now is not the end we're not making like

  728. you say that a choice and right now I mean that can bring consequences but

  729. we're calm I mean it's coming that day in the Lord is preparing his people yeah

  730. so our only refuge is trusting God and like you say living a godly life and

  731. allows that the Holy Spirit be poor of over us when the time it comes and

  732. because the people is gonna turn to Jesus because they're gonna see in the

  733. gods people the Christ character yeah so the Holy Spirit is the one is gonna

  734. convert the others for the truth only we need to pray for them if maybe we cannot

  735. talk to some of them I have family who doesn't have a family that is is not

  736. Catholic is Catholic or is from another denominations and for me is like Lord

  737. how can I reach them I have a cousin that she is Catholic but at the same

  738. time it's very it's like a new age of this some blended of all of that which I

  739. think she's worse because she believes really that we are starting another era

  740. that is gonna bring a lot of peace in a better life yeah so in the same time she

  741. believes in the Mary Mary the Virgin Mary and so it's like how can I reach her

  742. Lord you know yeah but I the Lord put in my heart just to pray for her pray for

  743. her and share whatever you think that is not gonna hurt the feelings of the other

  744. people but tell them about the the love of God and there's there's show them one

  745. the Bible tells us that we need to worry about those that that you know clamor for

  746. peace or say that peace is coming because they will say peace peace and

  747. then sudden destruction that's what the Bible says there there are times and

  748. this is where we pray for the discernment there are times the first

  749. general rule is we are kind and we are gracious and we are unoffensive and all

  750. these other things you pray that the Holy Spirit helps you because there there

  751. there can be the danger of being too kind if for example you knew that there

  752. was a road that had been washed out and you had already seen a one-car drive off

  753. of it you might do all you can screaming shouting spike strips to blow tires you

  754. might be willing to do whatever it takes to stop the next car from going off even

  755. at the risk of harming someone's feelings there are times when we need to

  756. be when you pray for these moments but sometimes you look at someone and you go

  757. you know the truth why aren't we picking it you know why do we continue to stay

  758. in the way that we have been even though you know better and sometimes that's

  759. an appropriate thing and again you go back and you pray about those times

  760. because if you do that too soon or in the wrong time then you can someone will

  761. just instantly plug their ears and you won't ever have that audience again I

  762. want to I want to make one one final comment and then if there's a quick

  763. question I will I would take it but I want to I want to remark on this just

  764. for a moment some times people look around of the world and they say aha

  765. here it is it's ushering in the last movements after Katrina people said there

  766. we go this is the worst storm in New Orleans and so we get big hurricanes

  767. that come up into the Gulf they obviously hadn't done the levees

  768. correctly I actually think it's human foolishness to build a city below below

  769. sea level and then just kind of hang out there for all those years you're kind of

  770. asking for trouble you know and time kind of passed after 9-11 people also

  771. said here we go we're ushering in World War three this is going to bring in

  772. apocalypse and then Jesus is coming etc etc well obviously that that

  773. manifested itself in a type of war kind of a new type of war the war on terror

  774. you know we have these these various occurrences earthquakes the pandemic

  775. when when COVID started to was was really kind of going in spring of 2020

  776. my goodness how many questions probably came to various institutions that said

  777. is this one of the last plagues of the Bible the short answer is no that COVID

  778. was not it was a bad virus sadly it killed far too many people I'm glad we're

  779. at a different portion of dealing with this virus but in a nutshell no it was

  780. not one of the last plagues the Bible tells us that we should be looking for

  781. Jesus tells us in in Matthew 24 you look for wars and rumors of wars political

  782. strife nation fighting against nation you look for natural disasters pestilences

  783. plagues you look for famines right now we've got we've got famines all over the

  784. globe incredible droughts out west they are talking now about a very real food

  785. shortage coming on the near horizon because of the war in Ukraine it's one

  786. of the major bread producers or grain producers in the world right around

  787. there that it's tough it's you know getting things in and out they need

  788. their resources they're probably not exporting right now and that with the

  789. other you know people people ask you know with Putin's aggression in in

  790. Ukraine he's talking about rebuilding the Soviet Union they're kind of

  791. reinvigorating talk that we heard a lot during the Cold War you know communism

  792. versus the West this is ushering in World War three and and that great battle

  793. of Armageddon and well then the curtain fell and all of those those cries kind

  794. of disappeared well they're being rekindled again you know the Bible talks

  795. about the kings of the north and the kings of the south and how they will

  796. fight against God's people and and and sometimes sometimes men and women in

  797. desperation trying to find a name to attach to what the Bible clearly has in

  798. symbols we point a finger at Putin and we go there's the king of the north and

  799. he's going to usher in what the Bible talks about or if we we look at Ian you

  800. know Ian for the state of Florida boy they haven't had a major hurricane like

  801. this in a long long time Florida's had a very quiet hurricane season for at least

  802. three or four years I think the last two years they really didn't have anything

  803. at all come across that state and then Ian comes through well people are

  804. looking people are sometimes I believe in desperation looking to put a name on

  805. something from the Bible when we are reading through prophecy we need to

  806. understand that God isn't giving us a lot of the micro details in these things

  807. that's why as we've been doing these presentations we've plugged in some

  808. things quotes references statistics I have shared when I've that started to

  809. kind of blur the line between what we know in my opinion because I have some

  810. opinion on where I think some cogs are starting to come together but I would

  811. caution us to not jump to naming naming names too quickly when the Bible is

  812. talking about the King of the North and the King of the South we remember

  813. anciently what that meant the King of the South that was the biggest threat to

  814. Israel was Egypt Egypt in Bible prophecy Egypt in terms of symbolism has long

  815. meant spiritual paganism of spiritualism if you will the the unbiblical belief of

  816. what happens when you die the different stages to heavens and the different

  817. stages to hells and disembodied spirits and offering your babies up to idols and

  818. spiritualism is often represented with Egypt the King of the South the King of

  819. the North is where Babylon invaded Israel to carry them into captivity

  820. there's a giant trying to have to reverse this on this side of Israel

  821. there's a big desert Babylon in order to invade Israel had to go over the desert

  822. and down south from the north that's where they invaded so the King of the

  823. North is a common reference to Babylon well Babylon and prophecy as we've

  824. studied is religious confusion different than spiritualism if the one is a cultic

  825. paganism the other one would be confused Christianity if you will where they are

  826. wrong on the conclusions from the Bible and the truth and error is mixed and

  827. that is kind of confusing and perverting Christianity around the globe so we

  828. should be looking for these macro movements and maybe we'll see some micro

  829. details as we go along but I would add a little bit of caution that we don't jump

  830. to these conclusions too quickly we have hurricanes we've had hurricanes long

  831. before one the 21st century we had hurricanes that probably came off of

  832. the coast of Africa or off of North of South America and it went into the

  833. Caribbean and it came up into the US that's been going on for a long time

  834. just because Ian happened and it was the first one of this kind in a while

  835. doesn't mean it was the first one ever for the state of Florida just because

  836. COVID was was big and we had some unprecedented responses to it doesn't

  837. mean it was the first pandemic ever and the Bible tells us we should be seeing

  838. these things as we see them this is what Jesus says as we see them we should not

  839. be looking to to put a finger on that we should be looking at these things and

  840. then going how am I prepared for his return and then how am I helping others

  841. be prepared for his return if you end up figuring everything out about what the

  842. enemy is doing but you are unprepared that's a sad day for you it is so much

  843. more important that you are prepared and you are not distracted with other things

  844. to the expense of your preparedness you know don't don't don't choose to be

  845. naive about things but also don't get caught up in the weeds does that make

  846. sense I like to caution that because I think Seventh-day Adventists in a

  847. special way like to look at prophecy and and just go I can figure it out this is

  848. this and this person is that and next thing you know they are spending all of

  849. their hours trying to trying to prove that Putin is the King of the North if

  850. Putin dies tomorrow all of a sudden that theory makes other people not trust you

  851. that's why I add some caution as we study prophecy if you know it okay

  852. otherwise let's make sure that we are sticking with being prepared by keeping

  853. our our eyes on Jesus is there one short final question if not we are done thank

  854. you if anyone is watching online or will soon be watching we're glad you could

  855. join us this is our last presentation for three angels one message may you be

  856. richly blessed may y'all be richly blessed and I hope to see you again

  857. someday very soon have a good night