One Message: God's Final Call (Pastor Aaron Trelfa, 10/01/22)

I want to welcome you to our fifth presentation of Three Angels, One Message.

Yep, that's it. Three Angels, One Message. We started last weekend, Friday night,

continued Sabbath morning, and then Saturday evening. We picked up, we have

been taking a concentrated look at Revelation 14 verses 6 and onward, known

Revelation 14:6

as the Three Angels message. Last night, we continued that by looking at the

third angel, angel number three, and it was titled Angel Three, Revelation and

the Mark of the Beast. If you were not here for that, you can find the

presentation online because we did stream it on our Facebook page. We will

conclude this evening, or we will conclude our series this evening at 7

o'clock, where we will look at a presentation, a brief, more laid-back,

lighter-hearted message, just simply titled Don't Worry, Look to Jesus. Don't

Worry, Look to Jesus. I think that's a great way to end a collection of

passages that sometimes people get a little frazzled over. So we're going to

end on a high note. I encourage you to come out, close the Sabbath with us. We

will have a Q&A session. It doesn't have to be about these passages. If

there's something else that you've been wanting to ask, bring your questions. We

will take some time to go over it. I expect it will not be as long,

certainly, as last night or some of our other discussions. But for now, we will

get into this morning's topic, one message, God's final call. Before we do

that, let's have another word of prayer. Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for

a beautiful Sabbath day. We thank you for your love, and we thank you for these

messages of warning. Warning of things to come or things that are currently

happening, but not just to scare us, to let us know so that when we are faced

with the decision, Lord, I know that you desire us to make a decision in your

favor. And so it is to that end that I pray in Jesus name, amen. And amen. We

read in the Bible the account of God delivering his people from the bondage

of slavery in the nation of Egypt. After plagues had been heaped upon Egypt,

miracles were worked on behalf of Israel. God finally led them to the base of

Mount Sinai. There God would declare to his people Israel his intention on being

their God and desiring them to be his people. He would speak his law to them,

and they would pledge their fealty to him. After this, God invited Moses alone

to join him on the mount. If you'll remember, there were bounds placed around,

and we don't know, maybe there were ropes, maybe there were rock piles, maybe

there was just simply, look at that shadow, don't go there. Either way, the

Bible says there were bounds, and no one was supposed to step foot on the mount,

not even the animals, or they would die. So Moses alone was invited to join God

on the mountain. While there, Moses received from God the Ten Commandments

written into stone with the finger of God. He received instructions for the

tabernacle, instructions on how to govern the people, but for 40 days he got to

enjoy a personal communion with God. That's awesome. 40 days, Moses got to

hear God speak to him, and in turn, I'm sure, he spoke back. I can imagine Moses

and God having a dialogue, not just simply a monologue. Well, while he was

gone, the people grew restless. Most of us know the story. Impatient with Moses'

delay on the mountain, the people cried out to Aaron, Moses' brother, to make them

an idol after the ones that they had seen in Egypt, that they might worship a

God, lowercase g, that they could see. Moses has been gone for so long, his

return is delayed, we don't know what's happened to him, maybe God has struck him

down. Give us a God that we can see. Tragically, Aaron did as they asked, and

then they blasphemously declared it the God that had delivered them from Egypt,

and they worshiped it with gross profanity. It was debaucherous what these

people did so soon after being miraculously delivered from centuries

of slavery. God does tell Moses what is going on in the camp. Moses descends from

the mountain to find the people violating the covenant that they had

pledged themselves to just 40 days prior. That is not long, my friends. This could

be a conversation of how long does it take us to break our covenants. It took

that whole host of people 40 days. Do we even last that long sometimes? I wonder,

I wonder. Well, Moses did confront them. He confronted Aaron. Moses brought a

swift end to the hedonism, and then he challenged the people. He challenged them

with this call. Standing before the gate of the camp, Moses said, who is on the

Lord's side? Come to me. Short, simple, direct. Y'all have done wrong. We're not

even going to debate it. Who's on the Lord's side? That's it, because after

ever they could have talked about the style of music they were using.

Joshua thought it sounded like war. They could have talked about whether the

the style of dance was appropriate or whether there was too much movement of

the hips. They could have talked about the earrings, and at this point we

know they had to remove the jewelry. They could have talked about the clothing.

They could have talked about the arrangement of the tents. They could have

talked about a whole host of things. Moses didn't care, because when it came

right down to it, what was the challenge? Who is on the Lord's side? Well, stand by

me. Moses knew where he stood. Do you know where you stand today? Because that

challenge rings to us through history, like ancient Israel worship. Worship is

at the heart of what we have to consider. They did not just violate their

covenant in word. They violated it in who they recognized as God and how they

worshiped that false God. Worship was at the heart of Israel's problem back then,

and it worship is at the heart of what we consider today. Like ancient Israel, the

more time passes without the return of Jesus, the more we are tempted to turn

our attentions elsewhere. We are tempted to say, like them, the return is delayed.

Give us a God that we can see. There are many different gods that we turn our

attentions to. We have already studied the importance of worship in our

passages of Scripture. In Revelation 14, we're going to review them very briefly,

and forgive me for the sake of my throat, I'm not going to read verbatim. We're

going to highlight things. Revelation 14, 6 starts with an angel flying in the

midst of heaven with the everlasting gospel. That gospel is the good news of

salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. End of sentence, period. Can't do

anything more on top of it to perfect what's already perfected, and worship is

involved in it. We are to proclaim that to everyone on earth. The angel continues,

fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come and

worship him. Worship is how you demonstrate your fear, your respect, your

awe of God and how you want to glorify him. You worship him, and you don't just

worship him as a wise man, you worship him as creator, creator, sovereign of the

universe, and you do that in light of a cosmic judgment because it has come. Not

might, not maybe, but has. The second angel tells us this, that fallen, fallen is

Babylon the Great. She's made nations drink the wine of the wrath of the

passion of her sexual immorality. We've studied that Babylon represents an

apostate religious system, a religious system saturated with confusion. A little

bit of truth, a little bit of error, a little bit of, eh, doesn't really matter,

just go along with it. It's confusion. That's Babylon. Babylon has rejected the

message of the first angel, right, faithful worship, and so the second angel's

message announces that she has fallen from God's favor, and you don't want to

be caught up in that. Last night we looked at this, the third angel says that

if anyone, and there is again at the heart of this, worships the beast, do we

get the point? Worship, worship. It comes up like that broken record if the kids

know what a record is anymore. If the broken record skips or if you had, do we

remember the the CD Walkmans? Did you ever try to put one in like on your

hip or in your pocket? If it didn't have the skip protect, you take that first

skip and you're like, oh I've heard that verse before. It's just like that. Worship

comes up over and over and over again. This angel warns against worshiping the

beast. Don't receive that mark on your forehead or on your hand because it will

not be a good day for you if you do, in a nutshell. We ended last night with this,

the crescendo of these passages. Here is the patience of the saints, those who

keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Because what is God

saying? God is saying that he will have an end time people loyal to him in the

face of the greatest opposition and the fiercest persecution in the history of

the world. God will have those people. They will be there. He's looking for them

right now and the Bible says he will find them. Lovingly and loyally these

people live God-centered, grace-filled, obedient lives. These committed followers

of the Savior not only will have faith in Jesus, because remember saved by grace

through faith, faith in Jesus as your Savior, but they will also have the

faith of Jesus. Jesus' quality of end time faith will be theirs, but what does that

faith look like? Jesus hanging on the cross and shrouded in darkness. He bore

the guilt, he bore the shame, he bore the condemnation of the sins of the world. We

read in the Bible that a great darkness settled over that area of the world and

he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He did not sense, he did not

see, he did not recognize the presence of his heavenly Father whom he had never

been separated from before. He couldn't see it, couldn't feel him, and so he cried

out in desperation, seemingly shut off from his Father's love. Jesus depended on

the relationship that he had shared with the Father throughout his life. To depend

on his emotions would have been an absolute spiritual disaster. It would

have been. While Jesus was hanging in the darkness suspended between earth and

heaven, he had to recall all of those times when his Father spoke from on high

and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He couldn't feel it,

but he remembered those words. He didn't have that great lofty high moment that

we think of as a as a mountaintop Christian experience. Jesus was certainly

not there, but even though he didn't feel it, he knew it. And that knowing despite

how he felt is what got him through because that meant that the Savior

trusted his Father. It meant that Jesus trusted God. Even when he could not

discern the future, he didn't he was as mortal as we are. He could not actually

see what was going to happen once his blood finally drained out of his body. He

trusted his Father. He believed when there was little evidence for belief. He

trusted when all around him the circumstances cried out for him to doubt.

And not only the circumstances, but he had a few people helping him along with

that. You ever had people help you along with your doubt rather than encourage you

in your faith? You ever gone through that? You ever had those moments where you're

just going through day-to-day life and it's it's a low day. It feels like you've

had 31 Mondays in a row. Nothing good. I feel alone. I feel down. I feel like I'm

messing up at every turn. My family don't really call me a lot. My friends have

moved. I don't hear God talk to me even if I pray or read my devotions. It just

seems a little empty. You ever had those feelings, those moments? You ever wondered

that? It is in those times when we need the faith of Jesus as much as the faith

in Jesus. The Desire of Ages writes something very beautiful. She says,

amid of the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the

last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours he had relied upon

the evidence of his father's acceptance, heretofore given him. He was acquainted

with the character of his father. Are you becoming acquainted with the character

of your heavenly father? Jesus understood God's justice, God's mercy, God's great

love. Are you learning how to understand those three things? By faith, Jesus

rested in him whom it had ever been his joy to obey, as the same true of us today.

And as in submission he committed himself to God. The sense of the

loss of his father's favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor.

Christ was victorious in faith in the way that Adam failed. Eve gave over to

her senses. She looked at the fruit and saw that it was beautiful and desirable

to eat. And then Adam lost his senses or lost himself to his senses and thinking,

I'm gonna believe my wife, how can I be alone without her? Even if I have God,

I'm gonna follow after her. Those emotions, that fear caused the downfall

of mankind and it was to counter that, that Jesus was faithful. Because in

submission he committed himself to God the way that Adam and Eve should have.

The way that you and I should today. And like Christ, we can be victorious.

The faith of Jesus is a faith so deep, it is a faith so trusting, so committed

that all of the demons in hell and all of the trials on earth cannot shake it.

It didn't get Jesus off of the cross and it cannot trip you up. It is a faith that

trusts when it cannot see, a faith that believes when it cannot understand, hopes

when it cannot comprehend, and it hangs on when there is little to hang on to.

That's the faith of Jesus. It is a gift itself that we receive by faith and it

will carry us through the crisis ahead. I'm so glad that you and I don't have to

dig down deep and find our own little shred of faith and then try to grow it

and I can't keep mums alive on my front porch. And I used to be a landscaper.

I am so glad that Jesus starts the faith in him. He has it, he owns it, he's

perfected it, and then he gives it to you and me. He is the author of our faith.

He's started that chapter in our lives and praise God the Bible also says he's

the finisher of that same faith. Praise God that we have him to thank for this

fine gift. Because in this final crisis when the faithful followers of Christ

face an economic boycott, the Bible says we're going to be unable to buy or

sell, eventually threatened with persecution and death, the faith of Jesus

carries them through the trials and the tribulations of Earth's final hours.

The faith of Jesus is immeasurable and all-important my friends. The real

significance of Earth's final conflicts, including the mark of the beast, is a

larger, is in a larger context of a cosmic struggle between good and evil.

Older than you and I, we are simply taking part in it. The overarching theme

of Revelation is Jesus triumph over the principalities and the powers of

hell, beginning with his right to receive worship. And I believe our first

presentation we talked about the challenge put forth by a very confused

created being, Lucifer, who thought I'm going to ascend above the other stars

in the north. I'm going to sit in the heavenly thrones. I'm going to be like

the Most High. I know I was made, created, I know I cannot create, but guess what? I

will ascend to that high and lofty position and I will say, excuse me God, I

can do what you do. That's what started it because what follows suit is then

Lucifer demands worship. Worship. Revelation 4 11 makes this clear when it

speaks of the Lord, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive honor and glory and

power, for thou hast created all things. That's why he's worthy of our worship

and Lucifer can never be. Now Satan can never be. This cannot apply to anyone

but the God of heaven and that's why only he deserves our adoration and our

praise. Throughout Revelation, worship and creation are indissolubly linked.

Revelation 14 7 calls us to worship the Lord of all creation. The concept of

Christ as creator is at the very heart of Sabbath worship. You're here today on

some level you understand this and it's good to re-emphasize it. Jesus

consistently underlines the significance of the day which he calls himself the

Lord. I am the Lord of the Sabbath, he says. We see the Sabbath then in the

context of a refuge in time that God has created through Jesus Christ to

constantly remind us of our origins and his undying care. The Sabbath is an oasis

in the desert of this world against the backdrop of an evolutionary hypothesis

that's taken the world by storm in the last two centuries. That basically says

you aren't really meant to be here but you can be thankful that the universe

burped one day and out eventually you came. It is that silly. I actually don't

have a problem in thinking a little bit like that towards that theory. I would

much rather consider us purposefully and wonderfully made, not an accident. The

thought that we are an accident leads to things like the practice of slavery. Why

not? If it's the survival of the fittest and you can conquer that man and that

woman, bind them up in chains. Evolution says have at it. If you accept

evolution at its logical end, genocide makes sense. In other words, Hitler was

not wrong, nor was the Rwandan genocide, nor was the South African problems back

in apartheid states, nor were, fill in the blank, fill in the blank, the millions

and millions and millions of people would not have died perhaps if the

idea that the survival of the fittest hadn't taken root. Theft would not

probably run quite so rampant because it's all about my survival. I don't care

if you have it. I need it. I need to live. I need to pass on my progenity. And then

suicide. I happen to really believe that this idea that we are an accident with

no purpose, floating through the cosmos, is a very depressing idea. If you live

for the now and what does it matter when you're gone? If things aren't going your way,

what reason do you have to not cut it short? Doesn't matter anyways according

to evolution. I believe it to be very insidious, but the Sabbath leads us back

to our roots of God's fingerprint in every one of our lives. His image

imprinted on the faces and the persons filling this room, watching us online and

walking this green earth. God's fingerprint is on each one of us and the

Sabbath reminds us of just how valuable we are because the Sabbath is an eternal

reminder of our identity. It reminds us of who we are as humans. It places worth

on every human being for being a human being. Not for what you do or how much

you have or what you've done or what title comes before or after your name.

That's not what gives you worth. Being a human being gives you worth because God

said so. And the Sabbath tells us that. The Sabbath reinforces the idea that we

are created and that our Creator is worthy of our allegiance and worship.

That's why the devil hates the Sabbath so much. That's why of the commandments

it's the only one that regularly comes under attack. Of the ten we discussed

last night, religious and non-religious people find ways of supporting if not

all most of the ten. The non-religious are okay with don't steal, don't murder,

honor your parents, things like that. The religious can tack on worship God, don't

profane his name and so on. The Sabbath has a special distaste if you will for

far too many people and I believe it's because the devil dislikes it that much

because the Sabbath tells us of our relationship to our Creator and he has

always looked to interrupt that. The Sabbath is the golden link that unites

us with Christ. The faith of Jesus connects us to our Creator, the one who

has also given us this faith. But, but, one of the strongest three-letter words

in our language, but faith and a connection to Christ do not guarantee

smooth times all the time. Forget the prosperity gospel preachers. If you pay

your tithe, if you profess faith in Jesus, you will have the private jets like me

they say. You will have the mansions like me they say. You will have the $3,000

this is not a $3,000 suit. If you have a $3,000 suit like me they say. Our money

shoes and a Rolex watch like me they say. In fact there was a preacher the the

clip went viral. There was there was a preacher I believe in New York. It was in

New York? I think it was in New York. Live streaming and he was robbed at gunpoint

during his live stream. Lay down on the floor you can the guy you know the mass

robber is going around takes the jewelry's takes the watches takes the

valuable things. It was remind I keep thinking like $30,000 of worth of

product taken off the preacher. The preacher had 30k worth of jewelry and

watches and accessories not to mention who else was in the congregation. There

are those who would have you believe contrary to what Jesus says that it's

smooth sailing when you profess a faith in Jesus. When his apostles were coming

to him and then they said you know Lord we want to follow you he was a son of

man doesn't even have a bed to lay his head on. He was warning them if you

follow after me it may not be comfortable. Count your cost if you are a

builder and you're trying to wonder how much money I need to ask from the bank. I

need to invest in new buildings and property. You write it all out and then

you say can I pay the bank back? Count your costs before you invest. The same is

true in a spiritual sense. The Bible makes it clear that we are not guaranteed

smooth times all the time. There is trouble ahead. The mark of the

beast prophecy in Revelation 13 tells us about the worst the absolute fever pitch

of Satan's war against God because ever since Jesus died on the cross Satan has

known that he's been defeated and there is nothing worse than a defeated foe on

his last desperate grasps at trying to wreck things up. He is determined to take

as many souls with him as possible. He's bending his energies this way. First the

devil worked with deception through that snake in the garden. He's been very

successful at deceptions. The almost truths of many things that the devil has

woven around religion and spirituality and Christianity has swept millions into

false error. But eventually the Bible tells us it will be by force because

there will be holdouts who are not deceived and so if it's not won by the

carrot then maybe by the stick. That's the devil's approach. The mark of the

beast tells about a time when the devil will resort to force. He will use human

agents as he always has. I can't remember the last time I saw a scary looking

shiny angel in front of me threatening me to do X or Z. Right? How does it come? It

comes through human agents that have gone along with the devil for millennia.

The devil will convince them to publish a decree stating that anyone who refuses

to worship the beast or receive the mark will suffer the consequences. This is

nothing new. Religious persecution has happened ever since the time of Cain and

Abel, the first murder recorded in the Bible. That was a religious persecution.

John 16 in verse 2, Jesus says that the time is coming when whoever kills you

will think that he offers God's service. That's how deluded people will become

when the Bible says thou shalt not murder. They read it and they say well

I'm not murdering because I'm doing God's will. It doesn't make sense to me

but that's how deceived they will become. This prophecy has been fulfilled many

times. In the 15th century for example there were valleys located high in the

Piedmont Alps of northern Italy or home to a people called the Waldensis. They

made the Bible their rule of faith and their practice. They copied it. They sent

out their young men to sell these precious scriptures spreading the good

news that salvation is a gift of God's love to anyone that they met. They

sewed them in between the layers of their clothing. The inner lining and the

outer lining between had the copies of the scriptures that if they found

someone that they could trust maybe that they could have a conversation with and

they said ah this is a person that the Holy Spirit has led me to they might

tear open a little seam and pull out a little fragment a little passage of the

Bible here this is for you they would say it's got good news you will love it

and they did that because of this practice because they rejected the

doctrines and the dictatorship of the official state church of the time the

fires of persecution blazed against them over and over again in 1488 the

Waldensis in the Valley of Lois hid in a large cave to escape the soldiers it

seemed like a safe place usually holding up in a cave in the mountains in the

wilderness is a safe place to hide but the enemies found them they laid a

enormous pile of wood at the mouth of the cave they set it ablaze three

thousand people died of that day from the smoke from the fire yeah just

because they wanted to share fragments of the Bible which broke the law of that

time another wave of persecution came in the 17th century when the Duke of Savoy

sent an army of 8,000 into their territory and they demanded that the

local populace quarter the troops in their homes I'm sending my troops your

way it would be really good if you put them up for food for bedding for a

little shelter from the weather he said but he did this not out of I guess a

kind of request but it was a strategy to give the soldiers easy access to the

victims because on the 24th of April 1655 at 4 a.m. a slaughter occurred

leading to the death of more than 4,000 faithful followers of Jesus Christ

deception and then the slaughter trust us we won't hurt you only to be hurt in

the most egregious way lest you think yeah but this was all a long time ago

surely that does not still happen today we are in the 21st century we are in the

modern era we are an advanced civilization of people or we respect

differences of religion all over the globe well according to open doors USA

which keeps track of Christian persecution around the world we read

things like this 312 million Christians in the world experience high levels of

persecution and discrimination that is roughly one in seven Christians around

the world that's a lot that's a lot of people 5898 that's the number of

Christians killed for faith related reasons 5110 the number of churches and

other Christian buildings that have been attacked recently in North America

pregnancy centers many of which are supported by a faith-based institution

have been firebombed have been have been attacked have been vandalized have been

threatened and the people that are threatening and are very open about it

I say yeah we're the ones that are doing it all that's on our shores

4765 the number of Christians detained without trial arrested sentenced or

imprisoned that's a few 3829 the number of Christians abducted for faith related

reasons when do you think these statistics are from not this year we

don't have those yet I'm expecting them soon this is from the latest that we

have though this is this was reported during the 2022 World Watch seminar for

the reporting period of October 2020 to September of 2021 in one year these

numbers occurred it is also important to note that these numbers only come from

the top 50 countries with regards to Christian persecution there are more

this is just from the top 50 countries that violate religious liberty that's

why I say we don't have it yet because I'm assuming October 2021 to September

2022 is being compiled right now so so perhaps we will have updated numbers the

mark of the beast prophecy is about the final link in this ungodly chain like

the persecutions of the past it's designed to force everyone to conform to

a certain set of beliefs in an approved system of worship the prophecy does say

that persecution will start with economic sanctions no one can buy or

sell unless they have the mark when in in ever increasingly digitally based

currency which is what our world is Starbucks has already gotten rid of cash

I fully expect more companies will follow suit the interest in everything

being digital is certainly there it's easy to see then how finances can become

or are becoming easier to control or manipulate if you get on the wrong side

of the IRS all it takes is someone somewhere to hit a button and all your

assets are locked up like that it happens very rapidly and also have you

ever noticed how long it takes to get something back into your account they

it's super quick if I go to the store and I buy something from Walmart five

dollars that money is gone like four seconds after I sweat my car but do you

ever return it and you want your five dollars back takes so much longer to

correct that if they want to turn it off it will happen like when they pull the

money out like that and the more and more and more that we only operate in

the digital world the easier this will become when this happens the great

majority will capitulate and eventually anyone who refuses will be placed under

a death penalty we read this from testimonies volume 5 and page 81 the

time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul the mark of the

beast will be urged upon us those who have step-by-step yielded to worldly

demands and conform to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield

to the powers that be rather than subject themselves to derision insult

threatened imprisonment and death the devil is preparing even professed

Christians by small frequent compromises in their lives that that

death by a thousand cuts if you will the devil is preparing them to receive the

mark of the beast when the final test comes upon us in the future those of us

that might be a stickler over I can't I can't even waver on this little thing

and someone will say but it's only a little thing why can't you just relax a

little on it why are you so stubborn in conserving even the tiny things I will

say well because when you give up this one tiny thing they expect you to give

up the next tiny thing they expect you to give up the third and the fifth and

the 15th and the moment you have and then you try to say no not now they will

say you hypocrite you did for all the rest of it it happens I would I would

rather be able to stand and say I haven't ever given up those things and I

won't start today I would much rather say I have been very consistent in my

words and I'm simply going to follow through now like I have before as the

devil would love us to just give an inch because he's ready to take the mile

he's ready for it he's itching for it but God's love for us will not let us be

unprepared which is why he sent these three angels with these important

messages he sent them directly from heaven's throne flying in the midst of

heaven high loud voice you're supposed to pay attention he wants to warn us

regarding what is coming as you are listening to these presentations as

we've been discussing persecution and threatening loss with our finances and

liberty and so on you might be tempted to think that this is this is just an

all-out attempt at frightening you into choosing God instead of something else

there are certainly sermons and speakers and times in the Christian history where

the fear of the punishment or the fear of something was the great motivating

factor sinners in the hands of an angry God is a rather detestable sermon built

around of that idea be so afraid of violating God's love because he will

just torment you with glee forever don't you do that the sermon says of course

God doesn't take any delight in what happens when people sin don't think

that of your Heavenly Father but this message is not about trying to get us

to be afraid you do not have to be frightened into joining God's side and

it may be hard to believe but this is a message of encouragement it is it's a

message of encouragement these messages are intended to encourage us when the

persecution is at its maximum when it appears that the whole world is

following the beast in a wondering admiration suddenly the scene changes

and the prophetic camera turns to focus on God's people Revelation 14 12 a call

for the endurance of the Saints those who keep the commandments of God and the

faith of Jesus what are God's people doing they are clinging to Jesus in the

face of an economic boycott and an international decree they're living

lies of godly obedience they are God's honor convoy they reveal the power of

grace in a hostile world and they shine as lights in a world of darkness they

stand firm when all around them everything is shaking Revelation shows

two groups of people at the end one all the world marvels and wonders and

follows after the beast our third angel tells us what happens to those folk and

it's not where you want to be found to that God's faithful people follow the

lamb wherever he goes while the world is following the beast God's people follow

the lamb I have I have seen a lamb they're so cute they're so kind a lamb

is an animal that I wouldn't mind following after especially when it's the

Lamb of God a beast is ugly and gross and detest don't wonder after that

Revelation third 15 verses 3 & 4 or actually just just verse 3 says that

God's people cry out great and amazing are your deeds oh Lord God the Almighty

just and true are your ways oh King of the nations love is the great motivating

force of the kingdom of God this age-long drama this cosmic conflict will

one day come to a conclusion it will the universe will be secure forever when

every person on planet earth has had the opportunity to respond to God's love and

give their total allegiance to him that's what he's waiting for the people

of Israel couldn't understand of Moses delay on the mountain God's people today

sometimes can't understand Christ delay in returning his delay is so everyone

has a chance to choose him that's why so we should be eagerly looking forward to

his return not looking to another God and in the meantime we should be pledging

our allegiance to him let us go back in our imagination more than six millennia

ago to a conflict that began in heaven Lucifer an angel of magnificent glory

created perfect waged a war against the government of God a government not filled

with corrupted bureaucrats but based on love and led by a holy and loving and

perfect God the basic issue in this cosmic conflict was loyalty and

obedience to God Lucifer the created being desired to usurp the authority of

God and claimed before all of the heavenly beings that God's commands were

arbitrary made up on a whim and that he Lucifer knew better and could do better

and he wasn't like that unjust God that was Lucifer's claims Lucifer was so

successful at this kind of deceitful rhetoric that one-third of the heavenly

hosts believed him in glory and holiness seeing God himself a third of the

heavenly angels believed the law they did believe that God's commands restricted

their freedom in scripture there are multiple names for this fallen angel

Lucifer he is called Satan the devil the deceiver which is a literal translation

of Satan the dragon and the serpent of old that would be the serpent from Eden

down through the ages Satan's strategy has been to lead God's people to disobey

God's commands Satan did this with Adam and Eve and Eden with Israel throughout

the Old Testament in the early centuries of the Christian Church he also

influenced church leaders with a deception in order to compromise a

biblical principles that deception that a long chain of attacking God through

his people culminates in the mark of the beast it will happen it is not

happening right now but we can take God at his word it will take place

sometimes we go well if we don't know exactly how then maybe it just won't

that's fanciful I don't have to know all of the minutiae of how something will be

because God has not been proven false yet and if he's been true and everything

else before why now would I say he won't be true about this the mark of the beast

will happen the book of Revelation predicts the final conflict the dragon

was angry with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed

who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Satan is

angry with the woman God's church his people by enforcing the mark of the

beast Satan will attempt to destroy them however God will have an end time people

that are loyal to him in the face of the greatest opposition and the fiercest

persecution in the history of the world which is why we heed his call if you

love me keep my commandments God's people find their greatest joy and their

highest delight in worshiping him this is encouraging news my friends we have

studied three angels we have studied three messages but really it's one

message what is that one message God in the first part of it says that I God

have a faithful people who are saved by grace and will carry my gospel to the

whole world next he says I God have a faithful people who are saved by grace

and they worship me as creator I God have a faithful people who are saved by

grace and are not caught in religious confusion I God have a faithful people

who are saved by grace they do not worship the beast and its image but they

remain faithful to me even under duress I God have a faithful people who are

saved by grace and because of their love for me they keep my commandments and the

faith of Jesus Christ that's our one message I God have a faithful people so

what is the final call if that's the one message what is the final call well like

the call given to Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai who is on the Lord's side

that's the final call like the call given to Israel of old God hollers

through the corridors of heaven to Israel today you and I and asks who is

on my side my friends you and I have a decision to make we have two options two

directions that we could go two paths that we could take which way will you

go which decision will you make and which path will you walk down are you on

the Lord's side will you stand with him will you stand with him no matter what

comes because the Bible says that he is faithful and just and he will see you

through to the end are you on God's side if you are I would encourage you to stand

with me and and by doing so you indicate you are standing by him you are standing

by him as he calls out are you on my side because he is on your side let us

stand and have our have our closing prayer loving Heavenly Father we thank

you for the encouraging words today we thank you that as we understand tough

times are to come by faith we claim the promise that we don't have to face it

alone you are with us all the way through to the end or we praise you for

the faith of Jesus we praise you for his his infinite sacrifice on our behalf and

we praise you for being a creator God who loves us or be with us today and may

we always remain faithful to you this is our prayer for we pray in Jesus name

amen