Episode Transcript
Welcome to God's. Last message to the world. Presented by Dr.
Allan Lindsay. This is an eight part series showing the certainty of Bible prophecy, the accurate fulfillment of past prophecies give confidence in those that are yet to be fulfilled. This presentation is entitled Jesus'gift Soon to Divide the World.
Hello, and welcome again to another one in the series on God's Last Message to the World. I do appreciate seeing those who are in the studio, and I've always got at the back of my mind those people who might be around the world who are watching this series. Welcome to you in a very special way.
The title for our presentation today is a precious gift from Jesus, soon to divide the world. I hope that as you think of this title, that it might arouse some questions in your mind. First of all, of course, what is this precious gift? And then how can we be sure that it comes from Jesus? And if it does come from Jesus, how and why does Jesus give us a gift that's going to divide the world? There's a text I can think of in the Book of Ephesians, chapter four, that tells us that there are gifts that Jesus gives to his church that were given primarily to bring us into a unity of the faith.
Well, then why does this gift divide the world? And finally, why would Jesus give us a gift that will divide the world as part of his last warning message? How thankful that we should be today that Jesus has promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth. As we consider these very important questions today, so let us bow our heads in a word of prayer. Our loving Father in heaven, we thank you again for the promise of the Holy Spirit.
He was given to us to guide us, Jesus said, into all truth and given to us also to help us glorify Jesus. We pray that that may happen today, that we might, in all the words that are spoken here under the influence of the Holy Spirit, see more of God's truth and glorify Jesus in what is revealed. And we ask this in Jesus precious name.
Amen. I'd like to begin today by taking the time for a brief summary of God's last warning message as we've unfolded it so far in our series. Those three messages symbolizing three angels, and presenting three angels symbolize God's last message that he's going to go send to the world.
And I'm going to put on the screen, therefore, a summary of these messages just to remind you of this at the beginning. First of all, we notice that at the beginning, in Revelation 14, verses six and seven, that these messages are based on the Everlasting Gospel to be proclaimed to the world. That's important to understand it, that it's part of the Gospel.
Then two, they call for reverence for God in view of the fact, as we've discussed recently, that the hour of God's judgment has come. Then number three, they urge all to worship the Creator. You remember in Revelation 14, verse seven, that angel says with a loud voice, a megaphone, as we noticed recently, they urge all to worship the Creator.
Then they warn, and this is the second angel's message they warn of the development of a union of all religions symbolized by the city of Babylon, that ancient city that stood for babel and confusion of languages, you'll remember at the beginning. And they will call God's people to separate, to come out. In Revelation 18, verse four, it says, come out of Babylon, my people, that you receive not of her plagues.
Then there's the third angel's message, that solemn message that's given in Revelation 14 and verse nine, they warn against the worship of the beast, his image, and receiving his mark in the forehead or in the right hand. Then at the end of the messages, god is very clear on describing the people who will be proclaiming these messages because in Revelation 14, verse twelve, it says, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the test faith of Jesus.
We need to begin today by going back to a very important time in church history. We have spoken a little bit about it in this series so far. But as we consider these three angels'messages from Jesus and since we know how much Jesus loves the people of the world and he wants them to be ready for his return.
And since we understand that Jesus knows in advance the events and the issues and the conditions that the world will be facing in the last days of Earth's history, it's so important that we know these messages, believe them, and act on their calls for obedience. That's why we need to go back in history to this surprising time in church history when so much happened that has really changed the world. And I'm referring, of course, to the time when this man, his name was Martin Luther.
And Martin Luther the monk, in 1521, delivered one of the greatest speeches in the last 500 years in terms of their influence upon the world. And Martin Luther, four years before 1521, in 1517, went to the Castle Church, his church there in the German city of Wittenberg, and nailed on the door, which was the habit in those days that if anybody wanted to make an announcement to the city. They went to the door and nailed their little remarks or whatever they were going to say on the church door.
And he came to this church and he nailed on the door 95 theses they were called 95 propositions, if you like. They were concerning what was happening in a nearby town when a Catholic monk was there selling indulgences. And what were indulgences? They were pieces of paper that would give the purchaser forgiveness for all of his sins, both past, present and future.
And this aroused this man, martin Luther. He was learning enough about the Bible to know that forgiveness can't be bought on a piece of paper. It comes, as you know, from confession of your sins and directly to Jesus.
And so, in 1521, he was summoned to appear before the Parliament. But I should show you first of all, before we leave, that there is today if you to visit that church. And the church still stands in Wittenberg today.
And the door was burnt. The church was burnt, but they've constructed a new door. And you'll see there on that picture that on the front of the door in the black there, the 95.
Theses have been reproduced in metal, and they're still on that door today. Well, in 1521, Luther, as I said, was summoned to appear before the parliament with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. There they were gathered in the city of Vorms to recant what he had written in 1517 on those doors and also the books that he'd written in the interceding four years.
And so here is a painting, well known painting of that moment in history. You can see the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on the left. And here is Martin Luther making his famous speech.
What did he say? What did he say at that time? I want you to read the words and notice them carefully, unless I because they were asking him to recant what he'd written in those books, to give them up, to say that they were wrong. And those 95 propositions, his reply was, unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear and distinct grounds of reasoning, then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand.
I can do no other. God help me. Amen.
What a speech it was to change world history and church history from that day on, because his appeal was that we must test everything that we write, everything that we say and everything that we believe by the Bible, because the Bible is to be the source of truth. And his appeal to that the Bible must be the foundation and the ultimate authority for all faith laid the foundation for the Protestant Reformation that followed. God had begun notice I use the words begun the work of reforming the church, bringing it back to the great truths that Jesus had taught at the beginnings of the church.
But there had been a lot of false doctrine had crept into the church during its history, up till the 15 hundreds. Within a few years of that time, still in the 1520s, two men in Europe applied Luther's foundational principle. What does the Bible say about what we believe? And they began to study the Bible on the question of the Bible talks a lot about the Sabbath and yet we as Christians today keep Sunday.
They said. Is this taught in scripture? These two men were Oswald Glay and Andreas Fisher and they were convicted as a result of their study of the Bible, that the 7th day should be kept as the Sabbath. And they shared their faith with many people in those days.
This was in the 1520s and many people accepted what they said. Yes, the Bible only seems to teach the observance of the 7th day of the week as the Sabbath. Well, they shared their faith with many, as I said, and later they gave up their lives because of their faith in the 7th Day Sabbath.
Among the Puritans in England in the 16 hundreds, there was considerable controversy over the question of the Sabbath and many Puritans began to keep the 7th Day Sabbath, including a man that when I read about his history, I was quite impressed with who he was and what he did. His name was Dr. Peter Chamberlain and Dr.
Chamberlain was a brilliant physician to three of the kings of England. We have the King James version of the Bible authorized by King James I. And Dr.
Chamberlain was the physician to care for the health of King James. He was also the physician to King Charles I and King Charles II, three of the kings of England. But when I visited his tombstone some years ago, I noticed that it said that he was baptized in 1648 and kept the 7th day for the Sabbath for 32 years.
From these Sabbath keeping puritans there developed a 7th day Baptist church in England. And in 1664, one of these 7th Day Baptists, Stephen Mumford, wanted to escape the persecutions that were being conducted against those who were keeping the Sabbath at that time. And so he moved across to the United States, he brought the Sabbath to America and established the first 7th Day Baptist Church in Newport, Rhode Island in December 1671 with just seven members.
I noticed that by 1802 the membership had grown from seven to 1200. And in that year they organized the General Conference of 7th Day Baptists. By 1843, there was five and a half thousand 7th Day Baptists in the United States and they met in that year in a general conference.
They sent delegates to this general conference and they voted a most interesting and important recommendation. What was their recommendation? Let's have a look at it. That the first day of November next 1843 be observed by our Churches as a day of fasting and prayer that Almighty God would arise and plead for his holy Sabbath.
What an interesting recommendation from those five and a half thousand 7th Day Baptists working through their delegates. They wanted to set aside a whole day November, the 1 November in 1843, as a day of fasting and prayer, not just an ordinary day. They were not only going to pray on that day.
They were going to fast on that day they were in earnest because they wanted to take a message to God that he would plead for His Sabbath. They were wanting the Sabbath to be brought to the attention of the world and they felt they were just a small group of people who would do it. Well.
The 7th Day Baptists could never have imagined that that day of fasting and prayer was going to change the world in a sense because those who observed this day of fasting could never have anticipated the manner or the magnitude of the answer that the Lord for centuries was preparing in advance. I want to take you to a very nice well, I think you'll like the picture because it was a beautiful day when I visited Washington in New Hampshire. Washington is just a small village in the state of New Hampshire.
But why did I put that on the screen? Because of the story I'm about to tell you. This is the town square. You can see the church on the left, the school in the center and the council buildings on the right hand side of that picture.
Within a month notice, within a month of that day of fasting and prayer, 7th Day Baptist Lady Rachel Oakes was on her way to Washington, New Hampshire from her home in Verona in the state of New York. And she was walking into God's amazing plan for his last message to go to the world. She had come and here is Rachel Oakes.
She had come to Washington to visit her 18 year old daughter Delight Oakes, who had accepted a position as the public school teacher in the little village of Washington, New Hampshire. And because there were no 7th Day Baptists in the village in Washington, they met on a Sunday with the Christian Brethren Church who met in this wooden building in Washington, New Hampshire. But the interesting thing about the people, the members who worship in that little building was that they had recently accepted totally as a church the teachings of William Miller.
And this is 1843 and here they were waiting for Jesus to come in 1844 and into their midst comes this 7th Day Baptist Lady. Because there's no Sabbath keeping church there, they decided to meet in the only Christian church in that little village and that was the one that met here. Well, as they met Sunday by Sunday, one day the minister of the church stood at the pulpit there because this is inside that little church and it was communion day.
And that day the minister, Frederick Wheeler, decided that he should preach on the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments. And he stood up and preached a sermon on the importance of all Christians keeping the Ten Commandments. And well, Rachel Oakes was there in the congregation and we know that she must have been a fairly outspoken kind of a lady.
But she didn't, fortunately stand up that day, but she waited for the minister to call, and within a week or so, he called on this lady, the 7th Day Baptist lady, Rachel Oakes. And he was very quickly confronted with the question. Reverend Wheeler, you told us in communion that day that we should all be keeping the Ten Commandments, and you're not keeping them yourself.
Well, Frederick Wheeler tells us that he sat back, was rather confronted by this question, and she went on, of course, to explain why that you're not keeping the Fourth Commandment, the one that talks about the 7th Day Sabbath. Well, Frederick Wheeler was impressed enough to want to know more. Rachel Oakes gave him a Bible study.
And within a couple of months, frederick Wheeler became the first Sabbath keeping Adventist minister in the world. In the world? Well, in Washington, New Hampshire. Soon, others joined Frederick Wheeler from that little church, and they became the first Sabbath keeping Adventist church in all the world.
And I noticed that as you drive into Washington today, there is a sign on the side of the road. In April 1842, a group of citizens in this town banded together to form the first Christian society in the Adventist movement of 1842 43. They espoused the Advent hope.
In January 1862, these Washington Sabbath keepers, after meeting for many years as a loosely knit group, organized as the first 7th Day Adventist Church. And then it gives the instruction on how to find that little church in the woods that you can visit today. Dear friends, as I have visited this little church, I'm always filled with a sense of awe.
What has God wrought? One lone 7th Day Baptist lady sharing her understanding with the minister and the members of that church about the 7th Day Sabbath, she could never have dreamed of the important role she was playing in the plans of God. She could never have dreamed that more than 170 years later, some 22 million people in 200 countries of the world would be keeping the Sabbath the 7th Day Sabbath, as a result of what she had shared that day. And she also probably didn't know of how.
She was an important answer in that day of fasting and prayer. How was God to send it to the world? Well, by just one little lady who shared it in Washington. And the rest of the story is known.
I know that I've said these words before, but let me say them again. There is nothing so powerful as a prophetic truth whose time has come. After 1844, when the three angels began their messages to the world, some very important reasons for keeping the 7th Day Sabbath was found in their study of the Book of Revelation that has given great impetus to why we should keep the 7th Day Sabbath today.
And of course, God always works through human instruments, and much of the credit for what has been added by studying the Book of Revelation is due to a sea captain turned Adventist preacher with William Miller. His name was Captain Joseph Bates. Let me tell you a little bit about this man.
Joseph Bates was born in 1792, and in 1793, they family moved to this home meadow farm in the city of Fair Haven in Massachusetts. This home still stands today. You can visit it, it's the oldest house in Fair Haven.
But at the age of 15, Joseph went to sea as a cabin boy and spent the next 21 years at sea. In 1818, he married his childhood sweetheart, Prudence Nigh, who placed a New Testament in his trunk. And while he was having those idle moments as captain of his ship on the next journey, he found the New Testament, began to read it, and fell in love with Jesus.
Captain Joseph Bates. Well, he returned home in 1828 at the age of 35 with a small fortune. And in 1839, he heard about William Miller's preaching with all the other ministers who were telling the world at that time that Jesus was coming very, very soon.
And he gave his heart again to Jesus and to the new truth he was hearing about with the coming of Jesus. But of course, Joseph Bates was one of those who was greatly disappointed, as we've discovered when Jesus didn't come. But he never gave up his faith.
In mid 1845, Bates read a tract written by Thomas Preble, a name you wouldn't know today, who had been a free will Baptist minister, but he too had accepted the Sabbath in 1844. And he wrote a tract with this interesting title tract showing that the 7th day should be observed as the Sabath. What Bible evidence is my question this morning.
What Bible evidence was presented in this little tract that convicted Joseph Bates that he too should keep the Sabbath? Let me point out some of these Bible texts. First of all, he noticed in Genesis chapter two, way back at the very beginning of the Bible, we read in Genesis two and verse one thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the 7th day, God ended his work which he had done, and he rested on the 7th day from all his work which he had done.
Then God blessed the Sabbath 7th day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. As Bates thought about that text way back at the very beginnings of the Bible, after God had created the world in those six days, we read that on the 7th day, God rested. May I remind you of what we've discovered earlier in our presentations, and that is that it was Jesus, according to new Scripture, that was the Creator.
It was Jesus, therefore, who rested on that first Sabbath day. It was Jesus who blessed that day, and it was Jesus who sanctified, as we read there that day. What does that word sanctify mean? It means to set apart for a holy purpose.
And here we read at the very beginnings of the Bible, before there were any Jews to say it was a Jewish day. Back there at the very beginnings of the world, jesus set apart the 7th day of the week as a holy day. That was a surprise to Joseph Bates, but that's not all that he read in this text.
He turned to the Ten Commandments. It was prementioned there. And when he came to the Fourth Commandment, what did it say? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the 7th day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. Well, that was a text he had read, but never thought about it, that it was written by God, you remember, in stone.
And it was placed, the Ten Commandments were placed inside that ark that we talked about in our last presentation. And right above it was the presence of God and that mercy seat and the Ten Commandments, including the command to keep the Sabbath written by God's own finger in stone. There it was.
Remember the 7th day of the week, a day at the beginning of the world. It was Jesus'gift. Notice what I said in relation to our title for today.
If Jesus blessed that day at the beginning and commanded its keeping, it was Jesus gift to the human race at the very beginning of the world, he gave it as a day to get to know God better. Well, that's not all, because next he noticed in Luke four, verse 16 what something is said about Jesus. As Jesus came to Nazareth one day, where he had been brought up, you know the story there.
And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. It was Jesus'custom. It was Jesus who had given the Sabbath way back at the very beginnings of time.
But now this wonderful Jesus, when he's a man on earth, as it were, the God man, it was his custom to go and keep the 7th day Sabbath when he stood up that day to read. But also in the Gospel of Luke, we read at the end of the Gospel of Luke in Luke, chapter 23, verses 25 and 26. Notice it's talking about the women.
That it's talking about the day of Jesus death. And there were women who came, and when he was put into that grave, they prepared spice's anointments to anoint his grave and his body. But they couldn't do it.
On the Friday afternoon sunset was coming the beginnings of the Sabbath and notice what the record says about these faithful followers of Jesus and the women also which came with him from Galilee, followed after and beheld the sepulchre and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Well, Joseph Bates was learning a great deal that he'd never known before as to the keeping of the Sabbath.
And then when we turn to the Book of Acts, what did the early church do? There are many today who believe that once Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, that the early church then kept every Sunday holy. But that's not what Joseph it's found in this little pamphlet. And there are a number of references to Paul, the great apostle Paul, keeping the Sabbath and meeting at the church on the 7th day of the week.
Let me just put one on the screen because here in Acts 13 verse 42 it says and when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles notice the Gentiles. Now that besought that these words might be preached to them when not the next day, Sunday, the next day, the next Sabbath. And then what happened afterwards and the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Well that was a revelation to Joseph Bates too and the other text in the Book of Acts. But then Joseph Bates noticed in this pamphlet a text in the book of Isaiah going back to the Old Testament. When we read these remarkable words, god is speaking through the prophet Isaiah, and he says, for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me, that's the new earth that's going to be recreated by God after at the end of the reign of Sin, after the second coming, that's going to be the home of God's people.
What does Isaiah tell us? For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me, says the Lord, so shall your descendants remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, says the Lord. In other words, this 7th day Sabbath given by Jesus at the very beginning was very special and he gave it as a gift to the human race.
And even in the new earth that one day we will live on that Sabbath, rest and worship is a day that we will be able to look forward to. Bates was surprised to find not one text in that little tract showing that the Sabbath had been changed to Sunday. And as a result of that little tract, he too began to keep the Sabbath.
That was in 1846. In early 1846, Bates also read the article that Hiram Edson had written about the sanctuary. Now we talked about this in our presentation one or two times ago.
And what did he read in that little tract? You remember, Hiram Edson had discovered that morning that Jesus had moved from the Holy place into the most holy place in 1844 to cleanse the sanctuary. And that was an explanation as to why Jesus didn't come on October 22, 1844. And as Bates read that tract, he decided that he would go up to Hiram Edson's place, who had published that little article.
And he thought, if he can study with Hiram Edson about the sanctuary, maybe he can share what he's come to an understanding of about the Sabbath. And they met. He traveled up to Hiram Edson's home in Port Gibson.
And Edson convinced Bates about Jesus and his ministry in the sanctuary. And Bates convinced Edson about Jesus and his keeping the Sabbath. You know, when I stopped to think about this, they were following the Bible principle.
What does the Bible say? And we want to follow it. Well, a little later, in 1846, hiram Edson, or rather Joseph Bates, wrote a little booklet on the Sabbath. It was the first booklet ever to be written by a Sabbath keeping Adventist, as Joseph Bates was.
It was 44 pages in length. And what a little wonderful little book it was. The title.
Interesting title. The 7th Day Sabbath. A perpetual sign.
It was only 48 pages. But that little booklet published there by Benjamin Lindsay, I think it says, in 1846, went out and touched many people's lives. I could tell you a lot of stories about the influence of that book.
At that time, there were about 50 notice how many I said 50 Sabbath keeping Adventists living in the northeastern section of the United States. But that number was growing very fast. The following year, in 1847, joseph Bates printed a second edition of that little book, the 7th Day Sabbath.
It had 63 pages in it. And what made the difference between that second booklet and the first booklet? In the meantime, Joseph Bates had begun to study the Book of Revelation, and he was convinced that the Sabbath was going to play a vital role in the last days of Earth's history. He believed this was true from his study because of the connection between the Sabbath and the messages of the three angels, the last message Jesus would send to the world.
Why did he believe this? I'd like to share you the reasons. He saw that when he looked at Revelation 14 and those points there by the three angels that the Bible taught that the end time struggle in the world before the coming of Jesus will be over. Two issues.
What was the first one? The first one was that those people who were preaching those messages would be keeping the commandments of God. And that made Joseph Bates think, well, evidently the commandments of God and the keeping of them is going to be a real issue. In the last days of Earth's history, and that God would raise up a people to proclaim God's last message to the world who would be keeping God's commandments.
He knew that James said that if you keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, you're held guilty of them all, and therefore here must be a people who are keeping all ten commandments. That was the first issue that impressed him as he looked at those messages. The second one will be played out against the background of the world having to make a choice over who or whom they would worship.
Notice in Revelation chapter 14, verse seven, where it says about the first angel's message, saying with a loud voice that megaphone fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of his judgment has come. We've noticed that in our last presentation. And worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of waters, since the one who made heaven and earth and the sea and the springs of waters was Jesus, here is a call to worship Jesus.
But he also noticed what many Bible students have noticed, that verse seven. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of waters, is a direct quotation from the Fourth Commandment. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
And as Bates saw the relationship between that first message to Jesus, a call to worship Jesus, but also quoting from the fourth Commandment there in the first angel's message, it impressed him that this day was still to be very relevant at the end of time. How could you call the world to worship the Creator without remembering the day the Creator gave to the world to remind them that he had created the world and all that was in it. But then, as Joseph Bates went down in those messages, he noticed in Revelation 14, verse nine, the third angel's message.
And what did it say? In Revelation 14, verse nine? Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, again, if anyone worships, notice that word the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand. Here was a warning don't worship in the last days the beast and his image and receive the mark. Do worship Jesus the Creator.
Clearly, there was a great choice that was going to have to be made by the world in the final days of Earth's history. And that choice was to involve worship the Creator or worship the Beast. That was the choice.
Worship. I want you to do a little exercise with me from the screen. I'm going to put on the screen a number of texts in the book of Revelation chosen from chapter 13 of all the chapters in the Bible.
If you want to know the last issues and concerns that the world will have to face in the last days, revelation 13. That one chapter deals with them. And I'm going to put a number of texts from Revelation 13 and a couple from 14.
And I want you to think about, and I'm going to ask you at the end, and at least some of you can answer me, what's the one word that's found in all these verses? Have a look at them. First of all, we're going to notice Revelation 13 and verse four. I'll read it and look for a word that comes up in all these verses.
And so they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like the beast, who is able to make war with him? And then verse eight, and all who dwell on the earth will worship this beast whose names have not been written in the book of life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Then we read in Revelation 413, verse twelve, and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And then in verse 15, he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
And then as we go over to Revelation chapter 14 and verse seven, fear God. This is the first angel's message. And give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of waters.
And then the last text in verse nine, we've noticed it before. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, it goes on to say in the next verse, he shall receive the wrath of God. A very serious warning.
What's the one word that you found in each one of those verses? It's the word worship. Worship. That's the issue that will become so important.
Did you notice in one of those verses in verse eight, it was of chapter 13 that eventually, just before Jesus comes, all the world will worship this beast whose names are not written in the book of life. In other words, that text is telling us that all the world is going to worship the beast. But those whose names are written in the book of life will not worship the beast.
Will not worship the beast. Your name? Is it written in the book of life? Dear friends, our names are written in the book of life. The Bible tells us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.
Is your name written there when it says that all the world will worship? Let me just make this explanation that does not mean that all the world is going to become religious. But they will give and listen to this. They will give allegiance to, accept the authority of and obey the commandments of the beast as opposed to Jesus.
I want to ask a most important question, dear friends. Why should worship be the final issue that will divide the world? As you stop to think about it, couldn't it be one of a number of other issues? But why does the Bible clearly tell us, and you've read those texts this morning, why should worship be the final issue? For the world to decide to answer, we must first note that when most of the world will be worshipping the beast, who are they ultimately worshipping? Have a look at Revelation 13, verse four. We read this verse as one of those ones I asked you to read, but I want you to notice what it says talking about the people of the world.
It says, So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the beast, who is able to make war with him. Notice that the Bible says that in worshipping the beast, the world will be ultimately worshipping the dragon. And that very important question must be answered from Scripture.
Because if we go back to Revelation Twelve and verse seven, what do we read there? Revelation Twelve has an amazing verse because it's speaking there about war in heaven. Did you ever know that there was once war in heaven of all places? This is the only text in the whole of the Bible that ever tells us that. But notice that it says and there was war once, and this is way back before the world was created and there was war in heaven.
And who were contenders in this war? Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. Notice those words Michael on one side, and his angels and the dragon and his angels on the other. Michael is another name given particularly in the Old Testament, but also in the New, to refer to Jesus himself.
Because the word Michael means who is like God. And Michael, this is Jesus the Archangel. That doesn't mean to say that Jesus is an angel.
It just means that the word archangel comes from two Greek words meaning leader of the angels. And that's why it says Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And it goes on to say in the next verse, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon remember, we're asking the question who is the dragon? So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. Notice that's in the present tense, who is deceiving the whole world? That's an explanation for all that we read in our newspapers and here on our television sets and the confusion of today's world. Satan, the dragon, he is deceiving the whole world and his angels were cast out with him.
Why was Lucifer cast out of heaven? Does the Bible give us an answer? It certainly does. We go back to a very remarkable time when that leading angel in heaven, his name was Lucifer, the one who stood next to the throne of God. That was his role as a covering cherubim this leading angel in heaven, Lucifer.
The Bible tells us in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14 and verses twelve to 14, these words, please notice them, where the prophet is addressing this leading angel. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.
Then it goes on to say for you have said in your heart this is what went on in the heart of that exceedingly brilliant and wise angel. You have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will also sit on the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most High.
Oh, my friends, Lucifer's problem was an eye problem, but not this one. He wanted to be number one in the universe. And you'll notice what he says at the end of that text.
I will be like God. He didn't want to be like God in character. He wanted to be like God and be worshipped, to be number one in the universe.
The spirit of pride and envy was eating away at his heart. This is this leading angel. That's why the book of Isaiah says that he was perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him.
And so he wanted to be worshipped. And my friends, this desire to be worshipped was so intense that thousands of years later, when Jesus became a man, the dragon Satan was determined to stop him from going to the cross. And we read the record in Matthew chapter four and verses eight and nine, where the devil came to Jesus when he was in the wilderness, after being hungered for six weeks in a weakened condition, satan came to him and gave him three temptations.
I want you to notice the third one again. The devil took him, Jesus, on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, this is the angel Lucifer as it was speaking to the one who made the angels to Jesus now in a weakened form, being tempted by him in the wilderness.
And he said to him all these things, the glory of the world that he showed him that day, I will give you. There's no need to go to the cross. I will give you the kingdoms of the world, on one condition.
What was it, my friends, if you will fall down and worship me, notice that if you will fall down and worship me and notice Jesus answer in verse ten, where Jesus says to him away with you Satan, for it is written you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Are you understanding why I'm pointing out these in scripture? Because since the cross, Satan, who failed to get Jesus to worship Him, still wanted to be number one, still wanted worship. And therefore we read in the book of Revelation, as we have read this morning, that all the world eventually is going to worship the beast.
And in worshipping the beast, remember that text? They are ultimately worshipping Satan, but they are deceived and not realizing what they are doing. Oh my friends, Jesus and the beast, that's the choice that all must make. And in Revelation 13 verse eight, as we've read that text, all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast, worshipping Satan, but they do not know it.
He's deceived them into thinking that they're worshipping whose names have not been written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Oh, dear friends, how will Satan deceive most of the world into worshipping the beast and not the Creator? By attacking Jesus as the Creator. By persuading the world to believe that the world came into existence, by evolution over millions of years without God being involved, there is no Creator.
And by substituting the memorial that Jesus appointed at the beginnings to remind the world that he was the Creator, by substituting another day for them to worship on. And this means that Satan must attack the one commandment in the ten that provides us the reason as to why we should worship God. He's made us.
He's made everything that we are and everything that we have, we owe to Him. Everything in the world, because he's made it even in heaven. We read that all the angels worship God because he made all things.
And we read that in Revelation chapter four and verse eleven. Here it talks about how all the heavenly beings worship Jesus because he created all things. Satan well knew that he must replace that one commandment in the ten with another, so the world will forget of Jesus'creative power.
And if he's to succeed in persuading the world to worship Himself and not Jesus as he's long intended, he must do it through a nation of the earth with global authority to force the world to worship the beast. In our remaining two presentations, we are going to look at the identity of this beast power. We're going to learn of the rise of an earthly government that is going to force the world to worship this beast and to receive the mark of the beast's authority in their forehead or in their right hand.
Oh, dear friends, because of Jesus'love can I just emphasize this before I close? Because of Jesus'love, he knew in advance the events that Satan is going to bring the world to in order to accomplish his aim. Way back, I will be like the most high. He nearly has accomplished his aim.
There's just a small group of people who are resisting his temptations, who are still holding on to their worship of Jesus and at that time in Earth's history. That's why God is sending the third angel's message in this last warning message to the world. Dear friends, as I think of this, I am reminded of a story that happened many hundreds of years ago.
It's recorded in Daniel, chapter three, when the King of Babylon erected a great golden image and called representatives of his kingdom from all around the world and said, you must all fall down and listen to the words worship the image. When the music sounds, fall on your knees and worship. But you'll remember the story where three young men stood up, stood and didn't bow down.
This aroused the wrath of King Nebuchadnezzar. Neza read the whole story in Daniel, chapter three, so much so that he said, I'm going to heat the furnace of fire seven times hotter, and if you don't worship this image, you will die. And they said in that classic answer, our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us, O King.
But even if he doesn't notice that, we will still not bow down and worship the image, they had to choose who they would worship, just like the people at the end of time. Who would they worship? And you remember the story how those three young men were thrown into the fiery furnace. But the good news is that Jesus came down.
You remember in that story and talked with those three young men and their lives were saved because when they were called out of the fire by the King, they couldn't even notice the smell of smoke upon them. What a witness. And I believe that story was written to give you and me encouragement in the last days of Earth's history, when we're going to be called to make a decision just like they did.
Who will they worship? Will they obey the worship of the King? Or will they worship and be faithful to Jesus? It may involve their lives, but that doesn't matter because Jesus, at that time, when that difficulty comes to the church, jesus is going to come. And he's coming the second time to gather all those who stand up at that time and say, we will worship Jesus. May the Lord bless us as we think about these things.
And may you be blessed as you make a decision who you will worship. Let us bow our heads. Our Father, we thank you for this subject we've discussed together this morning from Your Word.
Help us to have our hearts open to your leading that we might find and understand and keep this very special day, which was a gift from Jesus. It may in the future divide the world, but we can see beyond. Dear Father are people who will be gathered together in your kingdom because of their faithfulness and their love for you.
And we ask this in Jesus precious name. Amen. You've been listening to God's last message to the World, a production of 3ABN Australia television presented by Dr.
Allan Lindsay. For more information, visit GLM.3abnaustralia.org.au
