Pagan Christianity Fulfilling Prophecy | Mark Finley (Sermon)

three square sailed ships were blown by atlantic breezes on a storm tour sea now at times the journey was rough and these sailors wondered whether they would make it to their destination or they would perish at the sea for five weeks these small vessels the nina the pinta and the santa maria traveled in unknown uncharted sea but the captain was sure the voyage would be successful because it was a well well-used bible in the captain's cabin that he had read and it guided his spiritual life on this epic journey the captain's name you guessed it christopher columbus the date was august 3 14 92. now in his journal columbus wrote these words it was the lord who put it into my mind i could feel his hand upon me the fact that it would be possible to sail from here that spain to the indies all who heard of my project rejected it with laughter ridiculing me there is no question that the inspiration from the holy spirit because he comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the holy scriptures i said i'd state my reasons now he said here's my reasons why i left spain and headed for what he believed to be india now he bumped into a continent on the way called that was eventually named america he thought he landed in india so he called the people here what indians but here's what columbus said i stated my reasons for the journey i hold alone to the sacred scriptures and holy script the sacred and holy scriptures and to the interpretation of prophecy given by certain devout persons columbus was a student of prophecy and the book of daniel really intrigued columbus as he studied the book of daniel particularly prophecies like daniel chapter 2 that talked about babylon media persia greece and rome columbus compared those prophecies to history he saw that the european nations were divided and he recognized that the stone was going to smite the image and so he then as he compared daniel 2 and daniel 7 daniel 8 he believed that christ was coming and was going to come soon columbus also read matthew chapter 24 and he came to the conclusion that as he read matthew 24 14 that this gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all the nations as a witness then the end would come and so columbus thought if there are those in the world that don't know about the coming of jesus and have never accepted christ that delays christ coming so he set out on a journey because he had heard of india that had not yet heard of the gospel he understood he knew it was a hindu nation so he set out as he set out he discovered america little did he know that the american continent would become a beacon of religious liberty his journey to the new world open up an entire continent that would be a bastion of religious and political freedom it would become a government for the people by the people and of the people it would be have the ideal of liberty and justice now although america has not always lived up to that ideal that ideal has been part of its founding it's part of the very foundation of this society the statue of liberty in new york harbor with her beacon of light held high states it well in the words of emma lazarus when she writes give me your tired your poor your huddled masses yearning to be free the wretched refuse of your teeming shore send these homeless tempest toss to me i lift up my hand beside the golden door so america has been fueled by the desire to be a nation that championed political and religious freedom religious liberty has been called america's first liberty because freedom of the mind is logically and philosophically prior to all other freedoms protected by the constitution i remember a number of years ago i was holding evangelistic meetings in the olympic stadium in moscow just after billy graham had held his meetings and during that time the russian parliament voted about 219 to 14 to restrict religious freedom there was a meeting of all the churches in russia the baptists the pentecostals the adventists the uh orthodox did not participate in that meeting because the idea was to be russian was to be orthodox and so in that meeting the baptists were really concerned the adventists were concerned the methodists were concerned and they said look if this proposal that has been voted in parliament passes we will be severely restricted and so they said we've got a debate so the churches in russia came to the adventist and they said pastor finley is here we want him to go on national television and debate the sponsor of this bill who's a brilliant uh a brilliant uh congressman that they would call in their parliament i did not want to enter into that debate at all but we did over national television and i will never forget his opening line he came on loaded i mean he was loaded and he looked at me and he said you're from the united states aren't you i said yes sir i said but i you need to know i don't represent the united states i represent jesus and there are more adventists in other parts of the world than there are in america but he said you and your country don't have freedom he said there are only five basic human rights we have them all and you don't have any number one the right to housing you have homeless people we have none in this country the government provides homeless secondly the right to health care you charge people we don't we give it to them free third the right to education we give all of our people education free you charge fourth the right to food we have nobody that's hungry here because we provide the food for them and fifth the right to job i just looked at your jobless rates mr feeling this is what you have but we provide all those for our people so don't talk to me about freedom that was his opening line i looked and i smiled i said that's an interesting approach and i would agree with you that governments have responsibility to provide for their people so we have no argument there but let me ask you a question are there any other freedoms freedom of the mind freedom of the soul and the difference sir between you and me is this you think the russian people are ignorant and i think they're intelligent he don't like that very much he said what do you mean i said you believe that the government has to make all the rights for their religion i believe that god has given every human being the freedom and they can either choose to be religious or not jews and the government has no right to legislate that when columbus discovered america he had no idea that this nation would be a nation of religious freedom in fact religious liberty freedom of the mind is logically and philosophically the foundation for all other freedoms because if you take away the freedom of mind and thought you take away other freedoms now religious liberty how do you define that it's the freedom to believe and exercise or act upon religious convictions without interference from the government just as religious liberty involves the freedom to practice religion it also involves the freedom not to practice religion because if you can't say no your yes is meaningless now the guiding principles to support this definition are found in article 6 of the constitution and the opening words of the first amendment article 6 of the constitution concludes with these words no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the united states see with this one bold stroke the framers of the constitution preserved religious freedom and of course the first amendment religious liberty cause that that concludes with or that begins with congress shall make no law you know it respecting an establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof now taking together these two causes congress to make no law that uh respects the establishment of religion or the free exercise thereof those two causes actually protect religious freedom these principles of religious liberty are woven into the very fabric the very fabric of american life they've guided us from our very inception but it leads us to ask some very thought-provoking questions some very serious questions one will liberty in this country ever fade away like a fading sunset will church and state ever unite in america will they ever unite to enforce religious tenets of one set of beliefs over another will civil unrest lead to the restriction of some of our first amendment rights the first amendment allows peaceable assembly but what if peaceable assembly turns to riots in portland oregon what if it turns to riots in seattle washington might those first amendment rights of peaceable assembly because of the abuse of that be restricted will hate speech which all christians reject and condemn be so narrowly defined that it restricts prophetic proclamation that identifies the beast power in revelation 13. could that be considered by some as hate speech could it be possible that at a time of natural disasters economic upheaval civil unrest political divisiveness and international uncertainty that religious leaders unite to save society from impending disaster and to preserve the social order and a common day of rest namely sunday becomes the vehicle for unity just like it was in the days of the ancient roman empire are those things even remotely possible if this society is headed down a course where church and state unite to restrict religious freedom don't you think that that would be outlined in scripture and don't you think it'd be wise for god's people to understand what's coming and prepare for it the book of revelation has 11 chapters that describe the coming crisis the first chapter of the book of revelation reveals jesus in all his fullness and beauty chapters 2 to chapter 11 in revelation describe the march of the church and the opposition against it down through the centuries but when you come to chapter 12 from chapter 12 to chapter 22 11 chapters in the book of revelation you have a discussion by john of the visions that god gave to him that talk about final events in earth's history the bible's last book revelation describes an amazing church state union and the restriction of religious freedoms just before the coming of jesus but it also describes the ultimate triumph of god's end time people in christ's victory over evil here is incredibly good news the beast will not win jesus will the evil powers of earth will not win jesus will christ will triumph over the principalities and powers of hell jesus will return in blazing glory to deliver his people and babylon representing the forces of evil representing the union of church and state will crumble like a sand castle beneath the waves we are a people of hope because we know how the story ends but the end of the story is not the whole story don't miss it we are a people of hope because we know how the story ends but the end of the story is not the whole story before the coming of jesus god's people will go through a time of tribulation a time of challenge a time of difficulty in scripture it's called the time of trouble some have called it tribulation but never think we have to go through this time alone never think that it's our strength that gets us through the final events jesus is there to support to strengthen to sustain us i want to spend some time this morning studying these last day events with you and if you have your bible please take it and turn to revelation the 17th chapter although we will look briefly at chapter 12 and 13 the focus of our attention will be revelation 17. it's imperative that we know what is coming so that by the grace of god and through his power we can prepare for it so i invite you to take your bibles and turn to revelation 17. if you don't have a bible you can certainly look on the screen and we're going to look at verse is one through six i'll make a few comments on them and then we will study them in very careful detail revelation 17 1-6 then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me now what are the seven bowls the seven bowls have to do with the seven last plagues look at revelation 16 verse one then i heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels go and pour out the bowls of your wrath of god on the earth so john describes the seven last plagues that will come upon the earth as seven bowls of god's judgment when he introduces revelation 17 he says then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me so revelation 17 tells us what leads up to the seven last plagues and the climax of history within the plagues verse one then one of the seven angels who had seven bulls came and talked with me saying come out show you the judgment of the great harlot so here are the terms we have to study the great harlot the prostitute woman who who who leaves her true lover jesus she sits on many waters what does that mean with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication what's that all about in the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication what is that whine of her fornication so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and i saw a woman sitting on a scarlet colored beast who is this woman what is the beast which is full of names of blasphemy what's that all about having seven heads and ten horns what are these seven heads ten horns the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color white purple and scarlet color she was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication what's that and on her head a name was written mystery babylon the great why mystery babylon the great why is she the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth and i saw the woman drunk with the blood of saints obviously no religious liberty here she is drunk with the blood of saints and with the blood of martyrs of jesus when i saw her i marveled with amazement you would marvel too if you saw her wouldn't you now the description in these verses point us back to revelation chapter 12. so let's go back to revelation 12 and see if we can learn some insight into what these verses are all about revelation chapter 12 you're going to look there at verse 1. now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars now notice the contrast between these two women you have the woman in revelation 12 and the woman in revelation 17. the woman in revelation 12 is clothed with the son she's adorned with the glory of christ's righteousness the woman in revelation 17 is dressed in purple and scarlet garments she's adorned with human falsehood and tradition the pure woman in revelation 12 has a garland of 12 stars on her head what's that all about she's guided by the teachings of the apostles in her mission the scarlet woman in revelation 17 is adorned with gold precious stones and pearls she depends on her lavish wealth and outward adorning to impress and attract her followers the pure woman stands on the moon she derives her power from the prophetic word as the moon reflects the light of the sun so the old testament faintly reflects the glory of jesus in the old testament we see jesus revealed veiled in splendor in the new testament we see jesus revealed in glory the new testament church was based on the revelation of christ in the old testament but there his glory was veiled but when you come to the new testament jesus glory is revealed so here you have the picture of the new testament church rising she's guided by twelve apostles with the garland of twelve stars upon her head she is standing on the moon the glory of the old testament christ will be revealed in the new testament church she is clothed with white the righteousness of christ but the church in revelation 17 is dramatically different notice what she gets her authority from the scarlet woman in revelation 17 derives her power from the state or political powers she the church is riding upon the beast not only is she influenced by the state but she influences the state she gets her power authority from tradition from state powers from political alliances not the word of god the scarlet woman is identified by babylon by a name written on her forehead her followers have a mark in their foreheads it's called the mark of the beast and she sits on this beast the fowers of god bear mark on their foreheads it's called the seal of god the contrast between the pure woman of revelation 12 god's church and the fallen church of revelation chapter 17 could not be more clear the scarlet woman sits on a scarlet colored beast which has seven heads and ten horns now this is fascinating this is really fascinating so she's sitting on this scarlet colored beast that has seven heads to ten horns now in revelation 12 the dragon that attacks the woman also has seven heads and ten horns the dragon represents of course satan now in revelation chapter 13 the beast also has seven heads and ten horns so here's the point the dragon satan who attacks god's people in revelation 12 needs some allies to join with him so the beast from the sea and the beast from the land in revelation chapter 13 namely the papacy and false religion in america join with the dragon in a union of church and state with a quote apparent attempt to unite the social order under the auspices of the first day of the week and that's the picture of revelation 17. it's summarizing what has happened in revelation chapter 12. the scarlet woman see in revelation 17 symbolizes the religious component it symbolizes not only a single religion but all false religions uniting with the beast namely all political or state powers the whole is motivated and empowered by satan in his hatred against god and his people now did you notice in revelation chapter 17 something very quite interesting it talks about babylon now why babylon in revelation 17 why this expression babylon the mother of harlots on her forehead why is that there throughout scripture babylon represents the oppressor of god's people it's the citadel of era it's the center of apostasy it's the fortress of thoughts falsehood it stands for rebellion against god and disobedient to the divine commands god's judgments on old testament babylon represent his final judgments on the world now the story of babylon is very instructive to god's people do you remember in the book of daniel it talks about babylon attacking jerusalem and when nebuchadnezzar of babylon attacked jerusalem he took daniel and his friends captive in daniel chapter 3 there was a counterfeit image set up and a universal world ruler united church and state under the auspices of babylon so that god's people would be forced coerced or compelled to violate one of the commandments that said thou shalt not have any other gods before me first commandment thou shalt not worship any idol second commandment so the first and second commandments were a test question in the days of ancient babylon when church and state united so spiritual babylon also makes a test question namely the fourth commandment church and state are united again again god's people like shadrach meshach and abednego who went through the fiery furnace go through a time of trouble but once again jesus steps forth once again jesus protects his people once again jesus comes to deliver his people once again at the time of the end god's people like in the days of ancient babylon will be oppressed and persecuted now the book of revelation predicts that at a time of social chaos political crisis natural disasters and economic collapse jesus will return to triumph over the oppressive powers of the world and liberate his people he'll he'll reign eternally he'll establish his throne securely in the universe forever but in the battle for this throne god's people will pass through a time of trouble and then the earth will be illuminated with the glory of god and christ will come and we'll walk through the street through the gates of the city into the limitless space to worship in new jerusalem now revelation 17 verse 6 talks about that time of difficulty when religious liberty fades like the sun fading in the western sky bringing in darkness take your bible please and turn to revelation 17 verse 6. this is an expansion on revelation chapter 13. in revelation chapter 17 verse 6 it says i saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of martyrs of jesus and when i saw her i marveled with great amazement a universal death decree has been passed according to revelation 13 which we'll look at momentarily and so much blood of the martyrs has been shed that she is drunk with their slaughter and according to this verse revels like a drunkard now let me be very plain with you god does not allow his people to be play things of the devil just as in the dark ages the middle east medieval church united church and state just as that took place and the blood of the martyr's shed enabled the gospel to be spread so when an international decree has passed there will be some martyrdom but the only reason god allows that to happen is so that the testimony of our faith if we are called to martyrdom is a witness to others and they step out to follow christ once human probation closes and the decree goes forth he that is just let him be unjust still and he that is righteous let him be righteous still and the seven last plagues are poured out there is no more martyrdom because it would serve no ultimate purpose so god only allows the blood of martyrs to be shed if indeed in some way it goes for the furtherance of the gospel now revelation chapter 13 verse 15 to 17 describes this as well revelation 13 15 to 17 talks about that time when the woman rides upon the scarlet colored beast that time when religious liberty is taken away when god's people are oppressed revelation 13 verse 15 to 17. he was granted power to give breath or life to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak how now in the bible the beast represents a political power how do political powers speak how do they speak through their what through their laws so he was granted power to give life to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should speak that is to say that this political power influenced by the church the fallen church would speak that is would issue laws and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast be what killed and he causes all both small and great rich and poor free and bond free enslaved to receive a mark on their right hand or their foreheads that no man buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name so somebody says pass to mark i shake and tremble when i think of that time that nobody can buy or sell i shake and tremble when i think of that time of of religious liberty going because i don't know if i can make it the good news is you can't the better news is with jesus you can jesus does not give us the faith of martyrs until the time of martyrdom as we develop faith in jesus every day today as we trust him in the trials of life as we go through the challenges of life not in our own strength but as in jesus strength we are developing faith that will be intensified magnified enlarged in the time of difficulty so that in his strength and by his power we can go through now commenting on revelation the 13th chapter in this little book called last day events in the ellen white is quoting the great controversy page 578-579 i read so there's a comment on revelation 13. the prophecy of revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast with lamb-like horns shall cause the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the papacy they're symbolized by the beast like unto a leopard this prophecy will be fulfilled when the united states shall enforce sunday observance which rome claims as the special acknowledgement of her supremacy now listen to this quote or read it from the screen can you read it with me from the screen political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth and even in free america rulers and legislators in order to secure public favor will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing sunday observance now let's analyze that statement a little bit because it is a very critical statement extremely important to understand first political corruption is destroying love of justice do we see any political corruption today do we see any political corruption today all right politic is destroying love of justice and regard for truth do we see that happening even in free america rulers and legislators in order to secure what public favor what's public favor that's votes right the votes to stay in position in order to secure public will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcement sunday observance now here's an area where i feel many christians and some adventists make a serious mistake they have the idea that some dictator is going to arise and that dictator is going to enforce the mark of the beast some authoritarian power not at all at a time of economic difficulty at a time of political uncertainty at a time of natural disaster at a time of civil unrest what happens rulers and yet legislators in order to secure what public favor will yield to the popular demand where does the demand for the law to worship on the first day of the week where does that demand come from does it come from the top or does it come from the bottom it comes from among what the people so it is a massive people movement to establish a day of worship in an attempt to reduce social unrest and to restore what they believe is god's favor to the nation what this leads up to is a final crisis now let's study revelation 17 more closely let's look at it phrase by phrase those first six verses and really have them clear in our brains revelation 17 we're going back to it with the background that we've given this will jump out at us in clear light now revelation the 17th chapter and we're looking here starting with verse 1. revelation 17 verse 1. now we'll notice the clarity of this how clear it is then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls what are the seven bowls everybody seven last plagues came and talked me come i'll show you the judgment of the great harlot who is the great harlot it represents fallen religion that is drifted away from the word of god she sits on many waters what do waters represent look at verse 15 then he said to me the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples multitudes nations and tongues so just like the river euphrates supported the ancient city of babylon and provided life-giving water so many people will support fallen religion and false churches now notice what it says come out show you the judgment the great harlot this this church system that's drifted away from christ that's introduced our own traditions who sits in waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication what is fornication it's an illicit union an illicit relationship so rather than the church being united to christ the fallen church apparently gets its power and strength from the political leaders she commits fornication with them she unites with the political leaders so what do we see a political religious union that erodes religious liberty and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication now let's pause there in the bible wine also represents the pure unadulterated truth of the gospel remember matthew chapter 26 matthew chapter 26 jesus talks about the wine but this in revelation 17 is not the pure wine of the gospel not at all revel matthew 26 you're looking there at verse 26. matthew 26 here is the pure wine of the gospel matthew 26 verse 26 the bible says as they were eating jesus took bread communion service blessed and broke it gave it to the disciples and said to eat this is my body then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood for the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but i say to you i'll not drink of this fruit of the vine now until the day i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom so the pure juice of the grape represents the wine of the gospel what is the gospel it is the good news that jesus came he tabernacled in human flesh he lived the perfect life we should have lived he died the death we should have died he lives as a great high priest that we can come to him what is the good news of the gospel the good news of the gospel is that every man woman and child on planet earth can be saved in god's kingdom the good news of the gospel is not one man woman and child need be lost what is the false gospel the false gospel is looking to man rather than looking to jesus the false gospel is is trying to live the christian life in your own strength the false gospel is looking to the traditions of the church rather than the word of god the true gospel reveals that although we are frail and fallen and sinful and defiled human beings through christ and with christ and because of christ we can be saved with him forever the true gospel leads us to depend totally and absolutely upon jesus the wine of babylon is the false gospel it represents human dependence pride self-inflated importance it's a gospel that leads men and women to depend on human tradition and non-biblical teachings and human reason and achievements now we discussed previously that the scarlet beast upon which the woman sits represents political or civil government now the main thrust of this chapter 17 is very clear if you look at the big picture of revelation 17 here it is an apostate religious power will unite with the state to achieve absolute control over the world the mother church whose religious colors are purple and scarlet sitting on a hill of sev sitting on a city of seven hills in rome has multiple daughters that is other religious groups who unite with her teaching unbiblical doctrines now you remember what was written on the head what was written on the head of this woman there was a word written what was it do you remember mystery what babylon the great what were the two great teachings of babylon if you understand the two great teachings of babylon you have insight into what's coming in the future here they were the two great teachings of babylon were number one the immortality of the soul that there was an immortal essence in human life that left the body at death and the worship of those ancestors that lived on secondly bel marduk was the chief god of babylon balmarduk was the god of sun worship so the two chief errors of ancient babylon were what the immortality of the soul and sun worship so therefore we should expect at a time of absolute chaos in society the devil to work false miracles we should expect the devil to attempt to unite society on the immortality of the soul and on sun worship now look ellen white makes this enlightening statement you'll find it in great controversy page 588 through the two great errors the immortality of the soul and sunday sacredness satan will bring people under his deceptions while the former lays the foundation for spiritualism the latter creates a bond of sympathy with room i quote the protestants of the united states will be the foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the roman power and under the influence of this threefold union what's the threefold union spiritualism that's all pagan religions the papacy that's the beast power that's catholicism and protestantism so under that threefold union what'll happen this country will follow in the steps of rome trampling on the rights of conscience now the union of church and state is going to lead to earth's final war we find that in revelation 12 17 so go back and look at revelation 12 verse 17. revelation the 12th chapter the 17th verse a war is coming a crisis is coming but god is going to have a people that stand firm and true to him through his power by his strength in his grace revelation 12 17 the dragon who's the dragon that's the devil is enraged or angry with the church he goes to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus what was the issue in the great controversy in heaven when lucifer rebelled against god what was the issue it was the worthiness of christ to be worshiped and the authority of god to keep his law so there were two major issues in satan's rebellion in heaven what were they the worthy of g the worthiness of jesus to be worshiped and the ability of god to pass just laws by satan's ingenious diabolical action of the change of the sabbath he attempted to whack both of those out because if you knock out the sabbath and christ is no longer the creator you knock out the ability to worship truly because remember revelation 4 11 says thou art worthy o lord to receive glory and honor and power because you created all things so you destroy the sabbath and you destroy the basis of worship but if you destroy the sabbath you would destroy the authority of the law of god because the law of god is based on the fact that god created us and therefore we're accountable to him so the two issues in which satan attacked god in heaven become the issues in the final conflict over worshiping the creator and the authority of god's law so men and women saved by grace transformed by love redeemed by power keep the bible sabbath not as a legalistic requirement but as a sign of jesus worthiness in a sign of jesus authority and a sign of jesus redemption in all the powers of hell church and state unite are martialed against them but look we know how the story ends revelation chapter 17. revelation chapter 17 we look here at verse 14. well let's go back to look at verse 13. these are one mind that's the powers of earth that unite and they will give their power and authority to the beast political powers giving their authority to the beast power the religious powers church state unite verse 14 these will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them for he is lord of lords and king of kings and those that are with him are called and chosen and faithful who's going to win in this war notice these will make war with the lamb the lamb will overcome them for he is lord of lords king of kings and those that are with him are called chosen and faithful jesus will win in earth's last war satan will lose in earth's last war the work of jesus will go forward to triumph notice those that are with him are called chosen and faithful what does that mean first what does it mean to be called every human being ever born in this world is called by christ to salvation everyone wherever whatever country they're born in because the bible says john 1 9 christ is the light that lights every man born into this world so when you were born god had a divine plan to save you isn't that good news when you were born the holy spirit began to work in your life to redeem you when you were born god began to arrange circumstances in your life you were called by god you feel that nudging in your heart you feel that conviction of the holy spirit you feel that yourself being led to him that is god doing that you are called when we make a choice to accept the calling of god in our life and all of your life god's going to be calling you calling you deeper calling you another step in the christian experience calling you to deeper prayer deeper worship deeper commitment you are called but once we accept that calling then we're chosen we are chosen to be an ambassador for christ we're chosen to be the light of the world we are chosen to be the salt of the earth we are chosen to witness for him we are not the the frozen chosen we are not chosen to simply come in church and sit here and go home and do nothing we are chosen to be the light of the world we're chosen to be an ambassador for christ we're chosen to share his love to give out literature to give bible studies to give out dvds we are chosen to make a difference in this world but i pray to god that not only will be called and chosen but will be faithful we'll be faithful he that endures to the end will be saved down through history god has called men and women down through history god has chosen men and women and down through history god said people that are faithful middle ages in spite of persecution god's grace was sufficient well denzis often burned at the stake martyred god's grace was sufficient if you could come with me and interview people in eastern europe as we were there during the days of communism god's grace was sufficient one of the most moving stories comes from england in the 17th century it's the story of john james you may not be aware of it but there were many sabbath-keeping christians in england in the 17th century john james was a sabbath-keeping pastor he was preaching one sabbath in the 1600s in his church and the authorities came in and arrested him he was tried for treason now the interesting thing about this story is we have eyewitness accounts of what happened and we have the court records of his trial and i want to read to you a little bit about john james in the trial that he went through he was examined and committed to newgate prison on the testimony of several false witnesses who accused him of speaking treasonable words against the king his trial took place about a month afterward at which he was conducted himself in such a manner as to create sympathy he was sentenced to be hanged and then after his hanging for his body to be chopped apart in his heart to be carved out this awful sentence did not dismay him in the least he calmly said blessed be god whom man condemneth but god justifies while he lay in prison under the sentence of death many persons of distinction visited him they were greatly affected by his piety and resignation they offered to exert themselves to secure his pardon but he had little hope of their success his wife went to the king who happened to be charles ii she appealed for his release but she was ridiculed and mocked in both instances she was repulsed with scoffs and laughter now at the scaffold on the day of his execution mr james addressed the assembly in a very noble and affecting manner after his address kneeling down he thanked god for his mercy and for his innocence he prayed for the witnesses against him for the executioner for the people of god for the removal of divisions for the coming of christ for the spectators and for himself that he might enjoy a sense of god's favor and presence and entrance into glory when he entered his prayer the executioner looked at john james and said the lord receive your soul and john james replied thank you friend a friend observing to him said this is a happy day and john james answered i bless god it is then having thanked the sheriff for his courtesy he said father into thy hands i commend my spirit when i think of his faith this thought comes to my mind i don't want anything in my life to stand between me and jesus so he cannot strengthen me in that day wouldn't it be a terrible thing to faith's earth crisis in your own strength to give up your faith and unite with god's enemies in condemning god's people and be one of the witnesses at a trial for your pastor for somebody else in your church and witness against them and see them martyred for their faith wouldn't it be a terrible terrible terrible thing to sell out so cheap and so quickly but think of the incredible good news the amazing good news to stand faithful and see god's holy spirit poured out to see the glory of god revealed to see the gospel preached to see jesus come think of the incredible good news that there is to be faithful to christ until the end the way we'll be faithful to the end is to be faithful today we do not get strength for the crisis during the crisis we get strength for the crisis before the crisis and jesus invites you and me today to say lord i don't want anything between you and me lord i i i want only one thing and that's to please you in everything i do i want to see you when you come i want to live through all eternity because to sell out cheap is to lose your soul and to lose your soul is to lose everything that matters would you like to bow your heads with me and pray is there somebody here this morning or somebody watching online that there's something in your life that you know is not in harmony with god's will and the spirit is convicting you right now to make a decision a decision for eternity either to surrender that thing and give it up to ask jesus to help you to be fully committed to him somebody that's holding something back you've never you've not yet surrendered this thing this is not a general call specific it's a very specific call something you haven't yet surrendered but god's been convicting you on that you just want to raise your hand say god give me the strength god give me the strength just raise your hand now god give me that strength is there somebody here today that you feel quite weak and frail at times you wonder whether you can make it but you want to look away from the woman on the scarlet colored beast you want to look to jesus to his strength to his power you want to say jesus grant to me your strength help me to think not of my weakness but of your strength help me not to think of my frailty but your enduring might help me not focus on my faults but on your victory somebody here today that says lord i need you and i open my heart to you and i want to focus on jesus not in my weakness just raise your hand [Music] oh my father although we see a crisis coming we recognize that we have a christ for the crisis we recognize that our jesus is stronger and greater than any crisis thank you lord that we can be on the winning side thank you that we know the end of the story thank you that in jesus we can triumph at last in christ's name amen

Channel: HopeLives365

Views: 113,486

Rating: 4.8420424 out of 5

Keywords: Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh day Adventist, SDA, Adventist, Adventists, Mark Finley, HopeLives365, Hope Lives 365, Prophecy, sabbath, sunday laws, revelation, papacy, church and state will unite

Id: f1ZRcyh0YLs

Length: 55min 50sec (3350 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 23 2021