The Obedience Dilemma | Mark Finley (Revelation 14)

i'm delighted that you've joined us for this series titled three cosmic messages earth's final conflict this is the sixth in a 13-part series on the bible prophecies of revelation especially focusing on revelation 14 verses 6 to 12. in those verses god gives to us three messages pictured as being carried by angels in mid-heaven that are go to the end of the earth just before his return in this presentation we're going to focus on verse 6 fear god and give glory to him for the arvis judgment has come and worship him that made heaven earth the fountains of waters so stay with us you will be absolutely thrilled as you sense the meaning of these verses and god speaking to your own heart through them so let's pray father in heaven we want to thank you that you have not left this world an uncertainty you've not left this world without a message a message that comes from your heart to prepare it for your soon return help us to have open minds receptive spirits to grasp your message for this hour in christ's name amen the book of revelation is not merely a book to fill our heads with mystic symbols cryptic signs and strange beasts the book of revelation is designed to compel us to lead us to make eternal decisions in our lives and to really compel us to action some time ago i was thinking about a concert that may have taken place in con in carnegie hall with the london philharmonic orchestra now this is in my imagination only and i need to clarify that before i go into the story so let's suppose that you've bought tickets to the connery hall let's suppose that you're sitting in this concert it's an absolutely amazing concert you sit on the edge of your seat you're thrilled with the music you're taking or you're taken into the stratosphere with the rapturous playing of the london philharmonic orchestra you've paid a great deal for those seats and then somebody in the middle of that concert begins to yell fire fire now you have really three choices if that happens choice number one you think this guy is an absolute lunatic they're a crazy nut i can't wait to the security comes and takes them away secondly you might think you know what this may be true you're you're thankful that a person has yelled fire there's been no danger yet you jump up and run out with a thankful spirit the third option is maybe you think i better get out of here but you're angry you're bitter because you spent a lot of money for the tickets you may have those three options look to yell fire when there is no fire is a very serious thing i mean somebody can get trampled some others can get severely injured rushing to the exit somebody may be stress-filled and have a heart attack so if you yell fire and there's no fire that's pretty serious but warnings are valid only if the crisis is real when you have a real crisis and somebody warned you of that crisis that indeed is extremely a valid warning the warning in the book of revelation is not a warning that comes in harshness it's not a warning from a god that is an authoritarian judge or a tyrant the warning in the book of revelation is a warning in love and revelation really is a book about the grace the mercy the goodness the love of god the book of revelation is an appeal to us to know christ as the dying lamb to know christ as the living priest the book of revelation is a book about jesus christ and the warnings that we receive in revelation are warnings given to us in love there are warnings given by three angels that symbolically fly in mid-heaven these warnings are very similar to the warnings that god gave to noah before the earth was destroyed by water the earth was destroyed then by water and it will be destroyed another time by fire in noah's day noah preached for 120 years warning that the flood was coming in the book of revelation we have revelations end time judgment and we saw in our last presentation that the clock struck the hour prophetically at the end of the 2300 year prophecy in 1844 so just as noah preached for decades over a century so the message of god has been going out for well over a century in this world population to prepare people for the coming of jesus what were the conditions like in noah's day and how did they compare to our conditions in our day notice genesis 6 3 says and the lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever so god reaches out in mercy he graciously reaches out in love but his spirit that leads to decision does not always appeal to human beings so come a time when human beings have made their final irrevocable decision there come a period of time in earth's history where every person has had ample opportunity where every person has had the privilege of responding to god's love and they've made their solid irrevocable choice god does not withdraw his spirit arbitrarily he doesn't withdraw his spirit and say those that are in are in and those that are out are out when god's message went forth in the days of noah and when noah and his family entered into the ark and the door was shut it was not shut when many more could have honestly graciously repented confessed their sin and entered in it was shut because they had made their final decision so probation in this world will not arbitrarily close by god it will be the signal that every human being has already made their decision what were were the conditions in the days of noah genesis 6 verse 5. it really seems like conditions today then the lord saw that wickedness of man was great in the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually you don't have to spend too much time on television even looking at the ads too much time on the internet when you recognize quite dramatically that the wickedness of man has been great in the earth you don't have to spend much time with news media news magazines or newspapers to understand that the intent of the thoughts of his heart is evil continually when billy graham finished writing his first draft of one of his books called world aflame it's reported that he gave the first chapter to his wife ruth and when she read it she said something like this billy if jesus does not come soon he's going to have to resurrect sodom and gomorrah and apologize to them in every age of earth's history there have been a period of time when human probation has come to an end in every age of earth's history there's been a time when the wickedness of man has filled the cup of iniquity where god is given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity and that's really the message in the days of noah it's the message in the days of sodom and gomorrah it's the message in the days of daniel in babylon with belshazzar when the handwriting was written on the wall many many tackle you farsan their weight in the balances and found wanting and it's really the message of the three angels it is the message of the first angel which is an urgent appeal to men and women everywhere to make their decisions for christ and make them today the message of these three angels is god's final warning it's his final message of hope it is a hope-filled grace-filled message of love to this generation second peter chapter 3 verse 4 and 10 says the day of the lord that's the coming of christ will come as a thief that is it will come rapidly quickly unexpectedly in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up the earth was destroyed by water once and it will indeed be destroyed by fire a second time jesus is coming though not primarily to destroy the earth christ's intent is not simply to destroy our world it is rather to destroy wickedness so righteousness will reign it's not to destroy the evil although that will be the natural result of his coming it is to redeem the righteous jesus is coming because heaven is empty without you the fellowship that christ has with the angels and the cherophemes and seraphims that fellowship is incomplete without you jesus is coming because he wants you he wants you to live in a land where there is no sickness suffering death heartache pain anymore he wants you to be with him forever and that's the message of the three angels that's the message of these three cosmic beings that fly in mid heaven that's the message in earth's final conflict the message of a loving god a message to prepare men and women for the last days of human history let's go to the heart of the book of revelation and see the details of this specific message revelation 14 verse 6 and 7 says fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come we studied that in the last two presentations in this series the hour of god's judgment has come the clock has struck the hour worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water now notice the expression fear god and give glory to him we ask the question what does it mean to fear god what does it mean to give glory to him what appeal is this practically to our hearts how indeed do we fear god how indeed do we place our allegiance on the behalf of god and in his grace and mercy is this message fear god one in which god appeals to us to tremble and shake before him certainly there is that sense of reverence and respecting god but this word fear in the original language of the new testament greek is fuebo and it has this sense of reverence awe and respect but it goes beyond that this word fear or foibo in scripture has to do with a large idea it has to do with the idea that i respect god enough to obey him it has to do with a thinking process in my mind that leads me to decide to do whatever christ commands knowing that his commands are best and in my best behalf it is not a command of force it is a loving appeal for obedience in the book desire of ages on the life of christ in page 22 i read the exercise of force is contrary to the principles of god's government you see the devil uses force not god he god desires only the service of love and love cannot be commanded it cannot be won by force or authority only by love is love awakened only by love is love awaken and so that's why in revelation 14 verse 6 it says i saw another angel flying in the middle of heaven with the everlasting gospel the gospel the love of god revealed in the life death resurrection and intercession of christ in heaven above that love of god enables us to respond foibo to fear god or to obey god that love leads us to obedience you know it continues in desire of ages page 22 to know god is to love him his character must be manifest in contrast to the character of satan so in the book of revelation god's love reaches out to us leading us to loving obedience leading us to respect reverence him that's fear him enough to obey him that is in contrast to the beast power the beast power in revelation forces the beast power in revelation coerces the beast power in the book of revelation passes a decree where no man can buy or sell unless they worship the beast the beast power in the book of revelation this political religious antichrist power persecutes the people of god like church state unions have done in the past he also passes a death decree on the people of god so you see this amazing contrast a contrast between god's love that leads to willing obedience outlined in this message of the first angel and satan who tries to coerce and force allegiance the contrast could not be greater this battle over the law of god this battle over the throne of god this battle over who has the authority to rule is described in isaiah chapter 14 verse 13 and 14. lucifer says i will ascend into heaven wasn't he already in heaven he wanted a higher place i'll exalt my throne above the stars of god my throne above the stars of god throne implies rulership he wants to rule i'll sit on the mount of the congregation notice this he says on the farthest sides of the north what was the mount of the congregation on the sides of the north of israel mount sinai what came from mount sinai the law of god i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i'll be like the most high so lucifer a created being did not want to worship the creator lucifer it created being wanted to exalt himself above the creator he wanted to sit on the throne in rule he wanted to make law and not obey law so the question of the controversy between good and evil was over authority does god have the authority to rule is god a loving ruler does god have his the best interest of his creatures in view in the last days of his history in the messages of the three angels that go forth god sends an eternal message to the ends of the earth showing that his people willingly lovingly openly desire to please him in everything they do this fear god has to do with this mental commitment that we make knowing that god's commands are for our best good and to lovingly graciously serve him we discover the depth of the meaning of the expression fear god by observing its usage in other parts of the bible in other words if you want to know what the bible teaches on a subject you take that expression and you travel through the bible and as you travel through the bible you look at how that expression is used in the bible so when the bible uses the expression fear god what does it mean what does this expression indicate to us let's journey through scripture and let's look at the expression and how it's used deuteronomy 6 verse 2 fear the lord your god so here it is fear god to keep all his commandments in statutes which i command you so here fearing god is linked to a reverence or respect for god that leads us to obey him and keep his commandments here's another one psalm 119 verse 73 and 74 your hands have fashioned me give me understanding that i may learn your commandments those who fear you that is respect you will be glad when they see me because i have hoped in your word so what according to these passages does it mean to fear god it means to be glad to be joyous in our obedience to him ecclesiastes 12 verse 13 and 14 says let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter now this is the conclusion of the matter fear god respect or obey him and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man what duty of man is this it's the whole duty of man so this says fear god keep his commandments for this indeed is the whole the entire duty of man so the book of revelation the appeal of the first angel's message is an appeal that leads us back to obedience it leads us back to the gladness in the joy that we have in life when we please god the bible says god will bring every work into judgment now notice judgment is included in revelation 14 verse 7 the arvid's judgment has come commandments of god are included there in the idea of respect or obey him fear god forgot god will bring every work into judgment including every secret thing whether good or evil again throughout the bible you have this linkage you have this integrated unity of obeying god because we love god responding to his grace in obedience and the idea of judgment that we'll be judged by the very choices we make judged by the lives that we live in the light of the judgment hour heaven's urgent appeal is for those saved by grace to live godly lives now there are those people that have this strange idea that when i come to jesus it's it's jesus only and for them the jesus only means jesus only from the sense that he saved me from the guilt and condemnation of my sin but there's not much emphasis on obedience not much emphasis on bible doctrine you cannot separate christ from doctrine to accept jesus is not to accept some mythical jesus some mystical jesus some ethereal jesus to accept jesus is to accept the teachings of christ it's to understand that when i come to christ romans 8 1 there is no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus when i come to jesus i'm saved by grace saved totally by grace there is no other salvation beside grace but when i am saved by grace that leads me not to disobedience but to obedience it leads me not to walk away from the commandments but walk toward the commandments not as legalistic requirements but as glad tidings of the character of jesus christ himself the gospel not only delivers us from the guilt of our past it empowers us to live godly obedient lives in the present so the gospel is a complete gospel it delivers us from the guilt of sin and delivers us from the grip of sin it delivers us from the penalty of a broken law and it delivers us from the bondage and power of the broken law the grace of christ is the grace he gives us for obedience romans 1 verse 5. notice this we've received grace and apostleship for what what do we receive grace for or receive apostleship for for obedience to the faith among all nations so faith does not lead me from works but two works when people ask me do you believe in jesus only i say to them i believe in the jesus only of the bible the jesus only in the bible saves us by his grace the jesus only of the bible transforms us by his love the jesus only of the bible empowers us by his power the jesus only of the bible transforms our lives the jesus only of the bible is the jesus of the book of revelation that leads us to fear god respect god and obey god in the book christ triumphant page 235 i read those who are truly converted to christ must keep on constant guard lest they accept error in the place of truth now what is this error that they may accept in the place of truth here it is those who think it matters not what they believe in doctrine so long as they believe in christ are on dangerous ground what kind of ground are they on everybody they're on dangerous ground because you cannot separate christ from the teachings of christ you cannot separate christ from doctrine so the jesus that was here talked about the bible as his word he said sanctify them through my word thy word is true john 17 verse 17. when you accept christ you accept his word jesus said for example that there is no other way of salvation when you accept christ you accept him as the way of salvation jesus said let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house there were many mansions john 14 1-3 if it were not so i would have told you i'm coming again if you accept christ you believe his teachings he's coming again if you accept christ you accept fully the teachings of christ about obedience the bible sabbath and the teachings of the creator god if you accept christ you accept what he has said about death and life in the resurrection those who think it matters not what they believe in doctrine so long as they believe in jesus christ are on what kind of ground dangerous ground christ is the embodiment of all doctrinal truth so when we accept christ we accept the embodiment of truth as it's revealed in scripture we do not turn our backs on the christ who has proclaimed that truth andrew bonner great christian writer states it really succinctly when he says this instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is delayed obedience is disobedience whoever strives to withdraw from obedience withdraws from what grace it is not the importance of the thing but the majesty of the law giver that is to be the standard of obedience some indeed might reckon such minute and arbitrary rules as these as trifling boner but the principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the same principle which was tried in eden at the foot of the forbidden tree it is really this is the lord to be obeyed in all things whatsoever he commands is he a holy law giver are his creatures bound to give implicit ascent to his will you see the issue is far more than the specific command the issue is the authority of the law giver the issue is do we accept a limited christ or do we accept the fullness of christ do we accept the beauty of the greatness of christ and to disobey the commands of christ is to disobey accepting the fullness of christ christ has more for you than you can possibly imagine christ has more for you beyond in your life that's greater than simply saying i accept christ now i can live like i please now i can do like i please jesus invites you into the depth of his experience that's why he says fear god obey god respect god fear god that respect is the mental attitude of obedience that leads us to do whatever jesus says revelation is an urgent appeal in the light of heaven's judgment hour to make god the center of our lives some people make money the center of our lives you see we all have a certain center in our life some people make pleasure the center of their lives some people make sports the center of their lives some people make entertainment the center of their lives but revelations appeal is an urgent appeal to make jesus christ as the center of our lives matthew 6 33 says seek you first seek you what seek you first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you so revelations appeal in revelation 14 verse 7 fear god is an appeal for priorities in our lives it is a appeal to make christ the priority of our life colossians 3 verse 2 says set your mind on the things above not on the things of earth notice the verb here set your mind set your mind means to make a conscious decided choice a decided choice to place christ first in your life and to make your greatest desire to please him now what does it mean to give glory to god fearing god has to do with your thinking process a thought process in which you desire to obey him to please him in whatever he asks now what does it mean to give glory to god because remember our text says fear god and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come so in the hour of god's judgment we live respectful reverential lives that obey god and we say god whatever you ask me to do i want to do giving glory to god has to do with our lifestyle it has to do with the way we live fearing god has to do with what we think the commitment in our minds to obey him giving glory to god has to do with what we do carrying out that commitment in our minds in our lives as you look at life today there are many people that have this idea they have the idea that their body is some kind of fun house and whatever is pleasurable they want to do that whether it's smoking drinking whatever they eat their idea is look what i take into my body is separate and distinct from my faith their idea is that i can believe in christ but yet i can act how i desire when we come to jesus christ we act not how we desire but how he desires we do not what we want but what he wants our daily commitment is like the commitment of jesus in the garden of gethsemane remember what jesus prayed in the garden of gethsemane three times he said father not my will but your will be done was jesus looking forward to the cross did he walk to the cross singing the doxology praise god from whom all blessings flow not at all jesus knew that he would be betrayed by judas he knew that his closest followers would forsake him he knew that he would have nails driven through his hands and be filled with pain and anguish he knew as well that he would bear the sins of all humanity on calvary's cross jesus knew that he said father if it is possible let this cup pass from me but not my will jesus took the cup of suffering the cup of sorrows to save you and me as we come to christ and enter into the depth of his love life becomes not one insane desire for pleasure but it becomes a deep commitment to do god's will a deep commitment to please him in all things we pray with jesus father not my will but thy will be done we say lord i want to glorify you in everything i want to glorify you in what i take into my body i want to glorify you in the example that i make to other people some time ago i was helping a dear lady quit smoking she had smoked for over 30 years she was a grandmother by now and loved her grandchildren often told me about her grandchildren and she was having this terrible struggle to quit smoking i was praying for her i was quoting the promises of god for her and one day she came to see me and said pastor you're never going to guess what i said what is it said i quit i quit i said well what what motivated you what prompted you she said you know i was sitting in a chair at home my favorite chair watching my favorite tv program and i had lit up a cigarette and i was smoking it and my little granddaughter jumped up on my lap little six seven-year-old and she looked in my eyes said grandma when i grow up i want to light a cigarette just like you i want to hold it just like you hold it grandma and i want to smoke just like you she said look pastor i love that girl so much i know that i have the raspy throat i know that i have the burning in my lungs i know the potential and pastor i would not want that for my daughter my love for her i give this up i throw this down if love for a granddaughter can cause a grammar to give up cigarettes if love can do that doesn't our love for christ fill our hearts and say lord whatever it is alcohol tobacco foods that are destroying my body a lifestyle of worldlyness and the pleasures of this world lord i want to set my affection on things above i want to give glory to you and what my eyes see i want to give glory to you and my ears here i want to give glory to you and everything i do somebody says is not this legalism this is not legalism this is christianity in christianity we live not to please ourselves in christianity we live to please the living christ in christianity our desire is one thing our desire is to say lord whatever it is in my life i desire to please you romans 12 verse 1 says the apostle paul says i beseech you that as i urge you i admonish you i beseech you therefore brethren that's brothers and sisters men and women by the mercies of god because god has given you mercy because god has given you grace because god has saved you by his love by the mercies of god that you present notice this is a volitional choice you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which is your reasonable service here the apostle paul makes this urgent appeal he says i beseech you by the mercies of god to present your bodies now notice the new testament greek word for bodies is sumatta now sumat is an interesting word what word do we get from the word sumata what word do we get from that in english that's right some you get some or summary and so what paul is saying here is i beseech you therefore that you present your bodies and he uses the word for bodies as sumatra what does that mean it's better translated as the collective sum of who you are your body your mind and your emotions so what paul is saying is i'm beseeching you that you present your mind to christ you present your body to christ you present your emotions to christ you present the sum of everything you are to christ this is the message of that first angel fear god obey god make a decision in your mind to respect him to please him in everything you do and let that be translated into your life to give glory to god in the things that you look at how would you feel if jesus were sitting next to you when you were flipping the dial of the television how would you feel if jesus were with you when you walked into that tv theater how would you feel if he was sitting next to you when you were flipping through the internet how would you feel if christ were with you in the late hours of the night when you're watching a late late show you see jesus invites us to give him our minds and he's given us in scripture screen for our mind jim the bible says in philippians chapter 4 verse 7 and 8 it says there that god is going to keep our mind so the whole world's going to lose its mind to worldliness to secularism to humanism then he tells us how to put a screen on our minds you know i live in virginia and the state of virginia not far from washington d.c and uh at the summer time we like to open our windows my wife and i love to get the draft to come through and but we have screens on the windows why do you put screens on the windows you put screens on the windows to keep the mosquitoes out god puts a screen on our mind here in philippians chapter 4 the bible puts it this way in verse 8. finally brethren whatever things are true whatever things are noble whatever things are ought just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are good report if there's any virtue any praise think on these things whatever things are true see you fill your mind with that which is false and then you try to read the bible and the bible seems boring and sippet and dough but why because you filled your mind with fictitious tales you fill your mind with violence and that changes your character so you become impatient much more quickly because by beholding we become changed it's a law of the mind that it gradually adapts itself on the subjects it's allowed to dwell see this message of the three angels is a message of restoration to restore us into the image of god by the transformation of our thinking process and the transformation of our minds and so god appeals to us to give him our bodies to give him our minds to give us our give him our emotions romans 12 verse 1. you know where it says there which is your reasonable service i love the way phillips translation puts it i beseech you therefore brothers and sisters i urge you that you present your body as the sum of who you are mental faculties physical faculties emotional faculties as a living sacrifice well phillips translation says as an intelligent act of worship so when we come to christ and give our whole lives to him and make the mental decision to fear him obey him or respect him when we make the decision to give glory to god in our hearts and minds that indeed is an intelligent act of worship in fact first corinthians chapter 3 verse 17 adds if anyone destroys the temple of god see we're temples we are not a fun house god will destroy him for the temple of god is holy which temple you are so our bodies are the temple of god god longs for what we put in our minds and feed our brains with that mental food what we feed our bodies with physical food god wants to restore us into his image so the image of god can shine gloriously without us and through us you see what you eat or drink impacts how you think and so as we eat food that is unhealthful it clogs the bloodstream the red blood corpus cells bringing oxygen to the brain where does the holy spirit communicate to us not from art not through our big toes or our fingernails but through our brains and so god longs for us to be in health not only so we live 6 7 8 10 12 years longer not only so that we will be free from many of the diseases that afflict the human race in this generation he longs for us to have healthy bodies he came for us to be in abundant health certainly john 10 verse 10 says i've come that you can have life and have it more abundantly but there's something beyond that the message of the first angel is to prepare us mentally and physically for the coming of jesus god longs through his holy spirit to prepare us for that great day when jesus will come again and he wants us to have clear minds so we think clearly so we sense the moving of his spirit in our hearts and in our minds so the appeal of christ in this final generation is place your body place your mind place your emotions on the altar as a living sacrifice to christ paul says i beseech you you present your bodies as a living sacrifice it is an appeal to make god the center of our lives for some people appetite is the center of their life for some people entertainment is the center of their life for some people dress is the center of their life but god appeals to you god appeals to me to make jesus christ the center of our lives we give glory to god as we reveal his character to the world through lives committed to doing his will in this final moment of earth's history in these last days of earth's history in this end time averse history there is a message a message that's pictured as being carried by three angels in mid-heaven the story of these three cosmic messages is more thrilling than any star wars trilogy or any star wars drama it is the intergalactic struggle the battle for the universe it is the battle for the throne and god sends a message to us a message as is important for this generation as noah's message for his generation a message as important as john the baptist to prepare men and women for the first coming of christ it is a message to restore men and women into the image of god it is a message to restore men and women back to knowing christ in a deep intimate way it is a message that restores the mind and the thinking process a message that restores health to the body it is a message to fear god to reverence respect him and make a commitment to obey him it's a message to give glory to him give him glory and everything we eat and drink in every single thing we do it is a message of grace a message of salvation in christ that transforms our lives into obedient believers now the apostle paul calls us out of the pettiness of our self-made worlds to the largeness of the worlds that christ made paul was in a prison he was there in the memoratine prison in rome paul is an old man now the year is in the mid 60s a.d paul writes with trembling hand there are deeply etched lines upon his face and he writes about his life he writes back to the church at philippi that he visited approximately 10 years before and paul writes these words he says hold fast to the word of life paul makes an appeal an appeal to the generation that then was and that appeal is made to us as well hold fast the word of life do not compromise your integrity and accept human tradition and man's opinions but let your mind and heart be filled with the word of god hold fast the word of life so that i may rejoice in the day of christ hold fast to the bible cling to the word of god let the living christ change your life by his grace so you're obedient to the word hold fast to the word of life so i may rejoice in the day of christ that i have not run in vain or labored in vain yes i am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith i am glad and rejoice with you all paul says i'm rejoicing in the hope of christ the hope of his salvation the hope of the cross that gives me the assurance that my sins are forgiven the hope of jesus high priestly ministry there that from the sanctuary above he'll give me power to endure this trial the hope of his second coming but paul says i'm being poured out as a drink offering i'm being poured out on the altar of sacrifice for christ every single one of us pour out our lives for something paul poured out his life for christ he poured out his life to share jesus to live for jesus to be an ambassador for christ every single one of us pour out our lives for something you know not everything that is legitimate is beneficial for the cause of christ i have people come to me all the time and they say pastor what's wrong with this pastor what's wrong with that pastor what's wrong with the next thing there are many things that may be legitimate but as a christian not legalistically you voluntarily choose not to do them why because you are so sold out for christ now look there's legitimate entertainment for the christian but not everything that is indeed legitimate we desire to do why not because our hearts are sold out a hundred percent for christ others may be able to do it but you voluntarily because of love for christ say look i'm not interested in that i'm not interested in that i was interested at one time but i have a bigger purpose to live i have a larger purpose to live i have a grander purpose to live i have a greater purpose to live for i'm no longer interested in that invest your life in christ and for christ that is the deepest joy that is the greatest happiness in life some people pour out their lives in their work other people pour out their lives in sports we all are pouring out our lives for something and jesus says pour out your life in commitment to me pour out your life in service for me pour out your life in witness for me some people pour out their lives in pleasure in entertainment they are pleasure mad did you read about that interesting experience experiment that one of the great eastern universities did with monkeys they wanted to find out what was the greatest drive in these monkeys so they took an electrode and put it in the pleasure center of the monkey's brain they identified where that pleasure center was in the monkey's brain and as they put that electorate in his brain they were able to push a button outside of the cage of the monkey that sent an electrical impulse across the wires down into the electrical through the probe into the monkey's brain now the monkey every time that electrical impulse would come the monkey would jump up and clap and get happy do cartwheels in the cage then they put food in the cage press the electrode button the monkey wouldn't eat the food he was so excited about being so happy so pleasurable they put the most beautiful female monkey in the cage he didn't care about that female at all didn't care about his children at all all he wanted to do was have pleasure then you know what they did they put the pleasure button in the cage and taught the monkey how to push the pleasure button the monkey kept pushing it pushing it put the monkey actually killed himself from pleasure there are scores of people in this life that are pouring their life out for worldly pleasure and entertainment and as they do that they are destroying their spiritual life because they're obsessed with the next greatest movie they're obsessed with the next greatest music phenomena in the rock world they're obsessed with the greatest pro next program on netflix and they're so absorbed with that that their spiritual life is being totally strangled we all pour out our lives for something some people poured out their lives in pleasure and entertainment some people pour out their lives in time consuming all absorbing mind numbing digital devices now these things are certainly not wrong used in proportion used in moderation but look if that's what you're pouring your life out if that destroys human relationships if it absorbs your devotional time for christ you see the three angels message in this first angel's message to fear god and give glory to him it's not some superficial message like some child waiting in a kitty's waiting pool to pick up pennies i call you not to something superficial i call you not to something that is simply child's play religion that makes you feel good i call you today to something deep to preparing for the coming of jesus christ to fear god with all your heart to live obedient godly lives to give glory to god we all pour out our lives for something why not pour out your life for that which counts that which matters for the kingdom of god why not pour out your life for jesus christ and make him number one in your life revelation will have a people that overcome they overcome the worldliness and humanness that sucks the spiritual life out of us and strangles us there are believers in every generation that have overcome and christ appeals to you today by his grace through his power to be an overcomer revelation 21 verse 7 says at the end of time those who overcome will inherit all things god is something amazing for you something beyond your wildest dreams don't throw it away for the cheap pleasures of this world the bible says that god will have a group of people revelation 14 verse 12 here are they that keep the commandments of god and the faith of jesus they keep god's commandments not out of some legalistic obligation but changed by his love charmed by his grace redeemed by his power they live obedient lives because they know that that is the very best way to live they know that's the happiest way to live jesus said i've come that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly notice they keep the commandments of god and they have something what do they have the faith of jesus not simply faith in jesus but the quality of christ's faith lives in them they have the faith of jesus living in their lives because they know christ they've spent time with christ they've prayed to him they've opened the word and jesus has entered and changed their lives we overcome not because of who we are but because of who he is hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 to 16 says seeing then seeing then that we have what a great high priest who's passed through the heavens what's his name jesus the son of god let us hold fast in other words let us not give up we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was at all points every point you're tempted with he was tempted with as we are yet without sin we can come come to jesus come to the sanctuary come and receive his strength and power for a living the bible says let us therefore do what come boldly that's confidently to the throne of grace that we may find mercy and grace to help when in time of need do you have a time of need let us come come to that sanctuary in christ by christ through christ you can be overcomer without christ's example we have no idea without christ's death we have no forgiveness without christ's resurrection we have no hope without christ's intercession we have no power without christ's mediation we have no favor with god without christ's daily presence we have no assurance of victory without christ's promise of his return we have no confidence in a better tomorrow it is about christ the book of revelation is about christ the prophecies of revelation 14 6 to 12 are about christ jesus says to you come is the response of your heart not i but christ be honored loved exalted listen as charles sings not i but christ be our love exalted not i but cry [Music] in every look and action not i but christ in every thought and word not i but christ to gently soothe in sorrow not i but her eyes to wipe the falling tear not eye but christ to lift the weary burden not i [Music] christ no idle word ever falling christ's only cries no needless bustling a sound cries christ no self-important bearing christ's only cries no trace of i be found not i but christ my every need supply not all but christ my strength and the health to be christ's only christ for my body soul and spirit christ holy christ here and eat eternally [Music] have you sensed christ speaking to your heart in the book of revelation jesus speaks and the beast speaks the beast appeals for pleasure the beast appeals for power the beast appeals through money but jesus makes a divine appeal to you right now and as christ is appealing to your heart with his still small voice would you like to say jesus i want to respond i want to respond by giving my life to you i want the words of this song to be the words of my heart not i but christ be honored loved exalted not i but christ be seen be known be heard i don't want to listen to the roar of the beast the roar of this world's entertainment the war of this world's pleasure the roar of this world's appetite i want to listen to the spirit of christ and give my life to him right now is that your decision as we pray oh jesus thank you so much that your way is the way of life abundant your is the way of true happiness yours is the way of joy complete and just now the desire of our heart is to say not i but christ be honored loved exalted we want christ to live in our hearts and flow through our lives in jesus name amen thank you for joining us my friend and the appeal of christ is the appeal to your heart to be ready when he comes as you go today go with the great blessing and sense of his divine presence in your life

Channel: HopeLives365

Views: 273,893

Rating: 4.7452602 out of 5

Keywords: Revelation 14, Three Angels Messages, Grace, Jesus, God, Mark Finley, three cosmic messages, earth's final conflict, hopelives365, revelation, end times, last days, obedience, commandments, ten commandments, bible

Id: GqRQb2TscMA

Length: 56min 44sec (3404 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 17 2020