19. 1888: Could It Happen Again? Part 2 - Pastor Stephen Bohr - Matthew 24

[Music] father as we begin our study today we ask for your presence through the ministry of the holy spirit give us understanding give us open hearts and lord help us to prepare for the glorious event of the coming of jesus christ in power and glory we thank you for the promise of your presence and we claim that promise in jesus name amen in our last presentation we studied part one making a comparison between what happened with the national reform movement between 1864 and 1888 and what was occurring in the united states of america in the decades of the 1980s 1990s and early 2000s we noticed that there were many similarities and today we are going to cover part two now i want to make something very clear and that is even though i mentioned proper names of individuals who were involved in this religious right movement in the 1980s 1990s and early 2000s it is no reflection on them personally in other words i'm not judging their motives god is the only one who can actually sit on the throne and judge our motivations however because they have gone on the record i am quoting them in these presentations particularly the last one which was part one and this one we will continue part two now as we ended our last presentation we were talking about how protestantism and catholicism are coming closer and closer together and we mentioned three factors that have led to this number one the election of john f kennedy as president of the united states there was a lot of fear in the minds of people to have the first roman catholic president knowing the principles that the roman catholic church is built on however john f kennedy in the speech that he gave to the greater houston ministerial association he promised to abide by the constitution of the united states and not by what the pope told him and he lived up to his promise we also noticed that vatican ii melted the ice that existed between protestants and catholics and then also we noticed that the prophetic views of the religious right basically tells them that the antichrist is an individual that is going to rise in the middle east he's going to sit in a rebuilt jewish temple and he's going to build a great big statue and command everyone to worship the statue and he's going to place a tattoo on people's foreheads that is of his servants or his followers and therefore protestants cannot see the dangers of the beast which is really the roman catholic papacy and the beast that rises from the earth which is a symbol of the united states because they are looking for the fulfillment of prophecy in the middle east when it is being fulfilled in rome and in the united states now today we are going to continue with uh the section that deals with how protestants and catholics are coming closer and closer together as we end it our last presentation i was talking about the document evangelicals and catholics together where they said that we need to cooperate on issues that we have in common set aside our doctrinal differences and not proselytize one another's members now another evidence of the closer and closer relationship between protestants and catholics is in a document that was signed in 1999 it's known as the joint declaration on righteousness by faith it was signed by lutherans and roman catholics and basically the document says that roman catholics and lutherans agree on the doctrine of righteousness by faith luther must be rolling in his grave so to speak because the doctrine of righteousness by faith was one of the key issues that led to the separation of protestantism from rome regarding this document uh joint declaration on justification by faith kenneth cancer a protestants wrote the following finally we that is catholics and evangelicals can work together on those political and social issues where we are in such strong agreement our united effort in these areas will do much to influence the world to the good in spite of basic differences we can use our common judeo-christian value system to forge moral leadership that will advance the cause of justice and peace through a stable society in our nation and around the world pat robertson one of the signers of the document added his testimony in the following words i believe frankly that the evangelicals and the catholics in america if they work together can see many pro-family initiatives in our society and we can be an effective counterbalance to some of the radical leftist initiatives chuck colson an evangelical or protestant made some amazing statements in the introduction to keith fournier's book evangelical catholics i'm going to read those statements now because it shows how protestants and catholics are coming closer and closer together in one statement chuck colson wrote it's high time that all of us who are christians come together regardless of the differences of our confessions and our traditions and make common cause to bring christian values to bear in our society when the barbarians are scaling the walls there is no time for petty quarreling in the camp in another statement he wrote but at root those who are called of god whether catholic or protestant are part of the same body what they share is a belief in the basics the virgin birth the deity of christ his bodily resurrection his imminent return and the authority of his infallible word they also share the same mission presenting christ as savior and lord to a needy world i don't know where chuck coulson was getting this information he says that catholics and protestants belong to the same body they share the same basics and they have the same mission folks that simply is not accurate the roman catholic church is the harlot of revelation chapter 17. how can we say that it's part of the same body of faithful christians to the lord in another remark chuck colson wrote i pray that his book that is for niece book will be read by catholics and protestants alike that it will be a bridge across many of the historic divisions in the church that have weakened our stand into today's culture so there's you have the bridge between protestantism and catholicism keith fournier throughout the book express the same ecumenical sentiments and i'm going to read now several statements that keith fournier made in his book the previous statements were written by chuck coulson and evangelical in the introduction to the book but now i'm going to read keith fournier's comments on page 12 he wrote we christians have differences important critical differences but we have far more in common both in beliefs and in mission these believers have built on their commonalities without denying their differences on page 65 he wrote but as long as we see ourselves as disconnected even polarized communities with some of us adhering to the right faith while the rest of us are languishing in error we will never receive the incredibly rich benefits of a worldwide revival on page 65 he also wrote we must see that we were meant to be one church united under one head for the purpose of carrying out a two-fold mission proclaiming the gospel and maturing in christ folks the roman catholic gospel is not the protestant gospel they are two different gospels finally on page 153 we find fournier wrote the following words as we prepare to move into the next millennium we will do it together recognizing that what we have in common far exceeds what separates us or will we allow our internal divisions to hold us back from fulfilling our heritage so the ecumenists refer to the theological differences as petty quarreling my question is is the fourth commandment of god's holy law law which commands us to keep the seventh-day sabbath an important issue is it petty quarreling to say well is it sunday or the sabbath is it petty quarreling to say that the dead are dead in contrast to protestantism that says generally that the dead are not dead that the soul flies off to heaven when a person dies is it an insignificant difference to say that the dead are dead until the resurrection or that the dead actually their soul flies off to heaven when they die i don't see that as a small difference john swamley who was a strong supporter of the separation of church and state and oppose the ecumenical overtures between protestants and catholics wrote the following roman catholic bishops are also at work politically to end separation of church and state they are working in an informal alliance with fundamentalist protestants not only on the abortion issue but to get government support of private church schools the major protestant denominations have been effectively silenced by ecumenism falsely based on fear of offending the catholic hierarchy in other words because there want to be they want to have political correctness that is protestants two professors of jerry falwell's liberty university in lynchburg virginia wrote the following we are seeking a political alliance between roman the roman catholic church and conservative protestants that would have a profound impact in the areas of abortion family life school policy and public morality ralph reed who spoke to the catholic campaign for america described the ecumenical spirit of the time this is what he said to the catholic campaign for america the truth is you and i are uniting we are coming together because whatever theological differences there are there is far more that unites us and brings us together then divides us and separates us the good news is the chasm is being bridged and that those walls are crumbling the walls of separation between protestants and catholics he's referring to he continues the truth my friends is this catholicism never has been is not today and never will be a threat to american democracy think again folks the roman catholic church does not change it has the same principles today as it had during the time it persecuted the saints of the most high but it has changed its attitude an external attitude but in its essence it is the same system we find ralph reed continuing it was catholicism and remains the most colorful and the most vibrant thread running through the tapestry of american democracy and ralph reed is an evangelical protestant and then he continued cardinal gibbons said this cardinal gibbons was a very influential cardinal in the united states in years past cardinal gibbons said this he said no constitution is more in harmony with catholic principles than the american constitution and no religion is more in accord with that constitution than the catholic religion i have no idea where ralph reed is getting this information from because history shows that the constitution of the united states is the total opposite of the principles upon which the roman catholic church stands he continued i want you to know that as evangelicals we stand shoulder to shoulder with you he's talking at this convention in ensuring that never again will bigotry be directed against catholics and their religion be used to try and silence them and drive them from the public square and he then he concluded i think you know that we have recently launched a division of the christian coalition called the catholic alliance which is designed to formalize and continue to build bridges in our partnership with roman catholics the catholic alliance like the catholic campaign will be a lay movement i don't know where ralph reed is getting his information from those who forget the mistakes of history are bound to repeat those same mistakes folks ralph reed also mentioned the following this is in the amarillo sun sunday news globe we can no longer afford to be divided he says about protestants and catholics it is a luxury that is no longer ours the left wants you and i to be divided nothing frightens them more than christians shattering the barriers of denominations keith fournier who as i mentioned before was the former direct executive director of pat robertson's american center for law and justice said this yet there is a wall which has been mistakenly erected in our beloved country its impact on religious freedom has perhaps had an even more devastating effect it is the so-called wall of separation of church and state so this is the next point that we're going to notice that is similar to what happened from 1864 to 1888 they actually wanted to tear down the wall of separation between church and state pat robertson also attacked the idea of separation of church and state in the constitution this is what he wrote liberals and secular humanists have kept us in submission because they have talked about separation of church and state there is no such thing in the constitution it's a lie of the left and we're not going to take it anymore what about the first amendment congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof true the constitution doesn't say separation of church and state in so many words but the first amendment makes it clear that there is a separation of church and state and jefferson actually spoke spoke of the wall of separation between church and state jerry falwell who founded the moral majority and passed away a few years ago had this to say about church and state separation of church and state has long been the battle cry of civil libertarians wishing to purge our glorious christian heritage from our nation's history of course the term that is separation of church and state never once appears in our constitution and is a modern fabrication of discrimination d james kennedy who was pastor for many years of coral ridge church in fort lauderdale florida said this about the wall of separation between church and state if we are committed and involved in taking back the nation for christian values there is no doubt we can witness the dismantling of not just the berlin wall but the even more diabolical wall of separation that has led to secularization immorality and corruption in our country so he's referring to the wall of separation between church and state as being diabolical what a contrast with what thomas jefferson had to say to the danbury baptist association here are his words i contemplate with sovereign relevant reverence that act of the whole american people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof thus building a wall of separation between church and state jefferson was clear that there is a wall of separation between church and state the first amendment says so william rehnquist who was for 33 years was a judge on the supreme court of the united states said the following about the wall of separation between church and state the wall of separation between church and state is a metaphor based on bad history metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging it should be frankly and explicitly abandoned this is an individual who for 19 years served as the chief justice of the supreme court of the united states and he's saying that the wall of separation is based on bad history and it should frankly and explicitly be abandoned as a guide to judging ellen white had this to say about the idea of joining church and state even in a slight way great controversy page 297 the union of church with the state be the degree never so slight while it may appear to bring the world nearer to the church does in reality but bring the church nearer to the world w.a criswell who for 47 years was the senior pastor of the first baptist church in dallas texas and served as president of the national baptist convention from 1969 to 1970 had this to say about the wall of separation between church and state i believe that this notion of the separation of church and state was the figment of some infidel's imagination interesting the baptist came from the anabaptists who were persecuted mercilessly even by martin luther and john calvin and others they were at the forefront in the struggle for religious liberty arizona state senator john b conlon during this period that we're talking about 80s 90s in the early 2000s once stated the separation of church and state is a false issue it is a slogan created by the secular humanists that sounds legal but is in fact a sham it does not appear anywhere in the constitution and it is not a concept that our founding fathers believed separation of church and state is simply a line of propaganda created by modern human humanists to intimidate christians and make us believe that we are second-class citizens these are powerful statements these are these are statements that are unbelievable you know protestants saying that the wall of separation of church and state should not exist keith fournier who spoke at the second annual road to victory briefing conference of the christian coalition september 10-12 1992 this meeting took place in washington dc had this to say about the wall of separation the wall of separation between church and state that was erected by secular humanists and other enemies of religious freedom has to come down that wall is more of a threat to society than the berlin wall ever was those opposing our views are the new fascists david nelson who was the director of pat robertson's christian coalition in colorado stated this about the wall of separation separation of church and state is number one not a teaching of the founding fathers number two not a historical teaching number three not a teaching of law except in recent years he puts in parentheses number four not a biblical teaching in summary there should be absolutely no separation of church and state in america now many people are surprised when i read these statements they say i never knew this you know even some of our camera operators here in the studio they say wow you know i never knew this aspect of history in the united states but i'm reading from these individuals who actually went on the record regarding these issues during this period also there were some of those uh who belonged to this religious right movement that wanted to establish a theocracy in the united states for example gary north who was a dominionist and a christian reconstructionist wrote the following we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality then they will get busy in constructing a bible-based social political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of god so in other words train up a whole group of young people in the schools take over the schools train them that there's no separation between church and state and then deny freedom and liberty to the enemies of god in other words his idea was to raise up a whole generation of kids in the christian system get them to take over the government and then deny religious liberty to all who disagreed with their perspective journalist cal thomas once wrote if we will not be constrained from within by the power of god we must be constrained from without by the power of the state acting as god's agent in other words if the holy spirit doesn't is not able to change the heart and therefore morality in society falls then it is necessary for the government to propose laws to order society morally as people would like to see as protestants would like to see pat robertson had this to say about the religious right movement there will never be world peace until god's house and god's people are given their rightful place of leadership at the top of the world how can there be peace when drunkards drug dealers atheists new age worshipers of satan secular humanists oppressive dictators greedy money changers revolutionary assassins adulterers and homosexuals are on top under their leadership the world will never i repeat never experience lasting peace although i agree i agree that it is unwise for the organized church as an institution to get itself entwined with government as an institution there is absolutely no way that government can operate successfully unless led by godly men and women women operating under the laws of the god of jacob in other words the god of christianity that is establishing a religion which is forbidden by the first amendment to the constitution roberts robertson's eschatology fails to square with the bible he's talking about taking over the moral leadership of the world by taking over governments and then peace and prosperity will come to the world that does not fit with the biblical scenario according to matthew chapter 24 the world is going to get worse and worse and the only thing that will save this world will be the second coming of jesus in power and glory and after the millennium to establish a new heavens and a new earth those who envision changing the world through legislation are attempting an impossibility only a change within the heart can create a society where there is lasting peace in other words ministers are called to preach the gospel they're not called to get politically involved in order to change society society has changed when ministers preach in church and in meetings they present the gospel of christ the holy spirit changes the heart and then when the heart is changed the behavior changes as well futurist tim lahaye the individual who was behind the incredibly popular series left behind had this to say about the secret for a national revival while it is true that god has already given america three national revivals in the past we desperately need another one today and then he says this personally i am not sure we can have one that is a revival without legislative reform since when does legislative reform bring about a revival in the church and in society revival comes by the power of the holy spirit through bible study and prayer since when does taking over the government bring revival real change comes not by legislation from without but by a change within in other words the gospel functions on the principle of leaven let me give you an example of what i'm talking about i do not know how to make bread my wife makes delicious bread now how do people make bread how do you make a loaf of bread well i'll tell you it's very simple you take flour water and the other ingredients you put them in the bread maker and then you have a big ball of dough and you form the the loaf of bread and then you sprinkle a little bit of leaven on top so that the bread will grow here laughing you say that's not the way it happens you know it does no good to sprinkle a little bit of leaven on top of the loaf of dough what you need to do is put the leaven in the dough and then the lump of dough grows the same is true with the change in society you implant the holy spirit through the preaching of the word in the human heart and then a person's christian christian experience grows and society changes in other words society changes from within not from without jesus told his followers to be the salt of the earth tim lahaye suggested that christians could become the salt of the earth by the following means by establishing a political action committee encouraging and preaching preaching on christian activism by organizing a good government committee by circulating petitions and lobbying by conducting political forums and by introducing candidates at worship services now is this what jesus meant when he recommended to his disciples that they be the salt of the earth i don't think so god's people are the salt of the earth when in church they preach the gospel and people are transformed and changed from within richard hogue pastor who was pastor of the mount bethel united methodist church wrote in his book saints and dirty politics the following words if our country survives and i realize that's a big if it will be because there is an awakening in the lives of committed christians across our nation who will finally begin to realize that it is not only their opportunity but also their absolute responsibility to be intricately involved in the political process of our country and use that involvement to turn this nation once again to the lord once again the idea turning the nation to the lord by coming by becoming involved in the political system ralph reed shared his formula on how to get the country back to god i quote what christians have got to do is take back this country one precinct at a time one neighborhood at a time one state at a time i honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by christians randall terry uh the founder of the anti-abortion organization operation rescue gave a speech in willoughby hills ohio in july of 1993 where he said our goal must be simple we must have a christian nation built on god's law on the ten commandments no apologies a christian nation would that not be the establishment of religion because there are other religions besides christianity we find pat robertson many years ago stating the objectives of the christian right i quote we have together with the protestants and catholics enough votes to run the country and when the people say we've had enough we are going to take over that is to run the country robert grant the president of christian voice which was a branch of the moral majority explain the final objective of the christian right he he said this if christians unite we can do anything we can pass any law or any amendment and that's exactly what we intend to do now in the environment today this might not seem possible but it happened in the 1880s it is it happened in the decades of the 1980s 1990s and the early 2000s the time will come when this view will actually succeed even though the first two times it failed in a television interview grant boasted the following we can do anything we can amend the constitution we can elect a president we can change or make any law in the land and it behooves us to do it if we have to live under the law as well we should live under moral and godly law all of these views contrast with what ellen white wrote in the great controversy page 297 over 130 years ago she foresaw that this was going to happen in america actually during her lifetime this was happening after the civil war from 1864 all the way to 1888 during reconstruction when the united states was in a national emergency there was a strong push to make this a christian nation and also to have a national sunday law it failed this movement in the 1980s 1990s and early 2000s it kind of has fizzled out but it will come back again it will resurrect again and it will cause severe problems for the united states in fact it will lead to national apostasy and ultimately to national ruin notice what ellen white wrote the regulation adopted by the early colonists of permitting only members of the church to vote or to hold office in the civil government led to most pernicious results so in the colonial period only members of the established church could occupy position in the government she continues this measure had been accepted as a means of preserving the purity of the state so in other words if you have only christian rulers the state will be pure but the opposite happened she continues but it resulted in the corruption of the church a profession of religion being the condition of suffrage and office holding many act to actuate it solely by motives of worldly policy united with the church without a change of heart so they said i want occupy political position in the colony so i'll become a christian and then i can be elected so what happens the person was not a christian at heart so he comes into the church and the church becomes corrupted she continues thus the churches came to consist to a considerable extent of unconverted persons and even in the ministry were those who not only held errors of doctrine but who were ignorant of the renewing power of the holy spirit thus again was demonstrated the evil results so often witnessed in the history of the church from the days of constantine to the present of attempting to build up the church by the aid of the state of appealing to the secular power in support of the gospel of him who declared my kingdom is not of this world and then she wrote this the union of the church with the state be the degree never so slight while it may appear to bring the world nearer to the church does in reality but bring the church nearer to the world this movement in the 1980s 1990s and early 2000s actually also proposed that sunday should be the national day of worship for example d james kennedy wrote from the witness of the early church from the witness of our disarrayed lives from the witness of our society as it teeters on the brinks of on the brink of moral collapse we see that the need to keep the sabbath is truly urgent and by the way that is one of the arguments in the midst of the pandemic is you know because everybody has been shut in in their homes you know the air is cleaner the water is cleaner so we need a weekly sunday rest for the good of the environment for the good of the family for the good of the poor we're going to hear more and more of this as time goes by even john paul ii one of the most influential popes in the history of the roman catholic church pleaded for civil legislation to observe sunday as the day of rest this is what he wrote in ds domini the document the pastoral letter that he wrote concerning the observance of the first day of the week he said in the particular circumstances of our time christians will naturally strive to see that civil legislation respects their duty to keep the sabbath day and by the sabbath day he means sunday what is the controversy going to be at the end of time is it going to be a controversy over the oil of the middle east like was being said in the 60s and 70s no is it going to be a war between christians and islam no is it going to be a war between the right and the left no what are the issues in the end time conflict they are not commercial political issues they are deeply religious issues every passage of scripture that speaks of the end time tells us that the controversy is going to be over worship and god's holy law between what we find in human legislation and the divine legislation that we find in the ten commandments let me give you several examples of passages that deal with the end time that tell us that the issue is going to involve the law of god matthew chapter 7 is very interesting here jesus is speaking to a group of believers and he said the following matthew chapter 7 and verse 21 to 23 not everyone who says to me lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord see they claim to be christians because they say to jesus lord lord lord lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name we perform miracles we've given prophecies we've even cast out demons and now notice the response of jesus and then i will declare to them i never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness that word lawlessness as we've noticed in the previous lecture actually the same word that is translated in first john chapter 3 and verse 4 transgression of the law so in other words it could be translated depart from me you who transgress the law you see if we're keeping the wrong day of worship we are breaking god's law we are actually breaking the most important commandment of the ten commandments the one that identifies god as the creator of the heavens and the earth in matthew chapter 24 we find once again that in the end time the law of god will be involved matthew chapter 24 and let's notice what we find in verse 12. it says there in verse 12 and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold once again that word lawlessness is the greek word anomias and it really should be translated and because of the transgression of the law transgression of the law the love of many will grow cold in other words society will be devoid of love because of the transgression of god's law and the primary commandment that will be transgressed will be the sabbath commandment that identifies god as the creator and the fact that we are creatures and we owe him our respect and we owe him our obedience once again ii thessalonians chapter 2 tells us that the law is involved in the work of the final antichrist in this world 2 thessalonians chapter 2 refers to the final antichrist as the man of lawlessness interesting the man of lawlessness once again the greek word anomias the the man of the transgression of the law because the papacy tells us that the day of worship is not the seventh day sabbath they say our church has changed the day of worship from sabbath to sunday so this antichrist is called the the lawless one notice verse 7 for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work it was we're at work in the days of paul only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way and then verse 9 says the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan with all power signs and line wonders so once again we find in the end time that there will be a system that is characterized by transgression of the law what about daniel chapter 7 once again the antichrist is portrayed as a system that is contrary to god's holy law notice daniel chapter 7 and verse 25 we've studied this in one of our previous presentations this is the little horn is speaking about the roman catholic papacy and the papacy did many things during the first period of its dominion we are told in daniel chapter 7 verse 25 what this little horn would do he shall speak pompous words against the most high the book of revelation identifies those pompous words as blasphemies and the bible defines blasphemy as first of all when a mere man claims to have the power and authority of god and number two when a mere man claims to have the power and the authority to forgive sins the papacy claims that the pope is god's representative on earth and the papacy claims that its priesthood has the power to forgive sins that is blasphemy so it says he shall speak pompous words against the most high shall persecute the saints of the most high i'm sure that you've heard of the inquisition how the roman catholic papacy persecuted everyone that was not in harmony with the teachings and practices of the church and it used the power of the state to persecute those who did not agree with its doctrines and practices but then there's another characteristic and shall intend to change times and law so we're told that the papacy would think during this period of time times the dividing of time 538-1798 the papacy would intend or think to change god's holy law and folks the papacy has done that if you look at the catechisms of the roman catholic church the second commandment isn't there it disappears because the second commandment says that we're not supposed to make images and we're not supposed to worship those images we're not supposed to bow before them so why does the roman catholic church take that commandment out of the catechism because when you teach kids for first communion about the commandments and they see that commandment they're going to say but wait a minute mr priest we have all kinds of images in church and uh our faithful people in the church bow before those images how does that square with god's commandment now because they get rid of the second commandment they have to divide the tenth commandment in two in order to end up with ten so they divide the tenth commandment to say you shall not covet your neighbor's goods and you shall not covet your neighbor's wife but covetousness is one commandment folks so once again daniel 7 tells us that the little horn would think to change god's law the book of revelation also shows that the issue is worship whether we worship the creator or whether we worship the beast in the first angel's message we have a call to worship the creator by the way revelation 14 has three messages of three angels that are going to go to all of the world calling the world to worship the creator and at the same time there's going to be a message given by the beast he's going to want to impose his mark notice what we find in revelation chapter 14 verses 6 and 7 then i saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come and then notice and worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and springs of water what sign did god create to remind us that he is the creator the sabbath the seventh-day sabbath the day of rest god says in ezekiel chapter 20 verse 12 and verse 20 he says the sabbath is a sign between me and you so that you know that i am the lord who sanctifies you so that you know that i am the lord your god the sabbath is the great sign between the creator and his creature creatures and in verse 7 we are told that a call is made to every nation kindred tongue and people to worship the creator and of course that means respecting the sign or the remembrance of the creator ah but there's another power the other power is called the beast and the beast wants worship too and the beast is going to have a mark as well and his mark has to be an opposite day than the day that is the sign between god and his people the third angel's message tells us that the final issue is the issue of worship it says in verse 9 then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the beast and his image jesus is in contrast to worshiping the creator worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of god which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb this is a terrible denunciation of god god tells us this because he doesn't want people to end up worshiping the beast and his image and receiving the mark so while christians protestants are looking to the middle east for the fulfillment of prophecy they're expecting this personal antichrist sitting in a rebuilt jewish temple building a great big statue of himself commanding everyone to worship and tattooing people in the forehead or on the right hand meanwhile the power that claims to have changed god's law is in rome and the united states of america protestants are coming closer and closer to rome they no longer fear rome what a tragedy that prophecy is being fulfilled in the west and everybody among protestants is looking to the east revelation chapter 12 and verse 17 tells us what the controversy is about the final controversy revelation 12 gives us gives us the history of the the church from the old testament times to the birth of jesus to the ascension of christ to his enthronement in heaven the persecutions against god's church during the 1260 years the rise of the united states and then we have a picture of the final remnant in verse 17 of revelation 12 it tells us what the dragon is going to be angry about notice it's god's law and its worship all the way through it says in verse 17 and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring better translation with the remnant of her seed and what is their characteristic they keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ folks everyone in the city of jerusalem the new city after the millennium is going to be a commandment keeper revelation chapter 22 and verse 14 and verse 15 tells us the following blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city so those inside the city are commandment keepers what about outside but outside are dogs and sorcerers sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie so all of these texts show us that the final controversy is over god's commandments and worship now i want to read a couple of statements by ellen white in closing great controversy page 590. it doesn't seem possible that this could take place but when it does remember these presentations that you have seen here from our studios in fresno california it will be declared that men are offending god by the violation of the sunday sabbath that this sin has brought calamities that will not cease until sunday observance shall be strictly enforced and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment thus destroying reverence for sunday are troublers of the people preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity and you say well that could never happen it happened in the days of elijah folks who was blamed for the the fact that there was no rain for three and a half years oh was elijah they said if we can get rid of elijah temporal prosperity will come back again we'll be blessed again it'll happen just like it occurred in the past in the last statement ellen white wrote uh and she made a very interesting comparison this is found in signs of the times march 31 1898 those who ignore the lord's sabbath to keep holy the first day of the week offer strange fire to god she's alluding to the story of native and abyou the sons of aaron who took common fire and presented it as if it was holy in the sanctuary see god had said take the fire from the altar the fire that i reigned from heaven that's holy fire whenever you take incense into the sanctuary with fire you're going to take it from that altar because that's holy fire don't take any other kind of fire but native and abayu who were drunk they were intoxicated just like the religious world at the end of time with the wine of babylon they could not think straight they could not distinguish between right and wrong good and evil and therefore they took in common fire into the sanctuary how did god feel about that did he say oh it's okay fire is fire who cares no god is particular when he says that that something is holy when he says that the sabbath is holy he means the seventh-day sabbath is holy not sunday we can't make anything holy only god can make things holy she continues here those who ignore the lord's sabbath who keep holy the first day of the week offer strange fire to god it is a strange sabbath that he has commanded them not will he accept it at their hands men have sought out many inventions they have taken a common day upon which god has placed no sanctity and have clothed it with sacred prerogatives in other words they've taken what is common and they have made it holy she continues they have declared it to be a holy day that is sunday but this does not give it a vestige of sanctity they dishonor god by accepting human institutions and presenting to the world presenting to the world as the christian sabbath a day which has no thus saith the lord for its authority as did nadev and abahu they offer the common in place of the sacred if god accepts the observance of sunday in place of the sabbath he's going to have to apologize to native and hawaii because they were consumed by the fire of the lord that came from his presence god is particular about his commands we can't say well you know god says that it's the sabbath but everybody keeps sunday so i'm going to keep sunday to go along with everybody you know god's faithful people have always been in the minority they have always been the few because only the few are willing to walk in the ways of the lord so folks the end time controversy is not about oil it's not primarily about economic issues it's not about political issues it is about whether you keep god's commandments and worship the creator or whether you keep the commandments of men and you worship the beast and the test that god gives to show which authority we follow is sabbath and sunday if you keep the sabbath you recognize that you accept god's authority if you keep sunday you are accepting the authority of the beast i pray that god will lead us to make the right decision [Music] you

Channel: secretsunsealed

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Keywords: SUMTV, SUMTVLatino, Secrets Unsealed, Secretos Revelados, Pastor Bohr, Pastor Stephen Bohr, Pastor Esteban Bohr, Matthew 24, End times

Id: bCucq4Ace_A

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 05 2021