Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP210047S
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00:01 Hello, friends, I'm Jill Morikone.
00:03 And we're so glad that you have tuned in for this edition 00:06 of 3ABN's Sabbath School Panel. 00:08 We're in the middle of our journey. 00:09 This is lesson number eight of our quarter, 00:12 Present Truth In Deuteronomy. 00:14 And this lesson is one of my favorites, Choose Life. 00:18 Want to encourage you if you don't have your own copy 00:20 of the quarterly, you can go to the following website 00:22 and download it and study along with us. 00:25 That website is absg.adventist.org 00:29 That stands for 00:31 adultbiblestudy guide.adventist.org 00:34 Or we always encourage you, 00:36 go to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:38 and they would be happy to give you 00:40 a quarterly to study along. 00:41 So grab your Bible, and your pen, 00:43 and your notebook to take notes for this edition 00:46 of 3ABN's Sabbath School Panel. 01:21 Hello, I'm Jill Morikone. 01:22 And what an incredible study it has been so far. 01:25 As we journey through the Book of Deuteronomy, 01:27 I know my faith has been encouraged and strengthened, 01:30 and I've learned so much from our panelists here. 01:32 We're so glad that you've tuned in, 01:34 and I'm just so glad our family's here around the table. 01:37 I want to introduce them to you right now, 01:39 but they really don't need any introduction. 01:41 To my left, Pastor Ryan Day. 01:43 So glad you're here, brother. 01:44 Amen. I'm excited to be here. 01:45 And today, we're going to be talking about 01:47 how there's no middle ground. 01:48 Yay. Looking forward to it. 01:50 My sister, Shelley Quinn, the lady in purple today. 01:53 Hi. Thank you. 01:54 I am telling you this is one of my... 01:56 This lesson has a personal application. 02:00 Amen. It certainly does. 02:02 To Shelley's left, my pastor, Pastor John Lomacang. 02:05 Thank you so much for being here. 02:07 Yes. 02:08 And mine is entitled, Not Too Hard for You. 02:10 And I'm looking forward to that because there 02:12 is nothing too hard for God. 02:13 Amen. 02:15 Last but not least, Pastor James Rafferty. 02:17 Part of the family and team. 02:18 I'm so glad you're here. So good to be here. 02:20 And we're going to be studying and my lesson on Thursday, 02:22 A Question of Worship. 02:23 Ooh, very good. 02:25 I'm looking forward to this lesson already. 02:27 But before we go any further, 02:28 we want to go to the Lord in prayer. 02:30 Pastor Ryan, would you pray for us? 02:32 Yes, let's pray. 02:33 Our Father in heaven, 02:35 Lord, we just want to thank You 02:36 so much for another day of life, Lord. 02:38 And we want to thank You for this wonderful Sabbath 02:40 School Panel, Lord. 02:42 And we can all gather together to study Your Word, 02:44 to learn of You, to learn Your will for our life. 02:46 And, Father, as we dive deep into this study, again, 02:49 may You give each and every one of us 02:50 the Holy Spirit to speak Your words, 02:52 not our own thoughts, but Your will. 02:55 And, Father, as all of those people around 02:57 the world are listening and tuning into this, 02:58 may they all be drawn to You. 03:00 May we all as brothers 03:02 and sisters in Christ be drawn to Jesus Christ, our Savior. 03:05 Because of the study of Your Word this hour, 03:07 we ask in Jesus name, amen. 03:09 Amen. 03:11 This lesson, lesson number eight, Choose life. 03:13 I want to start with a memory text. 03:15 Sometimes I start by talking about Sabbath, 03:17 but we're going to talk about Sabbath in just a moment. 03:19 Let's start right off with a memory text. 03:22 This is Deuteronomy 30:19. 03:25 So you can open up your Bibles. 03:26 Our memory text is Deuteronomy 30:19. 03:30 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, 03:35 that I have set before you life and death, 03:38 blessing and cursing. 03:40 Therefore, choose life, that both you 03:44 and your descendants may live." 03:46 Now, of course, Moses right now is near the end of his life, 03:48 is he not? 03:50 Deuteronomy 31, 03:51 he calls Joshua as his successor, 03:54 actually, incidentally, on his 120th birthday. 03:58 And this is Deuteronomy 30. 04:00 So we're very close to the end of Moses' life. 04:03 The end of the book, of course, is just details about 04:06 preparation for the end of his life and his subsequent death. 04:09 So you can say this is almost Moses' 04:12 final words to the children of Israel, 04:14 to those people that he loved. 04:16 If you think about final words, I've often thought about this. 04:19 When a soldier goes off to war, 04:20 what's the mom and dad say to their son or daughter, 04:23 knowing that these might be the last words 04:26 I ever give you? 04:28 If you have a spouse who's dying of cancer, 04:30 what would be the very last words that you would 04:33 want to speak to them? 04:35 I love John 13:17. 04:38 And I think one of my reasons for liking it so much, 04:40 is this is Jesus' final words to His disciples. 04:43 John 13, of course, is the foot washing. 04:46 And then right after that, 04:47 14, 15, 16, 17 is Jesus' 04:50 final words to His disciples 04:53 before He goes to the cross. 04:56 In this case, this is Moses approaching death 04:59 or getting toward the end of his life. 05:02 And we see his final words, 05:04 his appeal to the people that he loved 05:07 and that he had led for 40 years. 05:10 Set before you life and death, 05:13 blessing and cursing, choose life. 05:16 The lesson had an example of a woman. 05:18 She was 22 years old, a young woman, 05:21 this was on Sabbath's lesson. 05:22 And before she passed away, she knew she was dying. 05:25 And she wanted her head 05:28 stored in a deep freeze vat 05:32 of liquid nitrogen. 05:34 Why? 05:35 Because she was hoping that when science advanced, 05:38 she could live on somehow 05:40 connected to a computer. 05:44 Why do we want to do that? 05:46 Because the will to live is very strong, is it not? 05:49 You read stories about hikers maybe caught in an avalanche. 05:52 And they could have body parts missing, 05:54 they could be in tremendous physical trauma, 05:56 but what happens? 05:58 They do everything they can to get help and to get out. 06:00 Why? 06:01 Because the will to live is strong. 06:04 This week, we look at Moses' appeal to choose life. 06:08 On Sunday, we look at the tree of life. 06:11 And let's talk about this for just a moment, 06:13 the tree of life. 06:14 The lesson brought this out. 06:16 I thought it was really fascinating. 06:17 So I'm going to ask you all three questions. 06:20 First would be existence, second is life, 06:22 and the third is free will. 06:23 Okay? 06:25 So for existence, did you choose existence? 06:27 Nope. No. 06:28 None of us chose existence, did we? 06:30 Adam and Eve, they didn't choose existence. 06:32 The animals, they didn't choose existence. 06:34 Nobody who's alive today chose existence. 06:37 To be honest, the rocks and the trees and the flowers, 06:40 they didn't choose existence either, did they? 06:41 No. Did we choose life? 06:44 No? 06:45 Now you might say life and existence is the same thing. 06:47 The lesson actually differentiated it, 06:49 which was interesting. 06:50 They said rocks have existence, but an amoeba has life, right? 06:55 But we didn't choose life. Rocks didn't. 06:57 Of course, they just have existence. 06:59 But we didn't choose life, animals didn't choose life, 07:01 people didn't choose life. 07:03 Did we choose the gift of free will? 07:06 No? 07:08 God gave us the gift of free will. 07:11 Now animals, of course, don't have the gift of free will. 07:14 They have instinct and they operate by instinct. 07:16 Only humanity, human beings have the gift 07:20 of free will but yet we didn't even choose that gift. 07:24 It was given to us. 07:26 So the final question is, 07:27 what choice do we have even in the matter 07:29 if we didn't choose existence, we didn't choose life, 07:31 we didn't even choose the gift of free will? 07:34 We have the choice to remain in existence. 07:37 In other words, we have the choice to choose life. 07:40 That is eternal life. 07:42 We have choices every day that we face. 07:46 Am I going to follow God or am I going to follow Satan? 07:48 Am I going to follow what He says in His Word, 07:51 or do I follow the natural inclinations of my heart? 07:55 What choice am I going to make? 07:58 That is really the only choice that either one of us have. 08:01 You and I, us here on the panel, 08:03 that's the choice that we have is the choice to choose life, 08:06 meaning eternal life. 08:08 So let's look at that free will given to Adam and Eve. 08:10 We're going to Genesis. 08:12 Genesis Chapter 2, 08:13 we pick up the story with two trees 08:16 mentioned in the Garden of Eden, 08:19 and we see this free will come forth here. 08:22 Genesis 2, we'll be picking it up in verse 8. 08:26 "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, 08:30 and there He put the man whom He had formed." 08:31 Now that word garden comes in Hebrew from a root 08:34 meaning to be enclosed, to be fenced off, 08:37 to be protected. 08:40 The garden marks off a space where created order 08:42 and harmony is visible. 08:44 It's also a temple garden, 08:47 which was later represented by the tabernacle. 08:49 So both the tabernacle 08:51 and the garden that God created in the beginning, 08:53 the Garden of Eden was to serve 08:55 as a meeting place between God and humanity. 09:00 So the Lord God planted this garden in Eden. 09:03 Then we read verse 9. 09:06 "Out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree 09:08 grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. 09:11 The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, 09:15 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." 09:17 And here we see choice presented 09:19 right there at the very beginning. 09:21 The tree of life is also mentioned in Proverbs 09:23 and again in the Book of Revelation. 09:24 But the tree of knowledge of good and evil 09:26 is only mentioned here in Genesis. 09:27 Genesis 2 and Genesis Chapter 3. 09:30 So let's jump down to verse 15. 09:32 We're in Genesis 2:15. 09:34 We see the choice that's given, 09:36 free will to Adam and to Eve. 09:40 "The Lord God took the man 09:42 and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 09:46 And the Lord, God commanded the man, saying, 09:47 'Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat. 09:50 But at the tree of the knowledge of good 09:52 and evil, you shall not eat. 09:53 For the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.'" 09:57 So God's very clear, is He not? 09:59 No confusion. 10:00 No questioning of what's right and what's wrong, 10:03 or what am I supposed to do? 10:04 There's no ambiguity here, right? 10:08 I got that word, finally. No ambiguity. 10:10 It's clear. The choice is clear. 10:12 So what choice did Adam and Eve have? 10:14 Clearly, they had no choice about being created 10:17 and they had no choice even about being given 10:19 the gift of free will. 10:21 But the choice they had was eat of the tree of life 10:24 and choose eternal life, 10:25 or eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 10:28 which God said do not eat of it, and choose death. 10:33 Now they could have made either choice. 10:36 We know the choice they made. 10:38 They partook of the forbidden fruit 10:40 and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10:42 And let's look at the consequences 10:43 of that choice. 10:44 We're in Genesis 3, jump down to verse 22. 10:46 Of course, we have the whole story 10:48 of the temptation and the fall. 10:49 But let's just jump down to the consequences. 10:51 Genesis 3:22-24. 10:54 "The Lord God said, 'Behold, 10:55 the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. 10:59 And now lest he put out his hand 11:01 and take also of the tree of life, 11:04 and eat, and live forever.' 11:05 Therefore, the Lord God sent him out of the Garden 11:08 of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.'" 11:12 So he drove out the man. 11:14 The word drove means to drive out, to expel, to thrust out. 11:18 So God used force literally to drive out the man 11:22 and woman from the Garden of Eden. 11:25 Force is used to separate us from a Holy God. 11:28 "And he placed cherubim at the east 11:29 of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword 11:31 which turned every way, 11:32 to guard the way to the tree of life." 11:36 We see the consequences of their choice. 11:38 They had a choice before them. 11:39 They can choose eternal life. 11:41 They can keep eating of the tree of life, 11:43 or they can choose what God had said not to step into. 11:46 And they made the wrong choice, did they not? 11:48 And we see the consequences of that choice. 11:52 We see this appeal to choose life all through 11:56 the Word of God. 11:57 I think of Noah. 11:59 For 120 years, what did he preach? 12:00 Get on the boat. There is a flood coming. 12:03 There was a choice, free will. 12:04 And the people had free will. 12:06 Do you step on the boat 12:08 and accept life or do you accept death? 12:10 I think of Moses. 12:11 We just read that memory text in Deuteronomy, choose life. 12:14 The children of Israel had a choice. 12:16 They were just on the borders of the Promised Land, 12:18 just to stepping into that. 12:20 And they had a choice to walk with God 12:22 or to step back into idolatry. 12:25 I think of Elijah at Mount Carmel. 12:27 If the Lord be God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him. 12:30 And the people had a choice, again. 12:33 Who are we going to serve? 12:35 I think of Jesus, the Messiah. 12:37 I am the way, the truth, and the life. 12:38 And even down to today, we have a choice. 12:41 Are we going to accept Jesus and His way, 12:43 His plan of salvation, or are we not? 12:45 And all the way down to Revelation 22:17. 12:48 "The Spirit and the bride, they say, 'Come!' 12:50 And let him who hears come. 12:53 And let him who thirst come. 12:55 Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.'" 12:59 So I just want to appeal to you in my remaining moments, 13:02 make a choice for life. 13:04 Make a choice for Jesus. 13:06 Make a choice for eternal life. 13:09 And, you know, when we do that, 13:11 the first step is really the convicting 13:12 power of the Holy Spirit. 13:14 Because Romans 2:4, 13:15 "It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance." 13:17 So we don't even desire God. 13:19 We don't even want to turn back to Him without the drawing 13:21 power of the Holy Spirit. 13:23 John 16, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit 13:26 comes to bring conviction of sin, 13:29 righteousness, and judgment. 13:30 So the Holy Spirit brings conviction. 13:32 When Peter preached that apostolic Pentecostal 13:35 sermon in Acts Chapter 2, what did they say in verse 37? 13:39 "They were cut to the heart. 13:41 And they said, 'What shall we do?'" 13:43 That is the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. 13:45 And then once the Holy Spirit draws us, we don't resist. 13:49 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 13:51 He's faithful and just to forgive us 13:53 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 13:56 That is confession. That is justification. 13:59 We're brought back into right standing with Him. 14:02 And then Acts 26:18. 14:04 We'll close with this. 14:05 This is sanctification. 14:07 "To open their eyes in order to turn them from 14:08 darkness to light, 14:10 from the power of Satan to the power of God, 14:12 that they may receive forgiveness of sins 14:14 and an inheritance among those 14:16 who are sanctified by faith in Me." 14:19 So choose life. Praise the Lord. 14:22 That sets us up perfect for Monday's lesson. 14:24 My name is Ryan Day. 14:26 Monday's lesson is entitled, No Middle Ground. 14:30 As I was going through this lesson, 14:31 I realized that the majority, the vast majority 14:34 of the entire lesson was just showing 14:35 scriptural evidence for the fact that you cannot 14:38 deny that there are only two groups in the Bible. 14:41 You find yourself in one or two camps. 14:44 And so, my friends, we're about to ride on a roller coaster. 14:46 I hope you're in your seatbelts. 14:47 I hope you fasten those seatbelts 14:49 because I'm about to take us through one scripture 14:51 after another. 14:52 In fact, we might be four or five minutes into this 14:53 and you might be screaming at your television saying, 14:55 "Okay, Ryan, we get the point." 14:57 But, my friends, I think it needs to be clear. 15:00 We need to see the evidence in the scripture for ourself. 15:02 So here we go. 15:04 All through the Bible, we are presented 15:05 with one or two choices, 15:07 two options presented for us very, very clearly. 15:11 And I'm going to start with probably the most quoted verse 15:14 of all time, the most popular verse of all time, John 3:16. 15:19 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only 15:22 begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should 15:24 not perish but have everlasting life." 15:28 My friends, two groups presented here. 15:30 Either those who believe and put their trust in God 15:32 and therefore have eternal life, 15:34 or those who do not believe and who do not trust in God, 15:37 who will perish forever. 15:39 Two groups, my friends. There is no middle ground. 15:42 Let's go on to Genesis 7:22-23. 15:46 We see very clearly two groups presented 15:48 during the days of Noah. 15:50 We see there in verse 22, it says, 15:51 "All in whose nostrils was the breath 15:53 of the spirit of life, all that who was on the dry land, died. 15:57 So he destroyed all living things 15:58 which were on the face of the ground: 16:00 both man and cattle, creeping thing, 16:02 and bird of the air. 16:03 They were destroyed from the earth. 16:05 Only Noah and those who were 16:07 with him in the ark remained alive. 16:10 Even in Noah's day, those who heard 16:11 and responded to the gospel message, 16:13 that salvational message to get in the ark, 16:16 those people were saved. 16:17 And those people who were not in the ark, 16:19 they were not saved because they had rejected 16:21 the truth of God. 16:23 In that sense, my friends, there are two 16:24 groups presented here. 16:25 There is no middle ground. 16:27 Romans 6:23. 16:28 The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, 16:31 and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, 16:35 our Lord." 16:36 Very clearly presented. 16:37 Either you have eternal life in Christ because you have 16:40 received Him and you want to live, 16:42 or you live and are a slave to sin 16:44 and that slavery to sin brings death. 16:47 Two groups presented here, my friends. 16:49 There is no middle ground. 16:51 You're going to eventually start saying that with me 16:52 as we go along. 16:53 Romans 8:6, for to be carnally minded is what? 16:58 Is death. 16:59 But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 17:03 My friends, do you have the spiritual mind of Christ? 17:06 Have you submitted yourself to have the Spirit? 17:08 Are you full of the Spirit or do you have a carnal mind? 17:12 Are you a slave to the carnal world? 17:14 Two groups presented here in Romans Chapter 8. 17:16 And obviously, there is no middle ground. 17:20 1 John 5:12. 17:23 You're going to get this, I promise you. 17:24 The Bible makes it very clear. 17:26 "He who has the Son has life. 17:29 He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 17:32 I believe that could all be summed up 17:33 right there just in that one text. 17:35 Everything that we're about to say 17:36 can be summed up in 1 John 5:12. 17:39 You either have Jesus Christ in your life. 17:42 You have either made Him Lord of your life or you have not. 17:45 And therefore, if you have the Son, you have life. 17:47 But if you do not have the Son of God, 17:49 you do not have eternal life. 17:51 Two groups presented here. That's right. 17:52 There is no middle ground. 17:55 Even Jesus presents two groups in Matthew Chapter 7. 17:58 Actually, in a couple of passages of Matthew Chapter 7, 18:00 we see here in verse 21 of Matthew 7. 18:03 He says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' 18:05 shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 18:06 but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 18:09 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, 18:11 have we not prophesied in Your name, 18:13 and cast out demons in Your name, 18:15 and done many wonders in Your name?' 18:18 And then I would declare to them, 'I never knew you. 18:20 Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'" 18:24 Two groups presented here. 18:25 Either you do the will of the Father 18:27 and obey Him in keeping His commandments 18:30 because you are saved, or you are deceiving 18:33 yourself into believing you have a relationship with Him 18:35 when you do not know Him. 18:37 You know Him, or you don't know Him. 18:39 Two groups presented here. 18:40 There is no middle ground. 18:42 Right behind that, my friends, Matthew 7:24-27, 18:45 even more powerful. 18:47 Jesus says, "Therefore, whoever hears these sayings 18:49 of mine and does them, 18:50 well, I will liken him to a wise man 18:52 who built his house on the rock. 18:54 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 18:55 and the winds blew and beat up on the house. 18:57 And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 19:01 But everyone who hears these sayings of mine 19:03 and does not do them will be likened unto a foolish man 19:06 who built his house on the sand. 19:08 And the rains descended, the floods came, 19:10 and the winds blew and beat up on the house, 19:11 and it fell and great was its fall." 19:14 My friends, are you grounding your faith 19:16 and your life on the rock of Jesus Christ? 19:18 Are you in that camp? 19:19 Are you grounding your faith on the sands 19:22 of this carnal fallen world? 19:24 Two groups presented here. 19:25 There is no middle ground. 19:28 Matthew 13:37-38. 19:31 Jesus says here, 19:32 "And he answered and said to them, 19:34 'He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.'" 19:36 The field is the world, 19:37 the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, 19:40 but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 19:42 We see here Jesus giving the parable 19:44 of the wheat and the tares. 19:46 And it's very clear. 19:47 You're in one camp or the other. 19:49 You are either a part of God's whole wheat church, 19:51 or you are a part of those tares 19:52 who will be gathered and burned at the end of the world. 19:55 My friends, two groups presented right 19:57 here in Matthew 13:37-38. 20:01 Which group are you in? 20:02 You got to choose one or the other because there 20:04 is no middle ground. 20:06 Let's go on to Luke 9:23-25. 20:09 "Jesus says to them all, 20:10 'If anyone desires to come after me, 20:12 let him deny himself 20:14 and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 20:16 For whosever desires to save his life will lose it, 20:19 but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 20:22 For what profiteth a man if he gains the whole world 20:25 and is himself destroyed or lost?'" 20:27 My friends, either you are going to die to self, 20:30 take up that cross and follow Jesus Christ, 20:33 or you'll find yourself in the second camp of people 20:35 who will gain the world, yes, have temporary gain, 20:38 but they will lose their life in the end. 20:40 Two different groups of people mentioned here. 20:42 There is no middle ground. 20:44 Make a point of that. Make a note. 20:47 Matthew Chapter 25 very clearly presented here, 20:50 "The kingdom of God is likened unto 10 virgins 20:53 who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 20:55 Now five of them were wise and five were foolish." 20:58 My friends, you have two groups presented here. 21:01 But notice in verse 3, it says, 21:02 "Those who were foolish took their lamps 21:03 and took no oil with them. 21:05 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." 21:08 We know oil is likened unto the Holy Spirit. 21:10 It's a representation of the Holy Spirit. 21:12 Two groups presented here in Matthew 25:1-13, very clear. 21:16 You either have the Holy Spirit, 21:18 you're led by the Holy Spirit, 21:19 you're living according to the Holy Spirit, 21:21 or you reject the Holy Spirit in your life. 21:23 Two groups of people, my friends. 21:25 You can't deny it. And guess what? 21:27 There is no middle ground. 21:29 Even in that same passage, Matthew Chapter 25, 21:31 very clear, verse 32. 21:34 It says, "All the nations will gather before him, 21:36 and he will separate one from the other 21:38 as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 21:41 And he will set a sheep on his right hand 21:42 and the goats on the left. 21:44 And the king will say to those on his right hand, 21:46 'Come unto me blessed of the father. 21:48 Inherit the kingdom prepared for you for the foundation 21:51 or from the foundation of the world.'" 21:52 But notice verse 41 of Matthew 25. 21:55 It says, "Then he will also say to those on the left hand, 21:58 'Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire 22:01 prepared for the devil and his angels.'" 22:03 Are there two groups here? Yeah. 22:04 There's two groups. Guess what? 22:05 There is no middle ground. 22:07 You're either a sheep or you're a goat. 22:09 I'd rather be a sheep. 22:11 I'd rather be a sheep. 22:12 In this case, Luke Chapter 17, we see two groups here, 22:15 verse 34 through 36. 22:17 Jesus says, "I tell you, in that night there will be two 22:19 men in one bed. 22:21 The one will be taken and the other left. 22:22 The two women will be grinding together. 22:23 The one will be taken and the other left. 22:25 The two men will be in the field. 22:27 The one will be taken and the other left." 22:28 My friends, two groups of people here, 22:30 two camps of people at the second coming of Jesus. 22:32 Either you're going to be standing left there, 22:35 standing at the presence of the Lord when He returns, 22:38 or you're going to be taken. 22:40 Your life will be taken and scattered abroad 22:42 and you will become immediate bird feed. 22:44 You have two groups that you have to choose from. 22:46 Either you're going to be left alive 22:48 standing at the presence of Jesus, 22:50 or you're going to be taken, your life taken, 22:52 and you're going to lose your life eternally. 22:54 My friends, there is no middle ground. 22:56 The Bible makes that very clear. 22:58 There are several other texts I'm working through here. 23:01 I wanna get into Revelation. 23:02 Let's get into Revelation. My goodness. 23:04 Is there groups here in Revelation? 23:05 Two different groups here in Revelation. 23:07 We hear over and over in the beginning 23:09 chapters of Revelation, 23:10 "He who has an ear, let him hear 23:12 what the Spirit says to the church." 23:13 There's those who hear, right? 23:15 They hear and listen to the Spirit. 23:17 They hear Jesus knocking on the door of their heart 23:19 and they let Him in. 23:21 And then there's those who don't hear the Spirit. 23:22 They reject the leading guiding power of the Spirit. 23:24 And therefore, they do not invite Jesus into their heart. 23:27 Two groups of people, my friends. 23:29 No middle ground. 23:31 You get into Revelation Chapter 13 and 14. 23:33 You have the beast and the creator. 23:35 And the issue is worship. 23:37 Either you worship the beast, or you worship the creator, 23:39 the Lord your God. 23:41 Two groups of people. 23:42 No middle ground. 23:43 Revelation 15 and 16, two groups of people. 23:46 Those who receive the plagues and the wrath of God, 23:49 those who do not. 23:50 No middle ground. 23:51 When you get into Revelation Chapter 17 and 18, 23:54 God is talking about this harlot 23:55 who has deceived the world and made the world drunk 23:58 with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 24:00 Either you're drunk and confused 24:01 and you're stuck left in Babylon 24:03 because you're confused, or according to Revelation 18, 24:06 you come out of Babylon because you 24:07 listen to the Spirit and you will not receive 24:10 of her plagues. 24:11 No middle ground. 24:13 Revelation Chapter 20 and 21, 24:14 you're either inside the city of God that comes down, 24:17 or you're outside the city of God. 24:19 Two camps of people. 24:21 Either you are burned in the lake of fire, 24:23 or you are preserved and saved from the lake 24:25 of fire because you are His. 24:27 And when we get to Revelation 22, last chapter of the Bible. 24:30 Oh, either you are found in the kingdom of God, 24:34 eating from the tree of life because you have 24:37 done His commandments, 24:40 or you are not found in the kingdom of God. 24:43 You are cast out and you are left alone. 24:46 My friends, choose Jesus today. 24:48 Choose the right camp, because at the end of the day, 24:51 there is no middle ground. 24:54 Amen. Ooh, that was powerful. 24:56 Praise the Lord. There is no middle ground. 24:58 Thank you, Pastor Ryan. 24:59 We're going to take a break. 25:01 We'll be right back. Amen. 25:08 Ever wish you could watch 25:09 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 25:12 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 25:15 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com 25:20 A clean design makes it easy to find 25:22 the program you're looking for. 25:24 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:28 so you can follow along. 25:29 Sharing is easy. 25:31 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 25:34 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 25:39 Welcome back to our study on Choose Life. 25:42 And we're going to kick it over to Shelley. 25:43 She has Tuesday's lesson. 25:45 Oh, thank you so much. 25:46 Tuesday's lesson is Life and Good, Death and Evil, 25:51 Blessings and Cursing. 25:53 And there's no middle ground. 25:55 Moses had delivered three sermons to the generation 26:00 that's getting ready to go into the Promised Land. 26:02 And he's re-ratifying their covenant 26:06 commitment if you will. 26:07 But after his long discourse on the curses for disobedience 26:13 and violation of the covenant, 26:15 he sums it up 26:16 like this in Deuteronomy 30:14. 26:21 He sums up after this long 26:24 discussion on the curses. 26:28 I love this verse. 26:29 Deuteronomy 30:14, 26:31 "But the word is very near you. 26:37 It is in your mouth and in your heart." 26:42 Wow. 26:43 The word is in your mouth and in your heart. 26:45 It's got to be in your heart to be in your mouth, 26:48 but why that you may do it. 26:51 Anytime you see that, for that, 26:53 it's a purpose statement. 26:54 So he's saying God has revealed His mind 26:58 and His purposes through Moses' instructions. 27:01 And if the people would implant this word in their heart, 27:06 it has the power unto salvation. 27:10 Just like James says, 27:12 "The implanted word has the power into salvation." 27:16 So they were to put it in their heart, 27:19 speak it over their life. 27:21 And God's Word had such a clear message of His love 27:27 and His salvation. 27:28 They had all the choice. 27:30 I mean, all the truth necessary to make the right choice, 27:35 didn't they? 27:36 A decision whether they were going to live in God's love 27:41 or live under His curse. 27:43 So it was necessary that they made 27:47 this decision by a decision to do 27:53 His Word and walk in His covenant blessings. 27:56 Now let's look at Deuteronomy 30:15-16. 28:01 What Moses is doing here, 28:03 he's warning them about God rejecting. 28:08 If they rejected His way, that their evil disobedience 28:12 is going to bring some consequences. 28:14 Deuteronomy 30:15-16. 28:17 He says, "See, I have set before you today 28:21 life and good." 28:23 Oh, life and good. 28:24 I like that. 28:26 "Death and evil." 28:28 Oh boy, no middle ground. 28:31 "In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, 28:34 to walk in his ways 28:37 and to keep his commandments, and statutes, 28:40 and his judgments, that you may live and multiply. 28:43 And the Lord your God will bless you in the land 28:45 which you go to possess." 28:47 So he has summed up what Moses is doing here. 28:52 All the law of God that is written in the Book 28:55 of the Law, the Book of Deuteronomy. 28:58 He's summing it up. 28:59 There's two choices, life and death, 29:02 blessing and evil. 29:04 I mean, death and evil, life and blessing, 29:09 or death and evil. 29:10 No middle ground. 29:12 So what I wanted to point out, 29:18 the reason there is death 29:24 and evil. 29:25 When you disobey God, you no longer have God's 29:28 protection over you. 29:30 Deuteronomy 30:17. 29:37 Moses says, "If your heart turns away 29:39 so that you do not hear, 29:41 if you refuse this word that can save you, 29:44 if you are drawn away and worship other gods 29:47 and serve them, I announced to you this day, 29:49 you shall surely perish. 29:51 You shall not prolong your days in the land 29:54 which you cross over the Jordan to go and possess. 29:57 Now listen, I call heaven and earth 30:00 as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life 30:05 and death." 30:07 No middle ground. That's right. 30:08 "Blessing and cursing." 30:11 No middle ground, but it's your choice. 30:14 And then he says, "Therefore, choose life, 30:18 that both you and your descendants may live." 30:20 I said this has a personal application. 30:23 If you've ever watched Exalting His Word or read the book, 30:26 Exalting His Word, I've shared this testimony. 30:29 But I went through a period 30:33 of a year of 24/7 vertigo. 30:35 This was many, many years ago. 30:37 And I got to the point 30:40 with many other things that happened that I don't have 30:42 time to explain, but I got to the point 30:44 one night that I had an emotional identification 30:50 with the why of my 30:53 mother's suicide attempts. 30:57 I wasn't thinking of suicide, but I finally understood why. 31:02 And it was because there was no hope. 31:06 And so the next morning, God... 31:09 I was looking out over the fields 31:11 and the Lord said to me so clearly. 31:15 I mean, it wasn't an audible voice, 31:19 but it may as well have been. 31:21 What I heard was, "I set before you life and death. 31:25 Choose life." 31:26 And I said, "Lord, I have chosen life. 31:30 Jesus Christ is my Savior. 31:31 If you mean anything more than that, 31:33 you're going to have to explain it to me 31:35 'cause I'm in no condition to figure this out." 31:39 And that's when He said, "My words are not idle. 31:43 They are life to you. 31:46 Choose My words." 31:48 And you know what? 31:49 I got in the Bible and I had... 31:51 I couldn't even read after so many months 31:54 of this condition, 31:57 but I was in my Bible like this looking up scriptures. 32:01 I didn't even have a Strong's, didn't have any Bible software. 32:05 But I found those scriptures on healing 32:07 and I began to confess them. 32:09 And when I did, two weeks into it, it was kind of like, 32:13 nothing's changed yet. 32:16 Lord, am I not doing this in faith? 32:18 Did You not directly tell me to do this? 32:20 And then the Lord spoke 32:22 three scriptures to me that were life changing. 32:25 Isaiah 55:11 where He says, 32:28 "My word will not return to Me void. 32:32 It will accomplish every purpose for which I sent it." 32:34 Amen. 32:36 And Jeremiah 1:12, he said, 32:37 "I am watching over My word to perform it." 32:40 And then Romans 4:17 32:42 where he said, "God is the God 32:46 who gives life to the dead 32:48 and calls things that are not as though they were." 32:50 So there was a choice for these people. 32:53 They could choose life. 32:55 They could choose that word that was to be in their heart 32:59 and in their mouth, that they could do God's will, 33:03 that they could respond to His love and His covenant. 33:07 That's right. 33:09 Blessings with a reciprocal love. 33:10 That's what it's all about. 33:12 Or they... 33:13 It was their choice to suffer His consequences. 33:17 You know, that's what happens right now today. 33:21 People say, "Why did God do this? 33:22 Well, it's because it's your choice. 33:25 Now as creatures of free will just as Adam 33:30 and Eve at the tree of good and knowledge, 33:33 the same choice is given to Israel. 33:36 Let's... And you know, you point it out. 33:38 I'm going to read this again. 33:40 No, I don't have time to read it all. 33:44 where Jesus said either 33:48 the Son of God has been given for eternal life 33:52 or that you would perish. 33:55 And that's complete destruction. 33:57 But he goes on in verse 18. 34:00 He says, "He who believes in Him, 34:04 in Jesus, is not condemned. 34:06 But he who does not believe 34:08 is condemned already because he has 34:09 not believed in the name of the only 34:11 begotten Son of God." 34:12 And this is the condemnation, that light 34:14 has come into the world. 34:15 And men love darkness more than light 34:17 because their deeds were evil. 34:19 For everyone practicing evil hates the light. 34:24 Wow. 34:26 But he who comes to the light that his deeds 34:28 may be clearly seen, 34:30 they are those that have been done in God. 34:33 So Deuteronomy 34:36 30:20 says, 34:41 "That you may love the Lord your God, 34:44 that you may obey his voice, 34:47 and you may cling to him, for he is your life 34:53 and the length of your days." 34:56 See, Moses sets 34:59 before them the greatest commandment, 35:02 which is to love the Lord your God. 35:04 And that love 35:07 when he says love with all your heart, soul, 35:09 mind, and strength, 35:11 I can't do it in my own strength. 35:12 But Romans 5:5 says, 35:14 "He pours his love into our hearts by the power 35:16 of the Holy Spirit." 35:18 We even love by grace. 35:20 Isn't that amazing? Of course. 35:22 But there is a link between love for God 35:27 and obedience to God. 35:29 'Cause Jesus said, "If you love Me, 35:31 keep My commandments." 35:33 Amen. Thank you, Shelley. 35:35 Thank you, Shelly. 35:37 It's good to be on Wednesday 35:39 because I get an opportunity to glean 35:41 a little bit along the way. 35:43 I'm so glad I'm two seats from Ryan. 35:45 I would've been consumed by the heat because there 35:49 is no middle ground. 35:50 Praise the Lord for all that has been presented thus far. 35:52 And mine is exciting because it's entitled, 35:54 Not Too Hard for You. 35:57 I want to dive in. 35:58 I have seven points I want to make, 36:00 but I want to start with Jeremiah 32. 36:01 Now as we look at the history of the Israelites, 36:05 we should be filled with confidence that if God 36:08 could bring a people through, 36:10 as we pointed out on one of our prior lessons, 36:13 who didn't have character to be brought through, 36:16 they had no good on their own. 36:17 They couldn't even do good. 36:19 The Lord said, "I'm not giving you this land 36:20 because you're good or you're righteous in your own sight. 36:23 I'm doing this because the people around 36:25 you are more evil than you are." 36:27 So that's a terrible way to feel like you're getting 36:30 a Christmas gift because you've been good 36:31 all year long. 36:32 If I put all your behavior all year long, 36:34 you wouldn't get any gifts. 36:36 God looks at us and His grace 36:38 and His mercy are so compassionate towards us. 36:41 That's right. We are, as Shelley said... 36:42 And I want to go actually in one of our prior lessons, 36:45 what is God's grace giving us something we do not deserve. 36:50 Amen. 36:51 And I like this lesson because it's asking the question, 36:54 or answering the question. 36:56 There's nothing too hard for God, not too hard for you. 37:00 Jeremiah 32:27. 37:02 And the reason I chose Jeremiah 32 before my points 37:06 of takeaway is because I am... 37:09 I wouldn't say a student of, but I really appreciate 37:12 the Book of Job. 37:15 Now we think of the sufferings of Job. 37:17 But in the Book of Job, 37:18 the God that is unrestrained is revealed. 37:23 Yeah. And what do I mean by that? 37:25 When you think that there's something hard for God, 37:27 just dare to read Job Chapter 38. 37:31 I dare you to read it. 37:33 That's a double dare. That's right. 37:35 Because if you think that there's something hard for God, 37:38 let's just sit in Job's seat 37:40 and take the heat that came from his divine understanding 37:45 when Job had no choice. 37:47 He couldn't even run away. 37:48 God said, "Wait a minute." And I love this. 37:51 When Job thought that God was... 37:53 He didn't even blame God, but he was kind of bordering on it. 37:56 Why am I going through this? 37:58 And then after his friend, 38:00 Eli, who remind him of God's greatness, we find in Job 38. 38:04 And I'll read Jeremiah 32 in just a moment. 38:07 But I like the questions that God started asking Job. 38:10 "Who is this who darkens counsel by words 38:14 without knowledge? 38:16 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? 38:19 Tell Me, if you have understanding. 38:21 Who determined its measurements? 38:23 Surely, you know!" That's right. 38:25 And he says, "Have you commanded 38:27 the morning since your days began? 38:30 Have you entered the springs of the sea? 38:32 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? 38:35 Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? 38:37 Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? 38:40 Tell Me, if you know all this." 38:42 And that was just the beginning. 38:43 And I could say... 38:45 I could hear Job saying, "Okay, enough, enough." 38:46 And he said, "No, no, I'm not done yet. 38:47 Where is the way of the dwelling of light and darkness? 38:49 Where is its place? 38:51 Do you know it because you were born then? 38:54 Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen 38:57 the treasury of hail, 38:58 which I've reserved for the time 39:00 of trouble for the day of the battle and war? 39:02 Who has divided the channel for the overflowing waters? 39:06 Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades or lose 39:10 the belt of Orion?" 39:11 You're so smart, tell me how to do that. 39:13 God dressed him down. 39:14 "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds that an abundance 39:18 of water may cover you? 39:20 Can you send out lightning that they may know where to go? 39:23 Who has put wisdom in the mind? 39:25 And who has given understanding to the heart? 39:28 Can you number the clouds by wisdom? 39:30 Or can you pour out the bottles of water that it contain?" 39:33 God is saying, "You're really smart, Job. 39:36 Just stop complaining. 39:38 This is not going to be permanent. 39:40 You know, God's knowledge... 39:42 But God's mercy was what God 39:44 was trying to show to the children of Israel. 39:46 So my... 39:48 Jill, my seven points of takeaway. 39:50 I'm going to let you read Deuteronomy 30:1-10 yourself. 39:53 You need to do some homework, but here's 39:55 what I took away from that. 39:57 The first thing, God will extend His compassion 40:00 and mercy. 40:01 Praise God for that. 40:03 If He hadn't, would any of us be here? No. 40:04 We wouldn't be here. 40:06 Here's the response to that. 40:07 Psalm 86:15. 40:08 God will extend His compassion and mercy. 40:10 Psalm 86:15, 40:12 "But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, 40:16 and gracious, longsuffering, 40:19 and abundant in mercy and truth." 40:22 Praise the name of God for that. 40:24 Amen. 40:26 Compassionate, gracious, longsuffering, 40:28 and abundant in mercy and truth. 40:30 And yet in all of that, His law isn't changing, 40:34 as He isn't changing. 40:35 The second point, God will bring His people 40:38 back from captivity. 40:40 I remember being on one of these Sabbath School lessons 40:42 when Jill talked about how God brought the children 40:45 of Israel out of Egypt, 40:47 and how beautiful it was when you unfolded that. 40:49 That He didn't bring them out because there was some 40:51 good people that needed to be delivered 40:52 from bad people. 40:54 He brought them out because He wanted to make them 40:57 a treasure in the earth. 40:58 Amen. Deuteronomy 30:3. 41:00 God brings His people back. 41:02 He says, "That the Lord your God will bring you 41:05 back from captivity." 41:06 And every one of us in one degree or another 41:09 has been brought back from the captivity of sin, 41:12 the captivity of bad habits, 41:14 the captivity of our own desires. 41:17 Every one of us have been delivered, Jill, 41:20 from our Egypt. 41:21 That's right. Praise God. 41:23 He's able to deliver. 41:24 And it says, "That the Lord God will bring you 41:27 back from captivity, and have compassion on you, 41:30 and gather you again from all the nations 41:34 where the Lord your God has scattered you." 41:36 Now the gathering 41:38 is because He did the scattering. 41:40 God sometimes scatter because sometimes 41:43 we're not good when we all live in the same community. 41:45 That's why sometimes it's not good. 41:47 And I want to say this in context of Adventism. 41:49 It's not good to be in Adventist ghetto, 41:51 because it sometimes kills our witness. 41:53 We don't have people to talk to God about because we feel 41:56 we all know Him. 41:57 God had to scatter them that He may reveal 42:00 Himself to them. 42:01 Amen. 42:03 The third point, God will prosper 42:04 and multiply your prosperity more than He multiplied 42:09 the prosperity of their ancestors. 42:11 Deuteronomy 30:5, 42:13 "Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land 42:15 which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. 42:19 He will prosper you 42:21 and multiply you more than your fathers." 42:24 So if you want to know how God is saying, 42:26 I could do for you better than what I did for them. 42:28 And you might say, "Man, my dad had it good, 42:30 my mom had it good, but look at how good I have it." 42:33 Now I say that in context of, 42:36 I don't want to go back to the technology 42:37 of my father or the technology of my grandfather, 42:40 do you, James? 42:42 Not right now. Not right now. 42:44 Not today. 42:45 They had some advantages. 42:47 Now we look back at maybe even 20 years ago and we say, 42:50 "How did we get around without a GPS? 42:53 How did we find our way?" 42:54 Knowledge is increasing. 42:56 But what's more beautiful than technological knowledge 42:59 is the knowledge that God can do exceedingly, 43:03 abundantly above all that we can ask or think 43:07 according to the power 43:08 that is at work in His children's lives. 43:11 Point number four, God will bless those that bless you 43:15 and curse those that curse you. 43:19 How do we get blessings? 43:21 Proverbs 28:13. 43:22 Let's talk about the blessing part. 43:24 Not going to spend time on the cursing. 43:26 God will take care of that. But look at the blessing. 43:29 "He who covers his sin will not prosper, 43:33 but whoever confesses 43:34 and forsakes them will have mercy." 43:36 When you confess your sin, God will have mercy on you 43:40 and God will bless you. 43:42 Don't seek to be in sin and to receive God's blessings. 43:45 The two don't mesh because there is no middle ground. 43:50 Number five, God will make your work expand and abound. 43:53 2 Corinthians 9:8. 43:55 Only God can do that. 43:57 The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:8 about God expanding 44:00 and abounding our work. 44:01 "And God is able to make all grace abound towards you, 44:05 that you always having all sufficiency and all things, 44:09 may have an abundance for every good work." 44:13 That's the story of 3ABN. 44:14 Why are we still here 35 years later? 44:16 Because God knows how to increase abundance 44:19 and prosper the work that is for His glory. 44:21 Point number six, God will increase your livestock 44:24 and the fruit of your vineyard. 44:25 Malachi 3:11, "A blessing to those 44:27 who are honest in tithe and offering. 44:29 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes 44:32 so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, 44:36 nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, 44:40 says the Lord of hosts." 44:42 That's right. 44:43 God can prosper you financially, socially, 44:45 spiritually, physically and every other way 44:47 if you are simply obedient to God's plan for prosperity. 44:50 And the last point, point number seven, 44:52 God will rejoice over those that are obedient to him. 44:55 Zephaniah 3:17. 44:57 Find that quickly. 44:58 He says, "The Lord your God in your midst, 45:02 the Mighty One will save you. 45:04 He will rejoice over you with gladness. 45:07 He will quiet you with His love. 45:09 He will rejoice over you with singing." 45:12 That moved my heart to think that God loves me so much, 45:15 that He'll rejoice over me 45:16 and just sing because of His love for me. 45:19 Praise His holy name. 45:21 You know why He can do that? 45:22 Because there's nothing too hard for God. 45:25 Amen. Amen. 45:26 Thank you, John. 45:28 Thank you, Shelley, and Ryan, and Jill, 45:29 what a blessing this lesson is, Choose Life. 45:32 I have Thursday's lesson. 45:33 My name is Pastor James Rafferty. 45:35 And the question for Thursday's lesson is, 45:37 A Question of Worship. 45:39 And Cliff knocked it out again. 45:40 So we're just going to read the introduction 45:42 here to our lessons. 45:43 Central to the covenant relationship between 45:46 the Lord and Israel was worship. 45:49 What made them different from all the world 45:51 around them was that they alone as a nation 45:54 were worshiping the true God, 45:57 as opposed to the false gods and the goddesses 45:59 of the pagan world, 46:00 which were really no gods at all. 46:03 Deuteronomy 32:30, 46:04 "Now see that I even I am he 46:07 and there is no God besides me." 46:11 So the author, Cliff Goldstein... 46:13 I call him Cliff, 'cause he's a friend of mine. 46:15 He gives us a number of verses here 46:17 and I'm not going to read them all. 46:18 We're not going to read them all. 46:19 But Deuteronomy 4:19, Deuteronomy 8:19, 46:21 Deuteronomy 11:16, Deuteronomy 30:17. 46:25 And then he asked this question and he says, 46:27 "What is the common warning in all of these verses? 46:31 And why is this warning 46:32 so essential to the nation of Israel?" 46:34 Well, the common warning in all of these verses 46:36 is don't worship other gods. 46:38 That's right. 46:39 Don't worship other gods, 46:41 don't worship the heavens as God, 46:42 don't worship anything as God but me. 46:45 That's the common warning in all of these verses. 46:48 Why is this warning essential to the nation of Israel? 46:50 Because 40 days out of Sinai, they were worshiping 46:53 the golden calf. 46:55 Because not long after that, they were worshiping 46:57 the brazen serpent that they were 46:58 supposed to look to to live, which was a representation 47:01 of this plan of salvation, Christ on the cross. 47:03 They were worshiping that as an idol. 47:06 The reason why these verses are so important 47:08 is because our natural tendency is to worship ourselves. 47:13 The idols that we form are really 47:15 a form of worship of ourselves. 47:17 That's right. That's true. 47:18 American Idol is a form of worship. 47:20 You know, we have idols today that we worship. 47:21 We worship sport stars, and we worship movie stars, 47:25 and we worship music stars, and we worship 3ABN stars. 47:30 Ooh. It's true. 47:32 1 Corinthians 3, 47:33 Paul is talking to the church in Corinth and he says, 47:35 "Why are you following after and focusing on men? 47:39 Why are you focusing on Cephas? 47:41 And why are you focusing on Apollo? 47:42 So why are you focusing on Paul? 47:43 What is all of this man focus, this man worship? 47:46 You're carnally minded when you think that way. 47:48 It's our natural tendency to worship 47:52 others because really we're worshiping ourselves. 47:55 It's our natural tendency to worship 47:56 idols because really, excuse me, 47:58 we're worshiping ourselves. 48:00 God has directed us to who we really should worship, 48:04 and that is Jesus Christ. 48:05 In fact, in Daniel Chapter 12, 48:07 we're told that we're not to be movie stars, 48:09 we're not to be rock stars, 48:10 we're not to be political stars. 48:14 We are to be stars that shine as the brightness 48:17 of the firmament forever that point 48:19 people to Jesus Christ, to our righteousness, 48:23 to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 48:25 We are to reflect that light of His righteousness. 48:28 So it's so important. 48:30 It's so vital for us 48:32 to understand this question of worship. 48:34 And so we go on into this lesson 48:37 and we find out that one of the reasons 48:38 why God doesn't want us to worship other gods 48:41 is because we're told in Deuteronomy 5:9. 48:45 And in the Ten Commandments, that Deuteronomy 5 48:48 is a repeat of the Ten Commandments, correct? 48:50 So Deuteronomy 5 tells us that our God is a jealous God. 48:55 He's a jealous God. 48:56 So, you know, in relationships, there's this jealousy factor. 49:00 And, of course, in human relationships, 49:02 the jealousy factor is all about me. 49:05 I am jealous because you are doing 49:07 something that affects me, that makes me feel insecure. 49:10 That is... 49:11 It pull it away from your attention to me. 49:12 But with God, the jealousy factor's 49:15 a little bit different. 49:17 You know, Paul says in 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, 49:19 that I'm jealous over you with godly jealousy. 49:23 God is other centered. 49:24 God is selfless. 49:26 And so God's jealousy is about us. 49:29 He's jealous for us because He doesn't 49:31 want us to be harmed. 49:33 He doesn't want us to be hurt. 49:34 He doesn't want us to come outside of that boundary 49:38 of His law because He knows there's evil out there. 49:41 He knows there's pain out there. 49:42 He knows there's sorrow out there. 49:44 So when God says, "I'm a jealous of God," 49:45 He's saying, "I don't want you to worship other gods 49:47 because I know what that's going to do to you." 49:49 Look what it does to the idols we worship. 49:51 Look what it does to the stars we worship. 49:53 Think about people whose lives have been 49:54 devastated because we worship them, 49:57 and we are responsible for that. 49:58 The more that you get in line to worship that idol, 50:02 that person, that star, the more responsible 50:05 you're going to be for the detrimental 50:07 effects it has upon them. 50:08 Amen. God didn't make us to be worshiped. 50:10 That's right. None of us. 50:12 God is the only one to be worshiped because 50:14 He's the only one that is the Creator God. 50:17 And so God is jealous for us because God cares about us. 50:21 He cares about what's going to happen to us 50:23 outside of His boundary, outside of His love. 50:26 And this issue of worship comes all the way down to the very 50:30 last book of the Bible. 50:32 Ryan pointed out so powerfully, 50:34 I think, that there's no middle ground. 50:37 And that's what we see in Revelation 50:39 Chapters 13 and 14. 50:40 So Cliff asked us to read Revelation 13:1-15 50:43 and focus on the question of how worship 50:45 is being presented there. 50:46 And then contrast those verses with Revelation 14:6-12. 50:51 What is happening here in Revelation that reflects 50:53 the warning given in Deuteronomy 50:55 and all through the scriptures about false worship? 50:58 Well, what is happening here 50:59 and how does that tie into God being a jealous 51:02 God being concerned about us 51:04 more than He is even about Himself? 51:05 Well, in Revelation 13:10 51:08 and 12, we're told that the worship of this world 51:12 as it consummates in this beast power that makes 51:16 an image to this other beast power. 51:18 And beast in Revelation and prophecy represent 51:20 earthly powers or kingdoms. 51:21 The issue here in these two verses is force. 51:26 There is a force that is being leveled 51:31 against people in Revelation 13:10 and 12. 51:34 And force is the exact opposite of freedom. 51:37 Coercion is the exact opposite of freedom. 51:40 God made us in His image. 51:42 God is love. 51:44 And that love involves freedom, 51:46 freedom to love or not to love because love cannot be forced. 51:49 And so the very essence of God's being is this love, 51:52 is this liberty. 51:54 That's why we're told in 2 Corinthians 3:17, 51:55 "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." 51:58 There's freedom. 52:00 That's an indication that God is there, 52:01 that God is present there. 52:03 And so there is no God in this beast. 52:04 There's no God in this image worship in the end 52:07 of time because it is a power of force. 52:10 That's right. 52:12 And then it says in verses 13 and 14, there is deception. 52:16 These are the very issues we're dealing with today. 52:18 I mean, this is so timely. 52:19 This quarterly is so timely for us. 52:21 This subject is so timely to us because we're dealing 52:23 today with force and coercion. 52:25 We're dealing today with deception. 52:26 And in verse 15, we're dealing today with bodily harm, 52:30 that we're dealing today with this economic pressure. 52:33 Verses 16 and 17, its economic pressure that says 52:36 you can't buy or sell that's forcing us, 52:38 that's taking away our choice, taking away our liberty, 52:41 taking away our freedom. 52:42 And taking away liberty, you're taking away the Spirit of God. 52:45 In contrast to that, we have Revelation Chapter 14. 52:48 And what does it say? 52:49 Worship God because the everlasting gospel 52:52 motivates you to do that. 52:54 See the everlasting gospel comes before 52:56 the call to worship. 52:57 The everlasting gospel comes before the call to fear. 52:59 The everlasting gospel comes before the call to judgment. 53:01 The everlasting gospel comes before 53:03 the call to give glory to God because the everlasting gospel 53:06 is the motivation for all of that. 53:08 And to summarize the everlasting gospel, 53:10 we can simply say Christ hanging on the cross. 53:14 That is the gospel. 53:15 That's our message, that's our hope, that's our warning. 53:18 It's good. 53:19 That's our encouragement, 53:20 Christ hanging on upon the cross. 53:22 And so we have this contrast, these two groups, 53:24 and they're separated by the principles of coercion, 53:27 and force, economic pressure. 53:29 You can't buy or sell in contrast to liberty, 53:33 love, the everlasting gospel, the call of Christ. 53:37 If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. 53:41 So Cliff closes out here in our lesson. 53:43 He says, "However different the context, 53:46 the issue is the same. 53:48 Will people worship the true God and have life, 53:50 or will they succumb to the pressures? 53:53 Either covert... 53:55 I mean, overt, or subtle, or both, 53:57 to turn their allegiance away from Him and face death?" 54:01 He continues, "Ultimately, the answer lies 54:04 within each individual heart." 54:07 God did not force ancient Israel to follow Him 54:10 and He won't force us. 54:12 And as we see it in Revelation 13, force is what the beast 54:15 and his image will employ. 54:17 God in contrast works by love. 54:22 There's one verse that I want to close this out 54:23 with now because I think it's so important, perhaps, 54:26 maybe overlooked. 54:27 We're going to look at 1 Timothy 6:10. 54:31 1 Timothy 6:10, because this is going to help to guide us. 54:36 I think God's Word can guide us in these difficult times. 54:39 This verse in 1 Timothy 6:10 54:42 is going to help to guide us in the time in which we live. 54:46 It says here, "For the love of money 54:48 is the root of all evil, 54:52 which while some have coveted after, 54:54 they have erred from the faith and pierced 54:57 themselves through with many sorrows." 54:59 God doesn't want us to err from the faith. 55:01 God doesn't want us to be pierced through 55:02 with many sorrows. 55:03 God doesn't want us to love money. 55:05 God doesn't want us to be so dependent on money 55:07 that when the economic pressure comes, 55:09 we're going to succumb. 55:10 Where we're going to lose, 55:12 we're going to give up our freedom, 55:13 our liberty, we're going to give up our freedom 55:15 of choice and we're going to choose to go along with 55:16 the beast and receive his mark. 55:17 God wants us to free us from all of that. 55:19 And the only way we can be free indeed 55:22 is through Jesus Christ, our Savior. 55:24 He has come to set us free. 55:26 And when the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed. 55:29 Choose Jesus and you will have the freedom 55:31 and the liberty to stand in this crisis ahead. 55:34 Amen. Thank you all so much. 55:36 What an incredible lesson. Praise the Lord. 55:38 Want to give each one of you a moment to share 55:39 about your day or something else. 55:41 Amen. 55:42 Romans 6:16, "Do you not know that to whom you present 55:45 yourselves slaves to obey, 55:47 you are that one's slave whom you obey, 55:49 whether of leading to sin 55:51 or of obedience leading to righteous... 55:54 Or sin leading to death, 55:56 or obedience leading to righteousness?" 55:58 There's two groups, no middle ground. 56:00 I just wanted to make a quick correction on the scripture 56:03 reference, for God watches over His word. 56:07 That's Jeremiah 1:12. 56:09 I want to leave you with this thought. 56:11 Deuteronomy 30:14, 56:13 "The word is near you, it's in your mouth, 56:17 it's in your heart, that you may do it." 56:19 And I'm going to make a little 56:21 turn here because when I think about, 56:22 is there anything too hard for God? 56:24 This brings me comfort. 56:26 Then Psalm 27:1, 56:28 "The Lord is my light and my salvation. 56:30 Whom shall I fear? 56:31 If there's nothing difficult for Him, 56:33 I fear no one but God." 56:35 Amen. Just along those same lines. 56:37 We're told that God's love cast out fear. 56:40 Perfect love cast out all fear. 56:42 When we bring God into our hearts, the fear is diminished. 56:45 The fear goes out. 56:46 Amen. 56:47 Thank you so much Pastor James, Pastor John, Shelley, 56:50 and Pastor Ryan. 56:51 Thank you for your knowledge of the Word and for sharing it. 56:54 And we thank for joining us at home. 56:56 I want to leave you with 56:57 a scripture that I quoted earlier. 56:59 This is Revelation 22, last book of the Bible, 57:02 last chapter, verse 17. 57:04 "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' 57:06 Let him who hears come. 57:09 Let him who is of thirst come. 57:12 Whoever desires, 57:13 take of the water of life freely." 57:15 So we want to encourage you today to choose life. 57:19 We also want to encourage you to join us 57:21 next week for 3ABN's Sabbath School Panel, 57:24 where we will be studying lesson number nine, 57:27 Turn Their Hearts. |
Revised 2021-11-18