39. Worship Service - Pastor C.A. Murray - 09-25-21

[Music] hello friends and happy sabbath welcome to the sun tv sabbath school and worship service we want to remind you to please support your local church with your tides and offerings with your personal effort and influence we want the tree angels messages to be preached around the world we want the work of god to go forward in power we want jesus to come i pray that the lord may give you a special blessing today and that his will may be accomplished in your life our song there will be no dark valleys [Music] there'll be no dark valleys when jesus comes there'll be no dark valleys when jesus comes there'll be no dark valleys when jesus comes together his loved one's born to gather his loved ones home to gather his loved one's home there'll be no dark palace when jesus comes together his loved one's home there'll be no more sorrow when jesus comes there'll be no more sorrow when jesus comes there'll be nothing tomorrow when jesus comes together his loved ones to gather his loved one's form to gather his loved one's horn there'll be no park valleys when jesus comes to gather his loved one's heart there'll be songs of greetings when jesus comes there'll be songs of greetings when jesus comes there'll be songs of greeting when jesus comes together his loved one's horn to gather his loved one's to gather his loved ones when jesus comes together his loved ones [Music] welcome friends happy sabbath and welcome to secrets unsealed some tv sabbath school hour we're so glad that you decided to choose to worship with us this morning and to join us in our study of this week's sabbath school lesson we hope that our lesson and our discussion will be a blessing to you and that you will leave ready for a new week of blessings ready for the next discussion that we'll enter into this morning i have my distinguished panel with me again once again pastor daniel govea of the fresno central seventh-day adventist church the senior pastor there and pastor c.a murray the associate speaker here at secrets unsealed welcome gentlemen glad to have you here this quarter we have been studying the topic of rest in christ and we have come all the way through the quarter to the end now and this week we'll be looking at the topic the ultimate rest and before we get into this week's lesson we're going to ask pastor ca if you'll pray for us and then pastor daniel gover if you will read our text for us this morning okay shall we pray gracious father again we thank you and praise you for the opportunity that is ours to study the word of god we thank thee for the promise of rest we thank thee that in a world of trial and trouble and trauma and drama and tribulation yes we can have peace in our hearts peace in our souls we can be at rest as we prepare for the ultimate rest when christ returns again and so father today help us to take one more step along that road that leads to glory but more than that be our teacher and instruct us and then enable us to do that which we know to be right because we know that it is in the doing that we are made like christ jesus yes so bless us this day we wait upon you and we thank you in jesus name amen amen amen all right our memory text first corinthians 2 verse 9 says but as it is written i has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which god has prepared for those who love him all right very good so this quarter we've studied a lot about rest and the different aspects of rest we've looked at restlessness uh and what causes it and uh today we're gonna hone in on on on the big picture the the umbrella here the all-encompassing ultimate rest now you know as christians we have this mindset this paradigm that we're in a battle between good and evil between christ and satan a great controversy if you will and what's interesting is even in the secular world many of our friends who are not christian or a nominal christian even often will approach and say things like man there's something like a big battle going on you know something is happening and you know they they see the natural disasters that are frequently occurring they see political strife like it it's not been in our lifetime before and they're wondering what what is all this leading to where are we going but this week we know that god has given us some assurance that he knows where we're going and he's given us some broad sweeps to tell us where we're going and if we'll trust him we can have our anxieties and our fears allayed we can rest in christ amen all right so this week we're going to start out sunday's lesson and we're looking at the topic of vision of the end and as i looked at this week's lesson uh you know i thought about the apostle john you know in his history you know from fisherman to would-be arsonist [Laughter] you know to a disciple of jesus and then an apostle and then receiving the vision a prophetic word and the changes that he must have gone through in that span of his lifetime he uh is the last of the apostles alive and he gets to look back over the history not only of his life but of this church that he's been involved uh in raising up um and uh i just want to reflect for for a little bit on on his life and what what brings him uh to this rest at at the end of his life to the end of his life and anything that you would like to add to this idea of the reflection on his life yeah i think uh you're right it's fascinating to think about john's life how god changed him that transformation came by interaction with jesus by absorbing the love of jesus he became the apostle that speaks about love like no other right so even though he calls himself the beloved disciple and i do believe that jesus loved all the disciples he loves everyone but not everyone loves him not everyone allows him to be as close as i believe john allowed him to be so john really opened up to receive the love of christ and i imagine that for him for all the disciples of course but for him to see jesus going up to heaven must have been really hard yes yes of course he was filled with the holy spirit he was preaching the gospel we know through the ending of the gospel of john that there was a saying in the church in the primitive church that was going around that he would never die the other apostles were dying right yeah james actually was killed with a sword um so that's uh john's brother and and that it was very early on in the story of the church of the christian church so uh this this saying john knew it wasn't true jesus just said that if he wanted john to remain alive until he's coming that could happen you know right but uh this all this this come to say that for all those years john was missing his best friend right yes and and we know that god uh blessed him with an encounter with jesus yet another encounter with jesus at close to the end of his life when he was exiled in patmos and that must have been something very impressive for john especially seeing his lord and savior with whom he ate with whom he traveled he was leaning his head on the chest of jesus yes and all of a sudden he sees him as this glorious being full of majesty um he he he really saw uh jesus he knew it was the same person but the glory of jesus was just overwhelming yes i think you know john is a very multi-layered individual at one point in his life if you just take snapshots and don't look at the video he's a son of thunder at another point his mother is begging listen when you when you when you get in you put both of my boys on either side of me right um i suspect he was the youngest of the disciples he certainly lived beyond outlived them all and he when he began to write the gospel of john he was writing to a generation of people who did not know jesus person who had not seen jesus and who had not been there so his gospel takes on a little bit of a different texture because he's writing to that second generation all of those who walked with christ and who knew christ and who had a chance to see him were gone yeah so he's writing to that next generation and assuring them that you've got the word and the word is as good as having the the man in person you got all these things and as pastor gover rightly said uh jesus gives him shall we say a special audience because he's got a special message to bear uh and and from a son of thunder he becomes that one who jesus loved that one who leaned on jesus brethren yes which says to me we can we can lose our son of thunderness and become one who jesus loves you know through surrender to him so it's a very complex life but a very beautiful experience with the lord capped off by a personal tutelage tutoring of the book of revelation christ sat down and walked him through it you know so it's just a beautiful life just a beautiful experience amen yeah i you know i think about some of the men who have been mentors uh in my life and uh how closely connected now when you travel outside of the of the western world you know men seem to be much more willing to to to reach and touch and hug and those kinds of things you know but even in you know in the western world the idea that here's a man who would lay his head over on another man's breast you know uh it it speaks of an affinity of a closeness yes um and uh and it says something about the relationship between john and jesus and when i think about my mentors and how i miss them [Music] i can only imagine how john felt uh as he saw christ departing um but there were words of encouragement there why is daniel gazing the same jesus that you saw leaving is coming in the same manner as you saw him go yes and that that had to give the apostles some hope for the disciples some hope at that time but now years have passed and as see as you point out we're we're in a second generation and uh things are happening in society not uncommon for us you know but there's persecution going on [Music] there are heretical kinds of movements happening within the church body itself and when john superimposes that on the life that he's lived you know he would i'm sure want that the church would stay faithful until the end you know uh but there's turmoil there's turmoil and uh but the lord doesn't just leave him in turmoil yeah he gives him this vision that's found in uh revelation it starts in of course in revelation chapter one um and in verse nine i john both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of jesus christ was on the island that is called patmos the word of god and for the testimony of jesus christ i was in the spirit on the lord's day and he hears this loud voice and there's a message there's a message that he's given in in this first chapter how how do you see that message impacting him yeah first of all the the sight of the glorified christ is is just just very impressive right he has a message for john like you you say um he's saying i am verse 11 i am the alpha and the omega the first and the last what you see write in the book and send it to the seven churches which are in asia to ephesus the smyrna to pergamos taiter this artist to philadelphia into light laodicea and then basically almost the rest of the chapter is just describing the glory of christ how he is walking in the midst of seven golden lamp stands how the voice is so strong how um he is like one like the son of man and we have this description that resembles very closely daniel chapter 10 when daniel sees michael and his eyes are like a flame of fire his feet like fine brass is refined in the furnace and his voice as the sound of many waters which we know in the old testament to be an expression for the voice of god so he's seeing his friend but he's seeing uh not only the humanity of christ he is seeing some characteristics of his divinity and that is shining so hard and so strong his face is like the sun shining in its strength so it says that he when john sees him verse 17 he falls at his feet as dead and here comes the good part but he laid his right hand on me saying to me do not be afraid i am the first and the last i am he who lives and was dead and behold i am alive forevermore amen and i have the keys of hades and of death now it's amazing you know what can be worse than death yeah john was going through a lot yes he was being persecuted he was now exiled in patmos and if you've been to patmos this is a really tiny tiny island and today you know you go there and if you're on vacation you're going to have a wonderful time because it's calm it's protected by unesco you know you can't have clubs in there you can't have movie theaters in there you cannot have parties in there it's it's almost a little paradise but at the time that he was there it was forced labor it's a prison so he was you know he was going through hardship he had been persecuted for his faith but jesus is there to assure him hey i was even dead you know and i'm alive now i have overcome death i i am alive forevermore amen he says amen really to emphasize that i'm not going to die again i'm here alive and because i am alive you can live this gesture of putting his hand on john we just see the same thing when we are reading daniel chapter 10 daniel sees michael and he that vision completely exhausted him he fell down as as if he was dead as well because how can we human beings be in the presence of the glory of god you know but there he is jesus putting his hand over john saying don't be afraid i'm still your friend and i was dead i am alive forevermore and i have the power you need to stand up in this world of sin no matter what we are going through no matter what our viewers are going through jesus is there to encourage us and say yes you are a sinner yes your relationship with me is the relationship of a sinful being with a holy being but i have the power to make you stand up and to help you do the mission i have for you amen what a wonderful thing what pops out at me and affirms that he's talking with the lord of course in revelation it's 19 where he falls at the feet of the angel and the angel says don't do that right you know right right right yes but he falls here and and jesus says don't be afraid exactly you know so he's accepting the worship but he's calming him don't don't be afraid because what is about to transpire is is going to be good for you and you you're going to like it yeah you know it's going to be good so we praise the lord and and just co-signing what what pastor said here uh the fact that christ is getting ready to open to him uh marvelous assurances of of his being in charge of the world down through the end of time until i come again until we see each other a number of things going to happen but it's not going to be out of my control it's all under my control yes and uh i will walk you through it so that you can warn the world of what is going to happen yes yeah and he also in this message in in the introduction of this message assures him that even though this his beloved church you know it's going to go through some struggles but he has it in his hands precisely yes he has he has it he knows what's going on he's walking in between the candlesticks and he's going to see to it that he pilots this ship to safety for john it has to be a wonderful experience for him to to be engaged again with his wonderful friend the most wonderful friend amen amen and to top it off he tells him that at the end of all this a new heaven and a new earth amen where righteousness dwells yeah and so yeah and so john can in the vernacular breathe easy he can exhale he connects yeah because nothing has escaped the view of christ he's seen it and he has prepared for it uh and and the idea is the message is given so that others can be prepared not just john amen but others and so we go to monday's lesson so the countdown uh and and the question you know so um in matthew 24 when when uh you know the apostles are looking at jerusalem and the structures they're the edifice they just they're just enthralled with with this this great beauty and as i've looked even now at structures built centuries ago i'm amazed at how beautiful and ornate the craftsmanship is and and and you know there there was nothing like the jerusalem temple the you know the first solomon the temple that solomon was in charge of building and i said boy it must have been really something marvelously beautiful but jesus says you know it's going to end up rubble it's going to end up rubble not one stone is going to be left on another and uh and and things are are going to come upon this world and he says i don't want you to be deceived i don't want you to get so comfortable that you don't see it coming i'm gonna i'm gonna paint it out for you and he outlines for him some things that are going to happen before this new heaven and new earth come about yes but he just doesn't present him or to present to john and the disciples this message there is something that they are supposed to do because of the message they're given yeah yeah and so what what what is what is their role what what why does he unveil he doesn't unveil this just so they can know he's god and he knows them but there's some other purpose there there's another purpose in him of in unveiling the future for them definitely i think that um it's interesting to see that jesus starts saying explaining all the signs that will precede his coming and we know that he's also talking about the same signs that will precede the destruction of jerusalem that the disciples thought would be the same event but it's actually two separate events but jesus out of mercy just mingled both descriptions and he's basically showing that and we can see it today that the events that led up to the destruction of jerusalem were a miniature of what's happening around the world and is leading up to the second coming of jesus now it's interesting that he talks about all these things like famines wars it's interesting that he starts even with the fact that people are going to try to deceive the the true followers of christ saying for many will come in my name that's verse 5 saying i am the christ and will deceive many and later in this chapter we we find that again false prophets and false christs doing signs and wonders that are so great that if possible the elect would be deceived so we know that satan is interested in deceiving the people of god right because like john wrote to the whole world dwells in the evil one if we are in jesus and in the word of god we are in the truth but we are the people that satan hates the most so it's interesting that when we come to verse 12 13 and 14 jesus has a little small conclusion before he continues it says this verse 12 and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold so there's all these crazy things happening there's deception there's uh environmental catastrophe there's wars and rumors of wars there's people hating and betraying one another and because lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold now if there is one thing that satan wants is to erase the image of god from humanity god is love the more you know christ the more you love him the more you love god the more you love people the more you dwell in what satan is doing and the more you allow him to tempt you into his paths the more the love of god is drawn out of your soul and he says because of lawlessness will abound jesus said because if lawlessness will abound the love of many will grow cold but he who endures to the end shall be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come now i think we can all agree that the person that preached the gospel better was jesus himself he came and he preached the gospel you see john the baptist in matthew chapter 3 preaching repent for the kingdom of god has come upon you and then chapter four same thing jesus is saying the same thing he's preaching the gospel repent you know there's hope for those who want to repent and come back to god he is the one who preached the gospel like no man ever preached how did he do it not only with words but with a sacrificial mission i believe that he is giving us a hint here that those who will endure to the end are those who keep on loving god and loving people and they are willing to share this message of love even at great sacrifice for themselves and as they continue doing that they are really enduring until the end they are enduring the in the middle of a world that is falling apart in a world where satan is trying to take god's love away from the heart of every human being they are united with christ in this mission of salvation and love that involves great sacrifice amen amen you know there are many obvious parallels between the days after christ ascended and the fall of jerusalem and the times which we find ourselves [Music] there is anybody who's leading anything the president of the united states the president of the general conference the pastor of the local church and i think we've touched on this before is finding it harder to get men to cooperate yes it's harder nominating committees are harder elders meetings are harder church board meetings are harder and i think it's one of the signs one of the more nuanced signs of the of the the times in which we find ourselves as the spirit of god is striving with men and being withdrawn from the earth things are just getting tougher it's harder to get people even in the church to cooperate to submit themselves to authority um ellen white gives an indication in certain in great controversy that after christ had passed um there was this this foment of of antagonism and revolution and anarchy um in in israel right into the times of rome well israel had always been a tough province to govern but after christ uh left there was this for one of a better word craziness that sort of settled in you know and it it and the romans finally said you know what i'm tired of this we're going to go in there and we're going to just solve this situation well dare i say that these last days are being marked by a similar craziness you know it's yes it's in the air we breathe it's in the water we drink it's it's everywhere in in in our lives it's just getting it's it's being tougher the heart of the pastor i don't have any young children but i i you've got a young son yes it's harder it's just tougher raising kids you know i was talking with the teacher and there she was talking about how she used to punish her kids for chewing gum in school chewing gum please you know there's so much going on now with the engine and everything else that chewing gum is not even on the top right 100 list anymore because it's just harder because as as we get closer and closer satan is working with increased effort and and and christ gave hints to this it's going to get tougher before this thing wraps up um and we see that uh explained very plainly in matthew chapter 24. okay even to the point where he says as it was in the days of noah yes that's what it's going to be like and then he gives an assignment yes yeah he says it's going to be like that but you know just because it's going to be like that doesn't mean you get to sit on the sidelines and watch right you know this this this this christianity thing is not a spectator sport not a spectator no no you're you're in the arena you know you are in the fight and so he gives to john this message that includes present truth present truth so when we read in in ii peter uh maybe we can go there ii peter 1 verse 12. and pastor ca maybe you can grab that for us second peter 1 yeah okay and verse 12. oh boy why am i at first peter you did say second peter i did i did i suspect i know how pastor gover has it i do well while i'm turning you oh okay i've got it all right second second peter one verse for this reason i will not i will not be negli i will not be negligent to remind you always of these things though you know and are established in the present truth okay so what is this concept of present truth you know peter's giving some some words towards the end of his ministry what is this concept of present truth that we're well i think that throughout the bible you can have a hint when you see the different stages of the story of salvation when let's say when abraham was alive god called him out of paganism but he was walking in the midst of a land that was a promised land but it was not his yet right it was promised his ascendants and he would direct an altar to the one true god to the creator of the heavens and the earth all these other peoples around him were worshiping false gods but abraham was worshiping the true god and the present truth back then was there was one god who created the heavens and the earth and that was that is the god that you are to worship and not all these other deities um you go to that you you get to the times of christ and of course i could you know spend more time you could look at noah and everything but anyways we get to the times of christ you see that the present truth is that jesus of nazareth is the messiah it's not a popular truth most people in the time of abraham did not worship the true god most people in the time of jesus did not accept it through messiah right present truth is normally not a popular truth because the devil knows that upon each generation god is bringing a test and those who accept that unpopular message and that embrace that message and live that message are beyond his grasp so satan hates that message right so um today there is a present message too there's present truth very good you know which which which jesus shares with john in revelation 14 6-12 amen and maybe we should look at that quickly revelation 14 6-12 and maybe i'll i'll read it real quickly then i saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having everlasting gospel that's important to preach to those who dwell on the earth every nation tribe tongue and people that's important saying with a loud voice fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come that's important worship him that's important who made heaven earth sea in the springs of water that's important yes and another angel followed saying babylon has fallen has fallen that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication that's important then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or in his hand he shall also drink the wine of the wrath of god which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have no rest that's important day or night who worship the beast in his image and whoever receives the mark of his name when i look at present truth or think about present truth you know john 17 17 tells me that all of the word is truth and we're sanctified through that truth but present truth suggests that there are certain times which there are certain truths which are applicable specifically to certain times they sort of pop out you know uh you've got the the this is all truth but in these last days there are certain truths that are really applicable to god's people in these days yes and that availing yourself of those truths allows you to meet the the challenges of the day and the attacks of the enemy uh and be an overcomer to be successful because these truths are designed for for this particular time yes and are are designed to get you through this particular time yeah so what you're saying is what was present truth in the past is still true oh yes but it's not the present truth present truth has a new emphasis uh and it brings us along and and in the three angels messages there is present truth for this time yes to when you were reading it i was just in my mind going back to all these stages of the story of salvation all those big main truths are here you are talking about the creator god right yeah you are talking about worshiping the truth worshiping the true god you are calling people to repentance because you are preaching the gospel you are talking about jesus verse 12 says talks about the faith of jesus so we are still supposed to preach the true messiah which is jesus christ jesus of nazareth he is the son of god he died for our sins he is in heaven interceding for us so all of these elements are there but you have other elements as well you're talking about babylon right and you know you cannot be talking about literal babylon because it's uh it has fallen a long time ago right so as we study the book of revelation we see that this is a religious system that is influencing also political powers on earth and uh when religion and politics come together the result is not good it's always been so you have a very strong warning against that system and you have a very strong warning against the mark of the beast and the image of the beast that revelation 13 talks about and you have this uh this very a great um appeal for people to worship the true god repent of their sins put their faith in jesus and keep the commandments of god see this is not new light but this is present light this is present truth why because the commandments of god especially one commandment are being put aside by many in these last days yes so we are called to talk about the true faith in christ that is manifest in obedience to god yeah you know i think his point is and we're kind of jumping your time here but i think i think the past point is is very important you know i saw another angel flying preaching the everlasting gospel so that's not new the angel's not inventing anything now yes what he's doing is highlighting a an aspect of the everlasting gospel yes because of the times in which we find ourselves you know it's always been there it's not brand new stuff but you need to focus on this now right because of what you're going to face and what you're going through yes and and what i find always so beautiful is that the everlasting gospel comes before judgment yeah yeah and that's you know that often gets turned around because in the christian world we often hear a lot about judgment you know but the gospel the everlasting gospel is preached because judgment has come amen you know so there there there is time uh as we move on then uh and and this is the assignment we're given [Music] like noah it wasn't a popular message that you know i mean that noah preached or a jonah wasn't a popular message that jonah preached from last week yes but this is the message that we are given to share with the world amen about the the current situation and the future yes um and so uh if if we're going to be in christ if we're going to rest in christ then we do what he says and this is the message for this day uh now in wednesday's lesson we we turn to one of the one adventist favorite the rest in peace [Laughter] okay and so in hebrews 11 13 through 16 we have of course in in hebrews 11 the roll call of faith and maybe you can read 13-16 for us quickly so hebrews 11 13-16 says these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off were assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have had opportunity to return but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country therefore god is not ashamed to be called their god for he has prepared a city for them and so it's interesting here that the the faithful that are outlined in in hebrews 11 have not had the experience of this ultimate rest that god wants to provide for them or is going to provide for them but instead they are resting in peace until the ultimate rest come and that's a common experience not only for hebrews 11 but for us today many of us uh you know and it's interesting every day that i wake up you know i find myself one day older and one day closer to the kingdom and i get to reflect back now that many years have passed since my youth and if time continues on long enough i too will rest and so there there is there is this hope though that is given uh here that it's not it's not the the better house on more acres and a more comfortable life that's that's not the rest that he has for us it's something greater than that but you know folks look at this idea of of rest and when when they see the idea that that we may one day close our eyes and not wake up the next they have all kinds of different convoluted ideas about that and yeah i'm not sure how that enters into the picture of rest you know if if if my loved ones are in heaven you know looking down and saying oh that was a bad decision i've not done that you know i mean i'm not sure how that works in the context of rest anybody you want to grab ahold of that at all you know a couple of things come to mind this this mistaken notion that you you go to heaven and you're aware of keenly aware of everything happening down on earth that is to my mind the opposite of rest that's that's stress that's that's not that's not rest um there are so many who who died before us who didn't get the promise we're all going to go together no one gets it before uh and god uh the end of that same chapter of hebrews says he's provided that for us that that we all get it we all get it together that's the promise that we i don't know what's in you know when i was growing up um i wanted a as a young kid i wanted a roy rogers uh double holster gun set you know um that was in the store and i could pass by it almost every day and my dad said you're gonna get it you know and i was you know i knew where he where they kept the christmas presence and everything i would look and see in there i knew it wasn't in there so i was dropping hints so my father my father said you know what i told you you're going to get it i gave you the promise right i'm not going to get it for you i was crushed he said i'm not going to get it for you but see he didn't say i'm going to buy it for me he said you're going to get it i get it yeah and i didn't know that my godfather had already bought it so you know they had talked about it so i'm looking for my dad to produce this thing and i look back on that um the promises of god are true yes as as topsy-turvy as this world seems sometimes it's they're true they're going to be true from his hand and not another you know christ is going to do this and he's going to do it himself so we can we can trust that we can hold on to that because you know the same god has gotten us this far who's gotten you this far as you look back it's going to get you all the way home yes he's not going to leave you out there he brought you out of the world so that he could take you in to the kingdom amen amen i like the way revelation 14 13 says then i heard a voice from heaven this is right after the three angels messages right or some of some people actually like to include this at the tree angels even though there's a voice there's a voice from heaven saying to me right blessed are the dead who die in the lord from now on yes says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them when you die you are resting jesus said lazarus our friend john chapter 11 verse 11. that's easy to remember lazarus our friend sleeps but i go that i may wake him up i like to think of death as a sleep that only jesus can you know can wake up people from so [Music] the truth is also that sometimes we as seventh-day adventists we fail to emphasize something that is also true when you die the next moment for you yes is the coming of jesus yes yes if you have placed your faith in jesus and you have done good like uh john chapter 5 verse 28 and 29 says right you are part of the resurrection of life so the truth is that it is immediate in the sense that it's your next conscient thought yeah and if you think of it this way the coming of jesus for you is way closer than when you think well if i die and jesus doesn't come for 30 or 40 years or 50 years which we don't believe we believe he's coming soon but let's suppose that you know you don't think about that no yeah the moment you die yes your next conscient thought is the second coming of christ so when you think that way some of the hard texts in scripture make sense and and we are and we can reconcile those with many clear texts in scripture that say that dead people are resting yes we had a memorial service at fresno central back a few years ago one of our members sam hall passed away and he was like us like a dad to gina loggie one of our other members the head of our finance committee and and uh so gene gave this little test away he says i miss sam a lot and he says and when i see him in the resurrection i'm going to tell him man sammy i missed you so much and sam's going to say what do you mean yeah yeah and so the philippians 4 tells us to rejoice in the lord always [Music] again i say rejoice don't be anxious about anything the word of god is true amen he has provided for us he's given us instructions and he's given us a view of the future so we can know what happens in the end and so we too like the apostle john can exhale we can be at peace we can rest friends we offer you through christ this same rest god bless you hope you have a wonderful sabbath we'll see you next time [Music] again we are so glad that you joined us today would you now buy your heads with me as together we beseech our father in heaven father god we thank you and we praise you so very much for the privilege that we have of worship we know that worship brings us closer to you worship is our formal audience with you you have promised to be with us when we worship you and praise your name so we thank you father for being the honored guest in our services here today we ask dear lord that you would bless everything that appertains to this portion of the service may we see your face may we hear your voice may our lives be encouraged and enriched as we walk with you and talk with you and meditate upon you and worship you in spirit and in truth forgive us of our sins be the honored guest we do pray and in a special way be the one who serves the food the spiritual food that we shall consume and we thank you for hearing and for answering the prayer of faith in jesus name amen and amen hello boys and girls it's auntie carolyn and today we're going to learn about foosa foosas are cat-like they're from madagascar and from their nose to their tail they're about five feet long and can get to be about 13 pounds they're cat-like they like to catch chickens and different kinds of little animals they're just as comfortable up in the trees as they are on the ground now the thing about them is you cannot tell the boys from the girls they all look the same they have the same round face rounded ears body ropey tail they look exactly the same you know sometimes christians are like that too you can't tell the difference between the ones that love jesus and the ones that don't they live their lives they do all the things that are right and they pretend like they're part of the christian family but they really aren't they do things they think will help them get to heaven or they make choices that they think will help them to fit in with a certain group but we all know that we need to live our lives according to jesus and according to the bible and like the fusa where you can't tell their gender you don't know if it's a boy or girl we need to learn to be good christians we don't want to be fake christians the bible tells us that we will know the fruits of their labor so eventually these people are not going to be able to keep up their falsehoodness and we're going to learn that there really aren't following what jesus wants us to follow and they're not following the bible they're being fake and we don't want to be that kind of a person we want to be a true christian the way to do that boys and girls is ask jesus every day to help lead us help us to do what is right we don't want to be like the foosa we want people to know that we're real christians and we want our acts to show and reflect the love of jesus and the only way we can do that boys and girls is to have jesus come into our lives and ask him every single day now let's say a little prayer dear heavenly father we ask that you teach us the right way we ask that we will invite you into our hearts and that we will be true christians and not be like the foosa we want to be like you jesus and walk the walk and talk the talk and be the person we need to be help us to do this on a daily basis jesus help us every single day we ask these things in your name amen today's scripture reading is found in john chapter 4 verses 13 and 14. jesus answered and said to her whoever drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that i shall give him will never thirst but the water that i shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life may the lord add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his word [Music] as water to the thirsty as beauty to the eyes as strength that follows weakness as truth instead of lies [Music] so is my lord my living lord so is my [Music] like peace that follows pain like meeting after partying like sunshine after [Music] so is my lord my living lord so is my lord to me ease peace down from the father above [Music] [Applause] belongs of love so is my life my living lord is some tv is a worldwide christian ministry providing christ-centered programs with clarity and power on topics such as bible prophecy in time events bible interpretation tips for helpful living cooking demonstrations and much more our programs provide practical counsel for daily life and assurance and these uncertain times download the free some tv app or watch online at summtv.org you will be blessed again we bid you good morning and wish for your happy and blessed sabbath the title of our message today is muddy waters muddy waters it springs from the scripture lesson which was read for you just a little bit ago which of course was found in john chapter 4. now in that particular scripture passage christ tells the woman at the samaritan well he explains to her the beauty of living water which he had provided and was about to provide for her so our our discussion this morning is the antithesis of living water it deals with muddy water which is something that satan is casting up or stirring up or churning up in these last days and so we want you to turn with us to revelation chapter 12 verse 12 and i want you to put your finger there because we will also look at isaiah chapter 57 and verse 20. so first we'll deal with revelation 12 12 revelation 12 and 12 and then we'll jump back to the old testament and look at isaiah chapter 57 and verse 20. before we open god's word and read god's word would you pray with me as together we seek god's guidance and a desire to hear his voice dear father again we praise you and thank you for your word which is a lamp into our feet a light on the path before us help us now to see those things that you would have us to see to know and understand those things that you would have us to understand as we prepare ourselves for the coming of our lord and savior jesus christ father we want to hear we want to know we want to do and we thank you for your promise to answer the prayer of faith in jesus name amen revelation 12 and we will consider verse 12. the word of god says i'm reading from the new king james therefore rejoice o heavens and you who dwell in them woe to the inhabitants of the earth for the and of the sea rather for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time we go back now to isaiah chapter 57 isaiah 57 and we want to consider verse 20. isaiah 57 here we are and verse 20. the bible says but the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt thus the title of our message muddy waters ellen white informs us that among other things satan is an astute student of scripture he knows scripture extremely well not only has he studied scripture he is intimately acquainted with its author or authors being so familiar with the powers and personages that author undergird the holy word of god satan knows he is keenly aware that every word every single word in the bible is true and that everything predicted in the bible from from the greatest most expansive prophecy down to the smallest prophetic nuance and everything in between he knows will come to pass precisely as is indicated and articulated and anticipated in the word of god satan knows well the father he knows the son he is acquainted with the holy spirit he used to live with them he used to fellowship among them so he is intimately acquainted with the powers and personages of heaven and i rather doubt if even after a span of time approaching 7 000 years he is not unfamiliar or that period of time has done very little i'd rather say to erase or diminish those indelible memories of his time of his fellowship as lucifer the covering cherub as he basked in the glow and glory in the very seat of the government of god so he knows what heaven is all about he knows how heaven functions but if truth be told those days can be but a faint rumor uh and as an obscure memory as through the centuries and millennia of lies and the assassination of the character of god in christ the subsequent alienation from god of over one-third of the angelic host and of course the embezzlement of the authority granted to adam and eve the murder of countless billions of souls from abel to this very moment and ultimately the assassination of the king of kings and lord of lords so in this time satan remembers these things he was responsible for these things as soon as he had a chance he took his vengeance out on the lord jesus ellen white says that after he was cast out of heaven he sought reinstatement i think this is rather interesting he wanted to get back he was horrified at what he had done and he asked for a meeting with jesus christ he requested and received a meeting with the lord ellen white says that christ wept at satan's woe he wept at the pitiful condition in which satan was finding himself but that he could never be received back into heaven the seeds of rebellion she says were still in him he was sorry for the plight that he was now in he was sorry for the wreckage he had made of his life he was sorry that he could no longer fellowship with the angels and be in heavenly society but he was not sorry for the sin ellen white says the seeds of rebellion were still in him and heaven could not be placed in that kind of jeopardy heaven could not take the risk in bringing him back and have him re-incite insurrection because his heart was not changed here's a quote listen to this ellen white says and this is found in the in the book story of redemption page 27 when satan became fully convinced that there was no possibility of his being reinstated in the favor of god he manifested his malice with increased hatred and fiery vehemence in other words when he saw he couldn't get back in when he saw that his tears and sham sorrow were not going to avail and that he was not going to be allowed back into heaven then his true character his true nature showed and his true colors were evidenced in john chapter 8 verse 24 you know the text well john 8 44 we find the bible telling us that he was a murderer from the beginning well this was that beginning this is how it all started and ever since he has been a liar a destroyer and a murderer and so satan has always had one eye on the cross one eye on the clock one eye on the calendar i guess that would give him three eyes so we've got to say he's he's switching back and forth but you get my point he's looking at the clock he's looking at the calendar he is aware of the times in which he finds himself he is more acutely aware of these days than even we are he knows as the bible rightly says his time is short satan is keenly aware that his lot his life his lineage cannot go on forever god is going to call it quits on sin and sinners and he is the chief among those so he is aware of these various dates in time satan is aware of 457 bc satan is aware of 4 bc he is aware of 34 a.d he is aware of 70 a.d he is keenly and was keenly aware of 1844 he was aware of 1798. he was aware of 1888 he is aware of the prophetic significance of all of those dates and there is one more cosmically important date that he is aware of now he doesn't know we don't know precisely when it will be we don't know precisely when christ will return but this we do know his coming is soon even at the door and even if the laodicean church is drowsy even if the laodicean church is sleepy and somewhat hazy about the lateness of the hour i assure you i guarantee you satan is not and so he works with all lying and deceiving wonders because he knows says the word of god that his time is short i pray every day that i will be aware of the lateness of the time and i pray that for you too that you will not be overcharged over concerned with the day-to-day cares of this world to the neglect of the fact that this world is not long to be it will not be around much longer for jesus is coming soon and very soon so satan now begins his assault on the latter day church terrorism he used in the early days death he used in the early days we think about the diocletian persecutions the persecutions under nero for many many centuries indeed the four uh four plus centuries that he tried to destroy the church through terror and terrorism and death and torture then he tried syncretism trying to blend the church with the world he tried death for the next almost 1300 years and then as he saw that christ was about to enter a new phase of his ministry he adopted a brand new tactic i want you to follow me here satan tried the dark ages satan tried torture satan tried the counter-reformation satan tried the inquisition satan tried uniting church with state and the church's ability to stomp out through force through coercion through death everyone that did not agree with the church and he found out it just didn't work god has always had has now always will have a faithful people so after many many centuries of trying to drown the church in an ocean of blood he decided to inundate uh the world uh inundate the church is what i want to say with the world he brought into existence a veritable plague of air such religious ideologies that drew the minds and hearts and peop of people away from the faith in jesus christ so what he could not destroy through torture and terror through the dark and middle ages as we came into the enlightenment as we came into the time when the deadly wound was administered to the beast we're talking about 1798 and uh the uh capture of the of the pope as we got closer and closer to the time when christ was to do his work and to move from the holy place ministry to the ministry in the most holy place in the middle of the 19th century satan changed radically his tactics and began to use other means and methodologies to distract the people of god to distract those who would become the people of god to distract those who would want to follow god to move their minds into other directions and to throw up as it were this cloud of dirt this muck this mire this muddy water that in many instances seemed like the clear and true water but it was not it was a ruse it was uh a mirage it was muddy water that satan was feeding the people with you had the birth of bible and temperance societies in the 1800s you had a missionary movement you had the second great awakening along with an understanding that something stupendous was about to happen mankind was agitated they could feel that something was about to happen in heaven something indeed was happening christ was preparing to go into the day of atonement ministry for the world moving from the holy place to the most holy place and the world could feel it there was something in the air as it were people like joseph wolf in europe people like manuel de la cumsa also called one uh in south america william miller a gentleman farmer in upstate new york and many many others across the world were impressed with the understanding the notion the idea that something big and stupendous was happening that would affect the whole world large segments of western of the western world were convicted through bible study that the world was at midnight the millerites the early sabbatarians adopted this story from matthew chapter 25 uh concerning the foolish and wise versions and that was one of the foundation texts that the millerites used and the early adventists used in their understanding of what christ wanted from the church and what the church owed its lord and savior and what it was about to do and should be doing in the cause of christ the story not only was uh parallel to the times in which they were living but also a message that they were called of god to bear to the world they saw their role that is the millerites and the early adventists they saw their role as heralds of an 11th hour message to be giving given with power prior to the second coming of our lord at midnight behold the bride groom cometh was the watchword for god's people in those early advent days this passage along with a scripture that found its way into the masthead of virtually every seventh-day adventist paper periodical official publication to well into the 20th century was the watch word for the day i'm talking about revelation chapter 14 and verse 12. the bible says here is the patience of the saints here are they who keep the commandments of god and the faith of jesus the niv translate that uh faithful to jesus and many other translations i say one two three four five six seven eight nine translated faith in jesus but suffice it to say god's people were convicted with the idea with the notion with the understanding that god's people had a work to do that they had to hold on and to hold fast and to hold on tight to the word of god and the faith of jesus and keep the commandments of god so that they would be right with god and ready to preach the gospel to a dying world but i should like us to see something and i want us to take just a minute as we move through this because the enemy was prepping the world for rejection of this word of god because more than any human satan understood and i daresay understands the gravitas the seriousness of the times in which we find ourselves he knew what was going to happen in october of 1844 and though the early millerites the early sabbatarians the adventists didn't have it precisely right they knew that something big was about to happen the sanctuary was about to be cleansed and we were moving into the antitypical day of atonement and so the best way to draw for you a mental picture to put in mind what was going to happen or what was happening um you take a village or town and of course over the last couple of weeks we have had many many uh natural disasters the river overflows or perhaps a hurricane comes through or a tornado or a tsunami and it brings with it of course a overflowing of mud and mire everything is covered with mud such that you cannot discern i was looking at some pictures of what happened in new orleans just a few days ago and watching people shovel out mud and furniture and other ruined things from their their houses everything covered with mud and distorted by the mud what is fascinating brothers and sisters is to see how many of these latter-day distortions if not delusions had their beginning in the decades surrounding 1844. now what we're going to go on to is try to is try to show you how satan churned up mud and mire and dirt when he knew that christ was about to begin a very special work it is no accident it is no accident that these societies and institutions and airsoft's religions had their beginning their flowering in the 10 years either side for the most part of 1844 that's 10 years before 10 years or so after many many many many religions ideologies were formulated and came to the fore during these days surrounding 1844. i want you to follow this pattern because this is very very very interesting it is not coincidence that these religions had their beginning their inception their their birth about the same time as god was doing something special in heaven and erecting a latter-day church the adventist church in 1844 millerites moving into adventism of course we got our our our actual name in the early 1860s so let's look at a couple things now depending on what historian you reference they will say or you will find rather that about 1 in 17 on the high side was either millerite outright closet millerite that is they believed the millerite teachings but wouldn't acknowledge it or had millerite leanings about 1 in 17 depending on the um the the historian that you listen to you may get numbers 1 and 20 1 and 25 maybe even 1 in 50 but many historians will tell you one in 17. then of course along comes satan and here comes the mud slinging so what tricks was satan up to during these times i'm talking about about mid-century 10 years plus 1844 10 years minus 1844. well the first was the utopian movements the utopian movements these were man-made attempts to create paradise or perfection on earth charles finney the millennialist and lyman beecher a presbyterian preacher while they believed that god was going to create a millennium before the coming of christ that there would be a thousand years of peace and tranquility before the coming of christ and they preached that there would be a millennial of peace then the second coming there were others who were not ready to wait for that they wanted to engineer a time of peace to engineer the millennium of peace and so through utopian societies as we mentioned transcendental retreats fourierism which is a phalanx movement and we'll talk about that in just a moment spiritualism we'll deal with that uh in just a moment marxism socialism evolution and other kinds of theories man tried mankind attempted tried to engineer a millennium apart from god and my point is it was no accident that these societies these ideologies all had their flowering in the mid 1800s middle of the 19th century about the time that christ was moving into the most holy ministry the most holy place ministry and starting the seventh-day adventist church further proof can be seen in the fact that no less than 80 8-0 utopian societies sprang into existence in the 1840s alone from 1839 till about 1850 1851 80 groups were formed that were utopian societies that dropped out of the larger societal context and tried to start a heavenly society on their own sometimes with many times without the help of god some had religious underpinnings many were purely secular many were characterized by a loose interpretation of the commandments of god particularly commandment number seven now i'm saying again these were man-made attempts to create heaven on earth and most of them had their start in and around 1844. do you think that's an accident i think not i think this was a deliberate plan plot ploy by satan to distract men's minds and keep them away from what god was doing in heaven i hope you're following me as i said before many were characterized by a loose interpretation of the commandments particularly commandment number seven any two consenting adults and this was characteristic of most of the utopian societies any two consenting adults could cohabit and all things were held in common including spouses so my spouse was your spouse your spouse was my spouse uh we held all things in common including our husbands and our wise now for those who are somewhat less hedonistic and more spiritually inclined an impressive number of religions began each having its own prophet or leader and to the untrained eye these look pretty much like what the adventists were doing coincidence i think not let's take a look uh let's see anna lee began the shakers in 1758 now that's a little early but the shaker movement really took off about 1840. mary baker eddy began christian science um about the same time now it's interesting mary baker eddy is contemporaneous with ellen g white mary baker eddie lived 1821 to 1910. ellen white lived 1827 to 1915. the smithsonian magazine named maker mary baker eddie one of the most in one of the 100 most influential americans of all time isn't that interesting she was named one of the 100 most significant is the term they used significant americans of all time uh thankfully they got it right uh on the second try they also put ellen white in that group as one of the most uh one of the 100 most significant uh americans of all time joseph smith and the latter-day saints about the same time period catherine booth started the salvation army about this same time period and of course you realize the salvation army is a religion phoebe palmer 1837 began the holiness movement charles russell a bible student a bible student movement after three schisms the bible student movement became the jehovah's witnesses again about the same time it had its beginning all of these movements which paralleled and looked like what the adventists were doing do you think that was a coincidence i think not i think it was a plan of the enemy so the religious landscape was dotted and pot marked with new and novel religions as satan modeled these religions after what god was doing in the advent movement i say again he was churning up muddy water 2 thessalonians 2 tells us that the second coming of the lord would not come without there being a great apostasy and i do not think it does violence to the text to stretch that preaching to deal with the falling away that was happening in this time before christ and while christ was beginning to move from the holy place into the holy of holies satan used many many tricks and deceptions to usurp the rightful prerogatives of god and during those days when satan's principle operative was convalescing after the deadly wound now you got to think your way through there but i hope you're getting that um in february of 1798 that deadly room was delivered to the catholic church we know that story spoken of in the bible and fulfilled in prophetic order these religions or air such religions or false religions sprang up like rabbits in the 1800s it's like that commercial i've fallen i can't get up ten thousand trapped in the mud of error and in the days of the deadly wound satan brought his error to protestant faith also along with the heir as promulgated by the catholic church but satan was not done he moved into secular society you see the world was in a a tizzy if i can use that terminology confused and confusion being heaped upon confusion so that people did not really know where to turn they wanted to be spiritual but satan gave them false food muddy water instead of the true living water that christ wanted to offer them we look at some of these secular utopian societies i'll name just a few but they were characteristic of what was going on all over the country the old economy village in pennsylvania when did it begin 1824. the noshoba society in tennessee was started by freed or ex-slaves when did it begin 1825. the new harmony society in indiana when did it begin 1825 the new philadelphia society again in pennsylvania when did it begin 1832 the oberlin colony in ohio when did it begin 1833 the brook farms society in massachusetts when did it begin 1841. the north american phalanx movement also called the fourierist movement it was a secular utopian socialist godless society it had branches in michigan new york massachusetts ohio pennsylvania indiana new jersey kansas and wisconsin now what was a phalanx p-h-a-l-a-n society phalanx is the name of a large house sometimes one story sometimes two stories very large house very long house almost looking like a reminding you of a an indian longhouse people in these societies all lived in these houses they all lived together everybody in this one house they took their meals together they had different assignments for men and for women but everybody lived together they dropped out of society and they tried to make what they thought was a perfect world living together breaking the commandments following the dictates of satan in the name of being free the movement was named after charles fourier a french philosopher from the 1700s now this this highlights my problem with philosophy most of the great philosophers the well-known philosophers were godless people they didn't believe in god they didn't accept the word of god the will of god they certainly didn't follow the dictates of god and it is interesting that psychology and philosophy were the same science up until the late 1800s when psychology came out of philosophy but the vast majority of the early psychologists were also godless indepe individuals they were atheists or agnostic but they certainly did not follow or surrender their lives to god which is why i have a problem with psychology not necessarily psychiatry but psychology because it began in a godless soup dare i say it began with men and some women who did not believe in god now that doesn't mean that all psychologists are bad doesn't mean that psychiatrists certainly are not bad but it does mean that the underpinnings for that belief system for that science uh were godless in their origin and in their affect the elite upper classes were not to be left out either satan dealt with the lower classes he also dealt with the elite classes for the thinkers the intellectuals satan had transcendentalism which began and we don't have time to explain the whole understanding of transcendentalism and transcendental thought but it began in new england what was the year 1836. you see i'm everything is 10 years before or 10 years after or in the time around when christ is going to do his great work in the sanctuary all of these other distractions are being proffered to the world by satan it numbered among its proponents and adherents a who's who of 19th century intellectual elite first it was a unitarian minister former unitarian minister ralph waldo emerson he goes off into transcendentalism margaret fuller henry david thoreau theodore parker an abolitionist william ellery channing godfather of uh whose godfather was a signer of the declaration of independence so we see the the lineage there the unitarian movement began again in the 1850s it died out shortly thereafter but it set the stage for the unitarian universalist church christian modernism and the new age church again the point i'm trying to press here is that these ideologies these belief systems all began in and around 10 years or so before 18-44 10 years or so after 1844 when christ was doing a great work for his people satan was doing an energetic and evil work on earth to keep people's minds away from and estranged to the pure word of god satan was churning up isaiah says muddy water to counteract the pure living water that christ was offering his people the german philosopher frederick engel a socialist met the german philosopher karl marx a socialist when did this meeting first take place 1840. do you think that was a coincidence i think not together engel and marx wrote the communist manifesto when was that published 1848. you see it's it's no coincidence that all of these happenings all of these events are circling around 1844. marx became a communist in 1842 the atlantic was founded in 1857. its founders were a literal who's who of liberal american thought here we go again ralph waldo emerson harriet beecher stowe who wrote uncle tom's kevin the second most important and the second most published and the second most popular book in the entire century of the 1800s the 19th century second only to the most popular book in the 1800s that 19th century and that of course was uh louis wallace's ben hur published interestingly enough 1888. the atlantic again henry walters longfellow john greenleaf whittier oliver wendell holmes uh francis h underwood moses dresser phillips if you if you know literature if you know publishing if you know the arts particularly the written arts these these names loom very very large today the atlantic deals with news politics culture technology and health but in its beginning it was a liberal paper that embraced many of these ideologies and many of these thoughts 1847 to 1848 we go to rochester new york just outside of rochester new york in a town called hydesville two sisters maggie fox her name actually is marietti marietta and katie fox whose full name is katherine margaretta and katherine fox in hudsville new york near rochester we see the birth 1848 of modern spiritualism its birth was in rochester new york its adolescence was nourished during these years by the likes of the teaching of franz anton mesmer now you might have heard of mesmerism akin to spiritualism mesmer was an 18th century healer from austria he lived in the 1700s but when did his doctrine actually reach the united states and take hold the 1840s mesmer proposed that everything in the universe including the human body was governed by magnetic forces and a magnetic field this field could become unbalanced causing illness now this this doctrine this idea sat around for about a hundred years almost 100 years but for some reason and we know the reason it was in satan's plan it took hold and caught fire in the 1840s mesmer said by waving his hand over the human body he could mesmerize or hypnotize the person putting them into a state allowing him to manipulate the magnetic force and restore health 75 years after he came up with this idea it came to the united states the swedish mystic emanuel swedenberg was becoming popular and again he picked up mesmer's ideas and began to float them then along comes andrew jackson davis who became known as the john the baptist of modern spiritualism he combined mesmerism and spiritualism he put those theories as it were in a blender and published his work what's the year 1847. you see the pattern you see satan's movements we're taking the the big picture the as they say the 34 000 foot view he that is andrew jackson davis he brought maggie and katie fox to new york city he brought them to broadway which at that time was maiden name is way down the south end the southern tip of of manhattan even below wall street he brought them to new york city and had them perform before the likes of horus greeley william cullen bryant william lloyd garrison james fennimore cooper who wrote last of the mohicans men of letters and learning publishers and abolitionists the wrappings spelled out now this is interesting this is very interesting hope my time allows me to go through some of this he he brought them to this big theater he brought all these men to this theater and had the girls i'll use the term perform for these men of power men of learning men of letters these were newspaper publishers and and magnets of society and industry so of course working or doing their thing before these men would get their names out that's why spiritualism took off because um davis brought maggie and katie before these men of influence and power and it was these men who spread their wrappings and their spiritualistic ideologies so we had these two girls perform before these men and he had them listen to the spirit who wrapped out a message and here is what the message said spiritualism will work miracles in the cause of reform so these men thought that spiritualism was the answer to the ills of society when actually spiritualism was just a churning up of muddy water in the face of christ who was doing a great work in heaven at the time when god's people should have been turning to him with great power and great enthusiasm and with humility satan was tossing up churning up muddy water to confuse and discourage those who would be followers of christ i wish i had time to talk to you about louis b reynolds and the civil war and how the north and south were fighting and uh ellen white tells us that generals in the north generals in the south were actually listening to the spirits uh and demons who they thought were the spirits of revolutionary soldiers and taking directions from them you want to do an interesting and interesting study look at the death tolls of the battles for the north and for the south these are days when you didn't have smart bombs and you didn't have airplanes and you didn't have the rapid fire assault rifles that we have now the guns were much simpler you had revolvers you had guns that had to be reloaded constantly and yet you would have 20 30 40 000 50 people dying in a day in a single battle and i often wonder how could that be it's because satan rejoices ellen white says in loss of life men were communicating with spirits spirits and satan is a murderer a liar from the beginning there was a horrendous loss of life much more than could be supported by the uh population at that time the notes that i have what i looked up was 750 000 deaths out of a total population of 31 million so the you got 31 million people in the united states 750 000 of that 30 min 31 million died in the civil war so if that war was fought today with our population of 310 million last census the equivalent death toll would be 6.2 million people that's a horrendous death toll ellen white says this about satan and war she says satan delights in war because he loves to see men mowed down this is a quote like grass because satan knows people will do horrendous things in war they they wouldn't do in peace time i'll give you some numbers uh the revolutionary war 4435 war of 1812 2260 mexican-american war 1733 world war one 53 402 world war ii 291 557 these are people who died in combat or from wounds received in combat were not talking about the collateral damage those that died in the gas houses and prisons and extermination camps were talking about people who actually died in the war the numbers are horrendous vietnam 47 434. the civil war totals 140 414 in the north 74 524 in the south total 214 938 individuals dying in the civil war instigated by satan and encouraged by satan you you want to read an interesting interesting book read we have tomorrow i've talked about it before written by louis b reynolds gives you some background to the civil war read uh j n lothbros comments where where he listens to the governor of kansas who who concurs with the fact that after lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation the war the north never lost another major battle because god was bringing the war to an end because the war was god's statement against slavery in the south and the profiteering on slavery that was being done in the north the point i'm bringing is that satan is not asleep he has never been asleep and he was aware of the times and he was aware that christ was moving into the anatypical day of atonement he was aware that christ was beginning a special phase of ministry for his people and like the typical day of atonement back in israel at the end of that day sin would be dealt with those who are not saved would be cut off and satan tried as best he could to destroy as many lives as he could at the beginning of that ministry he is doing the same now and he will continue to take lives right up until the time that he is stopped and god's people are sealed and saved again satan loves war finally december 1831 a ship named hms beagle left england on a five-year mission a naturalist by the name of charles darwin then only 22 years old wrote down his thoughts and observations in the early 1850s they were published in a book called you know it well origin of the species men immediately began to say finally we've got god out of the picture one famous writer said we've escaped from god what is interesting is that molecular biologists and physicists dr michael denton who's written in a number of books wrote a book that i read many years ago it's been out for many years called evolution a theory in crisis dr denton says the popular theory of darwin as confident and secure in his beliefs is a travesty listen to this indeed by the time the last edition of origin was published in 1872 there were five darwin was plagued with regrets and self-doubt because of the holes in his own theory and his inability to answer the questions darwinism evolution perhaps one of satan's most powerful attacks on the word of god and the truth of god and the bible of god the person who began the theory didn't believe it himself what is interesting if you look at the life of the fox sisters you find after a while they didn't believe it i think it was margherita actually reputed that there ever were wrappings so satan's kingdom began to fall apart even then my point is this my brothers my sisters all of this muddy water was and is an attempt to dissuade you to discourage you to distract you from the word of god and the awareness of the times in which we are finding ourselves the bible begs us don't be so overcharged don't be so overwrought with the cares of this world with the viruses of this world with the calamities of this world that you forget about the times in which we find ourselves we not we need not be deceived we need not be discouraged we need not be distracted we must be aware of the times in which we live we must be keenly aware that christ is coming soon and that we as children of god must do all we can when we can while we can to hasten the coming of the lord in all the world christ is coming soon but how sad it would be for you not to be ready for that grand and glorious day and for you not to get as many as possible ready to meet the lord when he comes there is so much muddy water in the world today muddy water on the internet muddy water on the television muddy water on the radio but we as god's people must drink from the pure and living water that christ offered to the woman at the well and that christ offers to each and every one of us we can drink and be refreshed and never ever thirst again that is god's promise to you that is god's promise to me that is god's promise to all of the children for whom christ has died and who ministers even now for us in the kingdom of god hold on to jesus and soon and very soon he will come to take us home god bless you sing with us hymn number 213 jesus is coming again lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring jesus is coming again cheer up your pilgrims be joyful and sing jesus is coming again coming again coming again jesus is coming again echo with hilltops proclaim it he plains jesus is coming again [Music] jesus is coming again coming again coming again jesus is coming again nations are angry by this [Applause] [Music] jesus is [Music] jesus is coming again [Music] shall we pray dear father again we praise you and thank you for a wonderful worship experience we thank you for your word which is a lamp unto our feet a light unto our path we thank thee that though there is so much murky and muddy water uh being strewn about being churned up all over the world there is still the pure living water of the gospel your people can drink and be refreshed and be encouraged and we ask their father that you would help us to cut through as it were the noise of this world and see and hear the words of christ help us lord to follow you not to be distracted by the cares of this world and the tricks of the enemy help us to focus on you and through all of the trauma and drama that this world has to offer help us to rest relax and repose in christ jesus knowing fully that christ will one day save his people and we want to be in that number so bless us dear father to not only hear these words but to do them for it is in the doing that we are made like christ jesus and we thank you dear father in jesus name amen and amen [Music] you

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Length: 118min 30sec (7110 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 24 2021