1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,840 Well, good morning, Saints of God, How were we today? 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:07,720 Good, good. Well, our message for today. 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:08,800 Can you hear me? OK? 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,960 I'm talking through my clip on microphone. 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:13,840 There you go. I think I'm hearing it now. 6 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,160 So we're continuing on with our sermon series and in the on the 7 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,320 three angels message. And even though there are three 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,000 messages, this is only, this is the third message, but it's 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,920 going to focus on the second angels message because the first 10 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:34,160 message was an overview. The second sermon was on the 11 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:36,480 first angel's message. And this is the third sermon. 12 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:37,840 So it's going to focus on the second. 13 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,240 So just so you're not confused, so the title is a special 14 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,160 message for a Special Time Part 3. 15 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:50,080 And of course, we want to welcome all of our guests and 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,480 visitors who follow us online. We love having you with us here 17 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,760 and we're so blessed to have you watching us. 18 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,880 And these are some of the platforms that we use, all of 19 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:03,400 the platforms I believe that we use. 20 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,120 Our website is Middletown, Portland, sda.com. 21 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:13,600 You can follow us at YouTube at MPs DAC, Facebook at MPSDAC, 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:20,280 Instagram at MPSDAC, Threads at MPSDAC, and then my personal 23 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,760 channel is Path of Prophecy, so you can follow there. 24 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:25,680 So like to begin with a word of prayer. 25 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,920 And we had a special incident last week where I was supposed 26 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,120 to preach this message, but for some reason it didn't get 27 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:33,880 preached. I can talk to you about that at 28 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,880 potluck. I won't burden you with that 29 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,720 story right now, but I believe that God bless. 30 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,120 So I don't know whether the the devil didn't want that message 31 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,880 preached or God wanted a different message preached, but 32 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,280 nonetheless, we want to start with a word of prayer. 33 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:49,880 So let's begin this message with a word of prayer. 34 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,040 Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for 35 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,560 your goodness and your tender mercies. 36 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,800 Lord, there is precious light that is in your scripture and 37 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,960 we're living. We recognize that we live in a 38 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,520 very, very Dark World, a world in which there's much turmoil, 39 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,320 in a world in which the love of many is waxing cold and we are 40 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,680 looking for answers. There are many people looking 41 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,720 for answers to the questions of this life. 42 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,640 And it's my prayer that what is shared here today would shed 43 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:25,720 precious light upon our minds. I pray that my lips would be 44 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,520 anointed to proclaim your word. And we also pray, Father, that 45 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,280 the blessing of your Holy Spirit would give us comprehension and 46 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:38,360 understanding and insight and discernment over what is shared 47 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,840 so that we can apply it to our own lives. 48 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,360 And we thank you, Father, for hearing and answering this 49 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,640 prayer in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. 50 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,920 So I have a book in my collection titled Alcohol All 51 00:02:53,920 --> 00:03:00,400 Risk, No Benefits, and it was edited by Doctor Peter Landis, 52 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,240 the former General Conference Health Ministries director, and 53 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,640 Doctor Dwayne McBride, and it's published by Pacific Press. 54 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:11,280 A little book, short little book, easy reading, but just a 55 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,760 very powerful book about the dangers of alcohol. 56 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,360 Now here's what it says on page 13 of the introduction to that 57 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,080 book. It says a few years ago some 58 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,600 research findings indicated that one or two drinks of an 59 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,680 alcoholic beverage was related to reduced risk of heart 60 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,920 disease. This was often called the French 61 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,880 paradox because of the apparent low cardiac risks for the French 62 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,040 population who drank moderate amounts of wine and also 63 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:49,280 consumed a high animal fat diet. These findings were often used 64 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,760 by individuals to justify their personal alcohol use and by the 65 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,160 alcohol industry to tout the health benefits of moderate 66 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,800 alcohol use. Their efforts resulted in 67 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,840 governments defining moderate use of alcohol as part of a 68 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,440 healthful diet. However, the the statement goes 69 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,320 on. However, there were major 70 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,240 methodological problems with the findings that alcohol was 71 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,040 beneficial to health. The definition, for example the 72 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,440 definition of who was a non drinker was not clear because 73 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,440 those who stopped using alcohol and because of the health 74 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,440 consequence consequences were included with non drinkers. 75 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,200 Other positive health and health risk behaviors were also often 76 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:44,960 not included in this research. Now the most recent research has 77 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:50,520 shown that there is no safe level of alcohol use. 78 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:55,160 How much safe level is there? None No safe level of alcohol 79 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:00,440 use and that alcohol has no heart health benefits. 80 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,600 How many heart health benefits does alcohol have? 81 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,280 None. OK, measurable health 82 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:11,200 consequences exist for any level of alcohol use among all age 83 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,240 groups. These include cancer rates, 84 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,760 heart disease, and stroke. And what the editors point out 85 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,880 in their introduction is that there is no safe level of 86 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,760 drinking alcohol of any kind of any kind. 87 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,320 Beer, hard liquor and wine. And there is certainly no 88 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,800 benefit. Thus the title Alcohol, all 89 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:36,480 risk, but no benefits. OK, so any amount of drinking 90 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,920 alcohol puts you and potentially others at risk. 91 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,720 Now with that, I want to share the following with you as it 92 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,920 relates to how we can best understand the second of the 93 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,160 three Angels messages. Amen. 94 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,640 The second of the three Angels message. 95 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:01,960 Here's what it has to say, and I'm going to have to use the 96 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,440 manual clicker here. So while there are many dangers 97 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:11,240 to drinking alcoholic beverages, one of the hidden dangers of 98 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,520 alcoholic wine is its seductive power. 99 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:25,480 OK wine, alcoholic wine has a seductive power to it, OK, And 100 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,720 we want to be aware of that. There's many dangers, as the 101 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,000 book shares. There's no benefits, all risks, 102 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,600 no benefits to drinking alcohol. But one of the dangers, the 103 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:41,280 hidden dangers, particularly with with wine, is it has a 104 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,200 seductive characteristic about it. 105 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,720 Listen to the council of Scripture on this subject, 106 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,000 coming from none other than King Solomon, considered to be the 107 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,560 wisest man whoever lived. Can you imagine that if, if, if 108 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,120 you ever had a chance to meet and mingle with the wisest 109 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,240 person, whoever lived, you would want to sit at their feet and 110 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,440 take notes? OK. 111 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,480 And here's what he had to say about wine. 112 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,160 He says do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles 113 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,520 in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly. 114 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:21,560 At the last, it bites like a serpent and stings like a Viper. 115 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,880 Solomon gave this warning about the dangers of wine. 116 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,160 Why is that? Because wine creates a physical 117 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:34,120 danger for our health and the health of others. 118 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:37,960 You know, if we drink alcohol, it not only impacts us, but it 119 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:44,640 impacts those around us. OK, here's also what Solomon had 120 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,120 to say. King Solomon he said this wine 121 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,480 is a mocker, strong drink, a brawler, and whoever is LED 122 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:57,680 astray by it is not wise OK is not wise. 123 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,800 So here in this instance, Solomon is using Hebrew poetry 124 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,080 to make a point. Wine and strong drink Alcoholic 125 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,280 beverages have specific qualities about them that are 126 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,120 not positive. And when you partake of 127 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:18,360 alcoholic beverages, including why wine, Solomon makes the 128 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:24,320 judicial statement here that if you partake of these substances, 129 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:30,240 you are not wise. You're not wise, OK. 130 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,240 In the Bible, God is warning us about the dangers of partake. 131 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,400 Excuse me, didn't mean to jump ahead there. 132 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,400 God is warning us about the dangers of partaking of 133 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,600 alcoholic beverages, including wine, because of what it does to 134 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,840 the individual and who partakes of them makes a mocker of you. 135 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,880 It makes it gets starts fights, OK? 136 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,400 Those who drink strong drink are known for getting into fights. 137 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,960 Those who indulge in wine have earned the reputation of being 138 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,440 winos or drunks and people mock them, OK. 139 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,720 Solomon summarizes his point in the second-half of the verse, 140 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,080 telling us that the danger of these types of beverages is that 141 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,600 they can lead you where they can lead you astray. 142 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,840 So there is a danger to alcoholic beverages, 143 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,320 particularly wine, because of its seductive nature. 144 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,720 Because you think that, oh, I'm going to be having a good time 145 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,400 with it. But in reality, it does what? 146 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,480 It leads astray. It leads you astray. 147 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,640 It gets us to wander off the path. 148 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,080 OK, now this understanding is important. 149 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,760 This understanding what I just shared with you, what Solomon 150 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,840 had to say, plus what the science has to say is this. 151 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,520 This is important for us to understand because it helps 152 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:58,000 clarify why the apostle John employs the word wine to 153 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,680 describe how it leads to the demise of modern Babylon. 154 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:09,760 OK, of modern, modern Babylon, listen to what John had to say. 155 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,760 Millie read it to us just a few moments ago and another Angel 156 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,520 followed saying Babylon is fallen. 157 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:24,000 Is fallen that great city because she has made all 158 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,080 nations, how many nations, all nations drink of the wine of the 159 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,200 wrath of her fornication. Wow. 160 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:38,560 That is what the Bible tells us. That's what John wrote for our 161 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:45,240 benefit on that lonely rock out in the Aegean Sea in the OR in 162 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,880 the the Eastern Mediterranean on the Isle of Patmos when he was 163 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:51,840 banished there by the Roman Empire. 164 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:57,280 In vision he saw this, and another Angel followed, saying, 165 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,840 Babylon is fallen. Is fallen that great city? 166 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,240 Why? Because she has made all nations 167 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,440 drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 168 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,800 Now I know that we have a mixed multitude here with us, people 169 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,960 from all, no, not all nations of the world, but many nations of 170 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,240 the world. The Philippines is represented. 171 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:22,920 Amen. If you're from the Philippines 172 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,280 or have Philippine ancestry, raise your hand. 173 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:27,320 Come on, Joy. There you go. 174 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,320 Yeah, There you go. Yeah, There you go. 175 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,200 So our Filipino people are are represented. 176 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,000 Now, in this Bible passage, it says all nations drink of the 177 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:38,560 wine of the wrath of her fornication. 178 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,000 Would that include the Philippines? 179 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,240 That would include the Philippines. 180 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,120 OK. We have some people, I believe 181 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,360 from Brazil. Anybody from Brazil represented 182 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:50,960 or if you have Brazilian ancestry in you. 183 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,000 Yes. Raise your hands. 184 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:54,080 Amen. Amen. 185 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,840 All right. So the statement is she has made 186 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,840 all nations, Babylon has made all nations drink the wine of 187 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,120 the wrath of her fornication. Would that include Sister 188 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,400 Mallory? Would that include Brazil, your 189 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:08,960 beloved country, your home country? 190 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,520 Yes. Sadly, that would include that. 191 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,960 OK, Anybody from the United States of America born here in 192 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:18,840 these United States. Amen. 193 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,440 Yeah. Uncle Sam and apple pie. 194 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:23,760 Amen. Amen. 195 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,080 But sadly folks, sadly this statement from the Bible also 196 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,680 includes the United States. OK, very sobering fact. 197 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,480 Listen to it again. And another Angel followed 198 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:42,440 saying Babylon is fallen and has fallen that great city because 199 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:47,760 she has made all nations, including the Philippines, 200 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:52,360 Brazil, the United States and all nations of the world drink 201 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:56,000 the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 202 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,240 So here's a question I have for you. 203 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:06,320 What exactly is this wine that Babylon invites the nations of 204 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:11,160 the world to partake of? OK, is that a fair question? 205 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:16,840 What exactly is this wine? We're we saw that the science 206 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:22,240 tells us that alcoholic beverages leads to 0 benefits, 207 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:27,480 all risk but zero benefits. And that Solomon made the 208 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,040 observation that the danger, particularly with wine, is that 209 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,720 it can, it has this seductive power and it can lead people 210 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:39,120 astray. So we want to know exactly what 211 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:45,760 is the content of this wine? OK, well, hang on a second here. 212 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,360 Hang on a second here. Hang on a second. 213 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,480 I prepared a whole sermon to unpack this, so don't get ahead 214 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:56,240 of me, brother. All right, OK. 215 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,800 Babylon's wine is its seductive power employed over the nations 216 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,000 of the world. We're told that this wine is 217 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,880 given to all the nations of the world. 218 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,480 And in order for these nations to partake and to join in with 219 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,680 Babylon would mean that they have been seduced. 220 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:23,920 They have been seduced, OK. And so the wine of Babylon, 221 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:30,800 Babylon's wine, is its seductive power that she employs over the 222 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:32,480 nations. I'm going to unpack it further, 223 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:34,240 but just be patient here with it. 224 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,960 What do I mean by this? Well, here's what the Bible 225 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,160 says. Jeremiah chapter 51, verse 7, 226 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:45,120 Babylon, talking about ancient Babylon, not modern day Babylon. 227 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:49,520 Ancient Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand. 228 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,760 What kind of a cup? A golden cup in the Lord's hand 229 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:58,160 that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. 230 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,120 Therefore the nations are what? Deranged. 231 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,160 That's what the text tells us. OK, all the nations became 232 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,320 deranged, or you know what we would say in the modern 233 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,880 parlance, drunk. OK, they became intoxicated 234 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:19,640 under the influence of drinking from Babylon's golden cup. 235 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,080 The prophet Jeremiah wrote that this wrote this prophecy about 236 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,240 ancient Babylon when it was at the peak of its power. 237 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,080 The wine of Babylon had the ability to seduce the nations to 238 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,760 come under her influence and her authority. 239 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:39,800 And what the wine of ancient Babylon was to the nations of 240 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:45,600 the world in its day, so is the wine of modern Babylon to the 241 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:50,840 nations of the world in our day. Just as the nations of the world 242 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:56,960 in Jeremiah's time were seduced by Babylon, so the nations in 243 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,240 today's world are seduced by modern Babylon. 244 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:06,000 OK, Well, how is that possible? How is that possible? 245 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,920 Well, here's what it says. For all the nations have drunk 246 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:15,840 of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, The kings of the 247 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,760 earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of 248 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,800 the earth have become rich through the abundance of her 249 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,560 luxury. OK, so this is John writing 250 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,840 later on in Revelation. This is Revelation chapter 18, 251 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,800 verse 3. And what John is telling us in 252 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:37,920 this passage is that the influence of modern Babylon is 253 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:45,280 so widespread that even the kings, the leaders, the 254 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:50,000 presidents, the prime ministers of the earth have partaken of 255 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,040 this wine of the wrath of her fornication. 256 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,920 But we still haven't answered the question yet, right? 257 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,880 We still need to answer the question as to what exactly is 258 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,319 the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 259 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:13,000 And to do that, we need to do a very brief little word study in 260 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:14,599 our Bibles. Are you ready for that? 261 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,800 You're ready to get into the word Amen. 262 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,319 Amen. Here's what it says. 263 00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:24,520 Revelation chapter 18, verse 3. I had it on the screen. 264 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,680 I put it up again just in this different format, says this. 265 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:33,400 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her 266 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,640 fornication. Now that I'll be honest with 267 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:38,560 you, that's a funny little statement. 268 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,480 The wine of the wrath of her fornication. 269 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,240 The whine of her wrath. When I think of the word wrath, 270 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:59,040 I think of anger. OK, so why would the whine of 271 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:06,120 her anger of her fornication? That seems like a very puzzling 272 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:10,440 way of stating this. OK, well that's King James and 273 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,160 new King James. That's what I use in my 274 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,160 preaching Bible. The word in the original is the 275 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:23,200 word thumos, and it means anger, wrath, rage, indignation. 276 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:27,200 OK, so those are all synonyms. Interchangeable. 277 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:31,880 No problem there. But it can also mean an intense 278 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:38,080 expression of the inner self, frequently expressed as a strong 279 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:44,200 desire or a passion. And here is where the context 280 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,320 can help clarify the use of the word. 281 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:54,400 OK, so the word can mean wrath and anger, but it can also mean 282 00:18:54,880 --> 00:19:01,280 passion, desire. OK, so let us be honest with 283 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,040 ourselves and consider some other translations. 284 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,520 In fact, Millie, read one of those translations, which I'm 285 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,760 going to quote up here. Here's one from the NIV. 286 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:15,680 Here's what it says for all nations have drunk the madding 287 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:22,000 wine of her adulteries, OK? Because again, the word thummos 288 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:27,520 can mean anger, wrath, strong passion, kind of like a 289 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,360 derangement, which is what Jeremiah said. 290 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,680 OK? So this would be a very 291 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,800 appropriate way of translating the passage, OK? 292 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,920 For all nations have drunk the madding wine of her adultery. 293 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,280 It's just very similar to what happened in Jeremiah's passage, 294 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,800 OK, Jeremiah said the nations have become deranged. 295 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Here John is saying as it's translated, the nations have 296 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,040 become maddened. OK, Maddened. 297 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,640 OK. So I want you also to listen to 298 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,880 how the new Living Translation phrases this portion of the 299 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,800 passage and this. Is similar to how when I did my 300 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,600 own translation, it came out like this. 301 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,400 So here's the new living translation. 302 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,120 And I believe this is what Millie had read to us. 303 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,000 For all the nations have drunk the wine of her passionate 304 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:22,880 immorality. OK, her passionate immorality. 305 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,760 Well, who is the her? Well, it's Babylon, right? 306 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:34,400 Babylon is the her that's talked about here, and she is serving a 307 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,320 cup of wine to all the nations of the world. 308 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:45,520 And what is this type of wine? It is her passionate immorality. 309 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,280 Her passionate immorality. And I'm going to unpack this a 310 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,800 little bit further, and we're going to see how Scripture helps 311 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:57,280 us to understand what John is describing for us, particularly 312 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:01,240 in the second angel's message, Revelation, chapter 14, verse 8. 313 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,080 OK, so I believe that the new Living Translation really 314 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,000 captures the description of what the vintage. 315 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,720 Listen carefully. What the vintage of wine. 316 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:15,880 It really is. It is her passionate immorality. 317 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,720 And in the next slide, I'm going to present Revelation chapter 17 318 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,920 and verse 2 using the new Living translation and the new King 319 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,880 James side by side to help us to better understand what exactly 320 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,320 this wine is that the nations are partaking. 321 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:40,520 So Revelation chapter 17, verse 2, if you want to follow along 322 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,320 in your own Bibles, that's where I'm going next. 323 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,760 Revelation chapter 17, verse two, side by side, New Living 324 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,000 Translation and new King James. Here's what it says from the New 325 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,240 Living Translation. The rulers of the world have had 326 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:59,160 immoral relations with her, the great prostitute, and the people 327 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:04,040 who belong to this world have been made drunk by the whine of 328 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,320 her immorality. OK, the new King James says with 329 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,200 whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the 330 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:16,960 inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her 331 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:22,120 fornication. OK, So what is the problem that 332 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:25,240 John is describing to the reader and to the listener of this 333 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:29,120 passage? Well, what type of wine is this 334 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,800 that the nations of the world and the inhabitants of the earth 335 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,320 are partaking of? That's because that's the 336 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:37,640 question I asked in the beginning. 337 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,280 We need to understand what is this wine? 338 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,840 What is it talking about? Well, we've done a little bit of 339 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:45,320 a Bible study. We're going to continue with 340 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,640 this. But it describes this wine as 341 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:54,720 the wine of her immorality, OK, Her passionate immorality, OK. 342 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:57,960 So what? What's the problem here? 343 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:03,600 Well, let's go back to Revelation 14 verse 8 in the 344 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,760 this time in the new King James and the new living Translations 345 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,320 and it says and another Angel followed followed saying Babylon 346 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,600 is fallen is fallen that great city because she has made all 347 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,720 nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 348 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,640 The new living Translation says. Then another Angel followed him 349 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,120 through the skies, shouting, Babylon is fallen. 350 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:33,760 That great city is fallen because she seduced the nations 351 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:39,160 of the world and made them drink the wine of her passionate 352 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,480 immorality. OK? 353 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:48,640 So Babylon uses the seductive power of her wine of passionate 354 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:54,040 immorality. And I know we have children in 355 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,480 our presence, so I'm going to be very careful how I say this, OK? 356 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:05,160 But Babylon is described in a female personage, and she is 357 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:10,000 committing fornication with the kings of the earth, OK. 358 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:17,600 She is having, in other words, an illicit relationship, a 359 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:24,200 relationship that is outside of the confines of marriage with 360 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,000 another partner, or in this case, partners. 361 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:34,320 And This is why the Bible describes her in these very 362 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:44,040 strong terms as a harlot, as a prostitute, OK, Because she 363 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,680 doesn't do this out of love. She does this for personal gain. 364 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:55,000 OK, Personal gain. And so what's happening here is 365 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,600 that Babylon uses the seductive power of her wine. 366 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,240 And what she does is she offers this wine to the kings of the 367 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,520 earth and to say come into union with me. 368 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:14,560 Come into union with me for the specific purpose of presenting 369 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:21,040 her vision of God's Kingdom rather than God's vision of 370 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,720 God's Kingdom. Does that make sense? 371 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:30,160 In other words, God has a Kingdom and the description of 372 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,440 his Kingdom is found in this book. 373 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,640 But what she has done, what Babylon has done, is saying, 374 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,960 let's put this book aside and let me give you my vision of 375 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,880 what the Kingdom of God will look like. 376 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:48,200 We will talk about God. We will think about God. 377 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:54,840 We will use godly language, we will use all this type of stuff. 378 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,160 We will even try to keep the commandments of God, but we're 379 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,360 going to just alter them slightly. 380 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,880 But we will still call it God's Kingdom. 381 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:12,840 And as a result of it, the kings of the earth sign on the dotted 382 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:19,160 line, and they commit fornication with this female, 383 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,760 OK? The wine is so powerful, the 384 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,680 kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth get 385 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:31,720 intoxicated with it. They buy into her vision of 386 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,440 God's Kingdom on earth. Listen to what it says. 387 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,640 Then another Angel followed them, followed him through the 388 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,440 sky, shouting, Babylon has fallen. 389 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,160 That great city has fallen because she seduced the nations 390 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,160 of the world. OK, that would include the 391 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,280 Philippines, that would include Brazil. 392 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,560 That would include the land of my birth, the United States of 393 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,920 America. All the nations of the world are 394 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:06,000 going to be seduced by this. And I believe that at this time 395 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:12,200 in Earth's history, we are witnessing a very strategic 396 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,200 employment of that vision. In fact, it was just this 397 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:21,320 morning when my wife was doing just a little prep work for 398 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:24,040 Sabbath school, final prep work, OK? 399 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,560 And this article popped up from the New York Times, I believe it 400 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:30,880 was, or the Washington Post or something like that. 401 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,320 And it was about making America great again and all of this 402 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,080 business with the Christian right, and all of this kind of 403 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:40,760 stuff. And I said, send me the article. 404 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:47,320 Just send it to me, OK? We can read it later, but even 405 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,360 very right right now, this is happening. 406 00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:54,720 This is a current topic. OK, so here's the question. 407 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:01,880 Here's the question. I want us to give pause and ask 408 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,040 ourselves these questions of the text. 409 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,280 Is Babylon going to be successful in accomplishing her 410 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,760 goal? No. 411 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,560 The Bible says very clearly the Angel from heaven itself says 412 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,440 Babylon is fallen. And just to make the point again 413 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:20,200 says it's fallen. Anytime the Bible repeats 414 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,480 something, you need to pay attention. 415 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,400 Amen. And so the second angel's 416 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,240 message says another Angel followed saying Babylon is 417 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,280 fallen, is fallen. Doesn't matter how great that 418 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,560 city is, Don't. It doesn't matter how powerful 419 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,720 it is, doesn't matter how much wealth it has, doesn't matter 420 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:43,160 how much it's in the headlines, OK? 421 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,440 The Bible says she has fallen. She has fallen. 422 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:56,000 That means she has fallen, OK? Now she will not be successful. 423 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,760 Why not? Because I she falls, OK, now why 424 00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:07,000 does she fall? The same reason that ancient 425 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:12,320 Babylon has fallen. OK, the same reason that ancient 426 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,200 Babylon has fallen. So we what we need to do is 427 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:19,160 briefly consider this story found in Daniel chapter 5, the 428 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,880 story of King Belshazzar's feast, because this will help 429 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:27,040 again clarify for us. And here's what it reads for our 430 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,720 online audience. Daniel chapter 5 verse one. 431 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,960 Daniel chapter 5 verse chapter 5 begins this way. 432 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:40,760 Belshazzar, the king made a great feast for 1000 of his 433 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,440 Lords and drank wine in the presence of the 1000. 434 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,680 So who was Belshazzar? Who was this Bible character by 435 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:52,200 the name of Belshazzar? He was a king, one of the kings 436 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,600 of the earth, right? He was none other than the king 437 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:57,600 of Babylon. OK. 438 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,520 And so since John tells us that Babylon has fallen in Revelation 439 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:08,560 chapter 14, verse 8, we need to pay careful attention to the 440 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,640 story of Babylon's fall found right here in Daniel chapter 5. 441 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:19,720 Because what is what is initiated in the Old Testament 442 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:23,760 is repeated on a grander scale in the New Testament, 443 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:25,280 particularly in the Book of Revelation. 444 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,840 So This is why the entire Bible is so important. 445 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:32,920 You know, some of our Christian brothers and sisters from other 446 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,360 churches, they say, well, we're in fact on the way here this 447 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,040 morning. I passed by this church, Phil, 448 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,600 you probably passed by it too on Route 84. 449 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,080 There's a church on the right hand side of the road on 84 as 450 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,360 you're heading down here, Scott, you and your family probably 451 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,280 pass by that very same church. It says the New Testament 452 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:52,240 church, they're a New Testament church. 453 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,920 It looks like a hotel building that's been converted into a 454 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:57,760 church building and they they have on the sign New Testament 455 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,240 church. Well, that's wonderful. 456 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,840 Jesus is mentioned in the New Testament, but you'll never 457 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,400 understand that Jesus of the New Testament unless you have the 458 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,600 Old Testament to shed light as to who he is. 459 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,040 That's why we have Matthew quoting all of these Old 460 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,760 Testament prophecies from Isaiah, from Jeremiah and so on 461 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:23,200 and so forth for our online audience and for anybody. 462 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,800 You will never understand what the wine of Babylon is unless 463 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,960 you start getting back into the Old Testament and start reading 464 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,120 it. OK, so here's how it says 465 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,520 Belshazzar, the king made a great feast. 466 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,440 What kind of a feast? A great feast. 467 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,520 How big was this party? It was so big that 1000 of his 468 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:47,600 Lords came 1000 of his Lords. Imagine that. 469 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,240 OK, and what did they, what did he do at this party? 470 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:54,760 He drank wine in the presence of the 1000. 471 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,360 Now that's not only what he did. In fact, the Bible goes on to 472 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,560 tell us in Babylon and excuse me, in Daniel chapter 5. 473 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,360 I'm going to open up my Bible because I don't have a slide for 474 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:09,400 this, and I just want to tell the story here and make sure we 475 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,240 get our facts right. But it says Belshazzar, the 476 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,120 king, made a great feast for 1000 of his Lords and drank wine 477 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,320 in the presence of the thousand while he tasted the wine. 478 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,680 Verse 2, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and 479 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,640 silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from 480 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:28,360 the temple, which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his 481 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:31,040 Lords, his wives and his concubines might drink from 482 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,280 them. So we need to understand the 483 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:38,360 context of what's taking place. The book of Daniel is written 484 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:44,840 while Daniel was captive in Babylon, and Babylon had 485 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:50,040 overtaken Jerusalem and had taken the citizens of Jerusalem 486 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:51,680 captive. Daniel was one of those 487 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:56,560 captives, captives, but he not only did that, but Babylon 488 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,280 overtook the temple and destroyed the temple and took 489 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:03,480 the sacred vessels from the temple and brought them back to 490 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,320 Babylon. And it was basically King 491 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,080 Nebuchadnezzar's way of saying my God is more powerful than 492 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:14,520 your God. But is the Babylonian God more 493 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:18,400 powerful than the God of Daniel? No, he's not. 494 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:19,800 Yeah, at least somebody's paying attention. 495 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:21,160 The rest of you fell asleep. OK. 496 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:22,680 But yeah, Scott, thank you for answering. 497 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:23,800 I was getting a little concerned there. 498 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,200 OK. So, yeah, the, the, the, the God 499 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,920 of Babylon is not more powerful. In fact, it was the God of 500 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:38,000 Daniel who permitted the Babylonians to do this very 501 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,000 thing. He permitted it, and he 502 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,040 permitted it for a very special reason, because Judah needed to 503 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:48,280 be chastised because they had rejected the prophets of God and 504 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,240 they had killed the prophets of God, and they didn't want to 505 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:52,960 hear what the prophets of God had to say. 506 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,640 So God says, all right, you don't want to hear what I have 507 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:57,960 to say to you. I'm not going to listen to what 508 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,240 you have to say. Babylon have at it. 509 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,120 And the king of Babylon came and took them captive, and he took 510 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:09,120 the sacred vessels from the temple and put them in his 511 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,440 temple. It was kind of like putting the 512 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,840 sacred vessels into his trophy case, saying, look what we have 513 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:16,719 done. We've captured these sacred 514 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,320 vessels. We are more powerful than Judah. 515 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:22,840 OK. But as you see the book of 516 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,520 Daniel unfold, you see that no God is more powerful. 517 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:30,320 And he's allowing the nations to do these things in order to 518 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,600 achieve God's grand purpose. OK, God's grand purpose. 519 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,239 But here's something that Belshazzar did. 520 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:45,040 He crossed a line because he was a king, an earthly ruler. 521 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,239 He was not a priest. He was not a Levite. 522 00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,719 He was a gentile. But what he did was he took 523 00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:57,880 those sacred vessels out of the temple where his father had kept 524 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,320 them. His father at least had the 525 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,280 sensibilities to say, look, we captured them. 526 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,000 But here's where they stay. They stay here. 527 00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:10,840 We don't bring them out for our own advantage, for our own use. 528 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,880 But Belshazzar at this time was already what? 529 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,520 He was intoxicated. Yes, he was under the influence 530 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:23,200 of the seductive power of wine. And so here's what he does next. 531 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,360 He claps his hand and the butlers come. 532 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,200 He says, bring those sacred vessels. 533 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:32,440 OK, bring those sacred vessels. And now they bring the sacred 534 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:36,560 vessels that had been in Jerusalem, that the king and 535 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:40,480 his, and so that his Lords, his wife, that the king, his Lords, 536 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,480 his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 537 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,960 When they then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken 538 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,320 from the temple of the House of God, which had been in 539 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:55,480 Jerusalem, And the king and his Lords, his wives, and his 540 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:00,120 concubines drank from them. So he called them to have them 541 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,000 brought out so that they might do it. 542 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:07,880 And that was kind of his last opportunity and finally decided, 543 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:09,520 no, let's let's go ahead with it. 544 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,640 Let's do it. I'm giving everybody the green 545 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:13,880 light. Let's do it. 546 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,920 Party on. And so they began drinking of 547 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:21,120 them. And then to amp it up even 548 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:28,080 further, here's what he did. Listen to this verse 4. 549 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:34,200 They drank wine and praise the gods of gold and silver, bronze 550 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:38,840 and ironwood and stone. So now they're praising 551 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:43,320 different gods other than the King of kings and Lord of Lords. 552 00:36:52,190 --> 00:36:55,950 And isn't that what modern Babylon does? 553 00:36:57,950 --> 00:37:01,870 Modern Babylon offers its wine to the nations of the world to 554 00:37:01,870 --> 00:37:07,680 praise a different God other than the one who is King of 555 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:13,240 kings and Lord of Lords. Well, God is not silent on the 556 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,680 matter, right? God has the last word. 557 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:19,840 And if you've ever heard the phrase, well, the handwriting is 558 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,800 on the wall. This is the story from where it 559 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:28,760 originates from, because here's what happened next, verse 5. 560 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,640 In the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote 561 00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,840 opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the 562 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:40,800 King's palace, and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 563 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:46,120 So here they're having this party, they're drunk, they're 564 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:52,600 now partaking of this alcoholic wine, using the sacred vessels. 565 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:57,480 And instead of praising God with those sacred vessels, they're 566 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:06,010 praising false gods and they're having a wild party. 567 00:38:07,650 --> 00:38:09,610 And that's when God says enough is enough. 568 00:38:10,530 --> 00:38:13,690 Babylon, your time on earth is complete. 569 00:38:14,650 --> 00:38:19,450 And this hand appears in this party and starts writing on the 570 00:38:19,450 --> 00:38:21,370 wall. Can you imagine that? 571 00:38:22,810 --> 00:38:24,530 We shouldn't be frightened by this. 572 00:38:24,530 --> 00:38:27,370 We should be sobered by this. This should this is a very 573 00:38:27,370 --> 00:38:32,200 sobering thought because all of us come under the judgement of 574 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,800 God. But there's good news in this. 575 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,080 OK, I'm going to share the gospel with you. 576 00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,440 There's the gospel is in this story. 577 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,400 Amen. So what happened is this hand 578 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,360 starts writing on the wall. All they see is a hand. 579 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:49,960 They don't see a man and it's a handwriting on the wall and 580 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:56,200 starts writing. And the reaction of the king is 581 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,640 worthy of note. The Bible says his knees began 582 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:03,120 to knock together and his bones came out of their joints. 583 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,280 And he was speechless. He didn't know what to say. 584 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,520 Finally, when he caught his breath, he called for his 585 00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:17,440 advisors, the wise men, the magicians and the say traps and 586 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,440 the Chaldeans to come and interpret what was written on 587 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:26,000 the wall. And they came and they looked at 588 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,960 it. They studied it, and they looked 589 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,680 at it and they studied it and they tried to interpret it, but 590 00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,000 they had no way to understand what it meant. 591 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:40,280 And so finally the queen came into the picture. 592 00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:43,520 And the queen approached Belshazzar and said, you know, 593 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,840 there is a man that your father used to rely upon. 594 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,080 His name is Daniel. He's one of the Hebrew captives. 595 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:56,160 And whenever your father Nebuchadnezzar had a great 596 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,600 mystery to solve, he would always go to Daniel and Daniel 597 00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,640 would answer the question. He has the spirit of the of the 598 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:06,840 God of God with him. I would suggest to you that you 599 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,840 call him and bring him in to solve this problem. 600 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:15,320 And so Daniel was called in and it's worthy to note that Daniel 601 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:17,200 wasn't in attendance at the party. 602 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:21,880 Amen. The only time Daniel showed up 603 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:27,720 to the party was to prophecy, which means for us and our day, 604 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,720 we need to understand the prophecies because we shouldn't 605 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:35,840 be going to the parties. But I believe that in time, one 606 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:39,520 day, we will be invited to the party, not to party, but to 607 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,800 prophecy, because people will be at their wit's end saying what 608 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:48,920 is going on and we'll be able to give them a biblical answer of 609 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:53,040 thus saith the Lord. And thus hopefully we can win 610 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:54,720 some souls to Christ. Amen. 611 00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:58,640 Amen. So Daniel came to the party. 612 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,280 He finally showed up and the king says, Daniel, I understand 613 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,200 that you have the, the spirit of the gods with you and, and I 614 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,840 would like for you to unravel this mystery. 615 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:13,120 And if you do that, I'll give you a purple robe and a gold 616 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:17,480 chain around your neck. And Daniel said, well, you can 617 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:21,240 keep your purple robe and your gold necklace. 618 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,480 But I will help you to understand this mystery. 619 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,080 So let's have at it. And so he began telling him the 620 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:29,920 story of his father, Nebuchadnezzar. 621 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:31,920 He says, you know, your father was a great king. 622 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:35,760 He was such a great king that God gave him his Kingdom. 623 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,720 And whatever he chose to do, he was able to do it. 624 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:41,640 If he wanted to execute this person, he could execute that 625 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:43,160 person. If he wanted to keep that person 626 00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:44,760 alive, he could keep that person alive. 627 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,720 He was a very powerful King Belshazzar. 628 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:53,760 But one day his his head grew so puffed up with his own greatness 629 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:59,240 that God disciplined him and corrected him by allowing him to 630 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:02,200 leave his palace. And he became became like an 631 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:06,480 animal for seven years. And he lived out in the field 632 00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:10,120 and his hair grew long and his nails grew like the claws of an 633 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:11,920 animal. And he began to eat the the 634 00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,080 grass like an ox. You can read about this in 635 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:18,360 Daniel chapter 4. But finally it came time for 636 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:23,360 that season of judgment to pass upon Nebuchadnezzar. 637 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:27,680 And Nebuchadnezzar was restored to his Kingdom because he was 638 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:32,360 willing to acknowledge God as supreme and that this, all of 639 00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:36,960 his greatness came from God, even though he wasn't a Jew, 640 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:42,320 even though he was a Gentile. And here's the very telling part 641 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,640 of it. In the story, Daniel Chapter 5, 642 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:49,280 it says, but you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled 643 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,760 your heart, although you knew this. 644 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:55,920 OK. And that was the problem. 645 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,600 Belshazzar knew his father's history. 646 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,480 His father had it written down. Daniel had transcribed it for 647 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:02,960 us. We have it in the book of Daniel 648 00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,480 chapter 4, as I said. But Belshazzar also knew this, 649 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:14,760 but he didn't learn from it. He acted very foolishly because 650 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:20,880 God provided counsel to him, but he ignored that counsel and 651 00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:26,040 chose to walk away from it. OK, so Daniel went on to 652 00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,160 prophecy, he says. But you, his son Belshazzar, 653 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,000 have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this, and 654 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:35,520 you have lifted yourself up against against the Lord of 655 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:37,960 Heaven. They have brought the vessels of 656 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,160 his house before you. And you and your Lords, your 657 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:43,840 wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. 658 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:48,800 And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and 659 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:55,640 iron, wooden, stone, which do not see or hear or know, and the 660 00:43:55,640 --> 00:44:01,080 God who holds your breath in his hand and owns all your ways. 661 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:07,120 Listen very carefully. You have not glorified. 662 00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:13,800 Do you know what Daniel was telling Belshazzar right there 663 00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:19,560 at that moment? He was giving him the first 664 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:23,880 angel's message because the first angel's message is the 665 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:31,840 everlasting gospel. His father Nebuchadnezzar had a 666 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:34,960 Kingdom. The Kingdom was removed because 667 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:36,840 of what? Pride and arrogance? 668 00:44:37,720 --> 00:44:42,800 But God in his goodness and mercy, which is what the gospel 669 00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:45,360 is. God's goodness and mercy 670 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:54,720 restored Nebuchadnezzar. OK, Belshazzar knew the gospel, 671 00:44:56,880 --> 00:45:00,440 but he rejected it in favor of praising other gods. 672 00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:04,840 And the first Angel message says, Then I saw another Angel 673 00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:08,440 flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 674 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:12,160 preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, 675 00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:18,080 tribe, tongue and people saying, fear God and give glory to him. 676 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:21,760 Why? Because the hour of his judgment 677 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:28,400 has come and worship him who made heaven and earth and the 678 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:33,680 sea and the springs of water. Belshazzar was judged because he 679 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:39,720 knew the gospel but rejected it and failed to glorify God. 680 00:45:39,720 --> 00:45:42,240 That's what the text says. Let me read it to you once 681 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:43,600 again. It's not on the screen, so I'm 682 00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:45,760 going to read it to you, he says. 683 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:51,360 And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and 684 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:54,680 iron, wooden, stone, which do not see or hear or know. 685 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:58,840 And the God who holds your breath, the Creator who holds 686 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:04,320 your breath in his hand and owns all your ways, you have not 687 00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:08,200 glorified. That's the appeal of the first 688 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:11,360 angel's message to fear God and give him glory. 689 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:18,720 And so as a result, as a result of rejecting the first angel's 690 00:46:18,720 --> 00:46:23,040 message, Belshazzar was brought into judgement. 691 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:26,120 How do we know this? Well, Daniel went on to say, 692 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:29,400 then the fingers of the hand were sent from him, and this 693 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:33,560 writing was written. And this is the inscription that 694 00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:40,440 was written. OK Menne, menne teko ufarsen. 695 00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:43,800 This is the interpretation of each word. 696 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:46,600 Many God has numbered your Kingdom and finished it. 697 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:54,240 He had numbered Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom, but he didn't bring it 698 00:46:54,240 --> 00:46:59,160 to a completion because why? Because Nebuchadnezzar responded 699 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:04,480 to the gospel. OK Teko, you have been weighed 700 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,120 in the balances and found wanting. 701 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:12,880 Perez, your Kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes 702 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:17,000 and the Persians. OK, so let's consider a few 703 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:19,520 points about this story. God performed an investigative 704 00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:23,000 judgement by weighing Belshazzar in the balances. 705 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,240 And as a result, he lacked from what the opportunities that were 706 00:47:27,240 --> 00:47:31,160 presented to him. He failed to humble himself in 707 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:35,440 the knowledge of God, right? In other words, he failed to 708 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:39,080 accept the first angel's message by fearing God and giving glory 709 00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,920 to him. By choosing to reject the true 710 00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:45,840 God, he ended up worshipping the false gods of this world. 711 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,440 OK, now where was Daniel when the party started? 712 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:52,440 As I said, he was nowhere near that party. 713 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:56,240 The only reason he shows up to the party is not to participate 714 00:47:56,920 --> 00:48:00,240 but because he was on a direct mission from God to prophecy to 715 00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:03,160 the drunk king and explain the judgement of God that had fallen 716 00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:06,920 upon Belshazzar's Kingdom and what happened. 717 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:11,000 Bible tells us Daniel chapter 5 verse 30 and 31. 718 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:15,480 That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain and 719 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:20,480 Darius the Mede received the Kingdom being about 62 years of 720 00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:25,920 age. OK, now the application to our 721 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,880 day should be very clear, and it's clarified by what the 722 00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:32,920 Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of the Thessalonians. 723 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:37,040 Listen to this First Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 2 724 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:40,240 and 3. Paul writes, For you yourselves 725 00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:43,880 know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in 726 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:46,360 the night. For when they say peace and 727 00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,000 safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains 728 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:54,640 upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. 729 00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:59,920 Daniel chapter 5 helps us to understand this warning that the 730 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:03,080 return of Jesus will be like a thief in the night. 731 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,640 This is exactly how the Persian Empire took Babylon on the night 732 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:10,760 of Belshazzar's feast. You remember the story. 733 00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:15,520 The Euphrates River ran through the center of Babylon. 734 00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:20,480 Ancient Babylon and the Babylonians had walls that were 735 00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,720 thick enough that you could have chariot races on the tops of 736 00:49:23,720 --> 00:49:26,160 them. They had enough food supplied to 737 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:30,200 them for 20 years to last a siege that would last 20 years. 738 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:34,200 So basically Belshazzar, the night of his feast, was 739 00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:37,880 essentially thumbing his nose at the at the Medes and the 740 00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:41,120 Persians saying you can't conquer us, so we're just going 741 00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:43,160 to have a party and then just enjoy ourselves. 742 00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:46,080 Basically, they were crying. Belshazzar was saying there's 743 00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:49,360 peace and safety in the Kingdom, there's nothing to worry about. 744 00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:52,640 But what happened that very night? 745 00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:57,760 The Bible says that very night El Shazar was slain and the 746 00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:59,760 Medes and the Persians entered the city. 747 00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:01,760 How did they enter it? Well, they were clever. 748 00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:06,640 And the Bible prophesied this 150 years in advance, how this 749 00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:10,880 was exactly going to happen. And that was that. 750 00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:19,720 Darius had his the river dammed up the water, the table, the 751 00:50:19,720 --> 00:50:23,000 water table lowered itself on the river so that the soldiers 752 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:24,680 of the Medes and the Persians could March through the 753 00:50:24,680 --> 00:50:27,880 riverbank and into the city. The very night that they were 754 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:30,960 having the party, all the guards were sleeping or snoring or 755 00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:33,640 drunk themselves or whatever the case was. 756 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:37,080 Nobody was watching and they snuck in and they opened the 757 00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:41,280 bars of the gates of the city, let the rest of the army in, and 758 00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,720 the rest is history. History tells us this is exactly 759 00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,120 how it happened, just as the Bible said it was going to 760 00:50:46,120 --> 00:50:51,040 happen. OK, for you yourselves know 761 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:56,440 perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the 762 00:50:56,440 --> 00:50:58,880 night. For when they say peace and 763 00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:02,080 safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains 764 00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,800 upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape. 765 00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:11,320 Listen friends, listen. God has presented to us a people 766 00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:14,440 7th Day Adventist. We have a mission to share this 767 00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:17,520 message with others, but we are the first recipients of the 768 00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:23,880 gospel, the everlasting gospel. And when we reject God's grace 769 00:51:24,200 --> 00:51:29,560 in whatever realm of our life, say no, God is not I've got, 770 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:33,400 yes, I can have God be my God here and here and here, but not 771 00:51:33,400 --> 00:51:35,560 over here. I don't want him to be God over 772 00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:40,040 here, OK? When we when we reject God's 773 00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:44,640 grace over here, we're rejecting the essence of that first 774 00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,480 angel's message. And the danger that we fall into 775 00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:52,200 is to turn to the gods of this world and partake of the wine of 776 00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:57,440 Babylon, OK? And the wine of Babylon is very 777 00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:03,600 seductive because it's the idea that we can be religious and 778 00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:08,080 make our Kingdom here rather than plan for God's Kingdom. 779 00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:12,520 OK, But God's Kingdom has to change our hearts. 780 00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:18,240 That's that's the issue. God has to have first place in 781 00:52:18,240 --> 00:52:21,480 our heart, in everything, in every realm. 782 00:52:24,960 --> 00:52:28,080 Nebuchadnezzar's an example. He thought he was the greatest 783 00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:33,520 thing until God humbled him. And God will put us through the 784 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:35,760 paces. He will humble us because He 785 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,520 wants us in the Kingdom. But if we continue to reject 786 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:45,520 those opportunities that God is affording us, OK, ultimately we 787 00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:48,680 too will end up becoming intoxicated with the wine of 788 00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:53,360 this world that says we can have God's Kingdom here on earth 789 00:52:54,600 --> 00:52:55,960 rather than in the earth to come. 790 00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:01,640 OK, That's what this Christian nationalism business is all 791 00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:03,880 about. And it can happen on a corporate 792 00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,880 level, but it can also happen at the individual level. 793 00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:11,120 And so that's why we need the Word of God. 794 00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:15,280 That's why we need to listen to the Word of God because we don't 795 00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:17,720 want to end up like Belshazzar. Amen. 796 00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:23,120 Belshazzar's story is written for our Admonition. 797 00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:26,200 A. So the message of the second 798 00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:29,040 Angel is that Babylon is fallen, is fallen. 799 00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:32,760 Why? Because she has misrepresented 800 00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:36,920 God to the world in the great controversy between good and 801 00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:39,800 evil. There is this great controversy 802 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:42,960 between good and evil. And Babylon says, yes, I will 803 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:45,520 mediate the relationship between you and God. 804 00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:48,640 This is what God is like, and this is how we can have God's 805 00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:50,280 Kingdom. We can have it right here on 806 00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:52,080 earth. OK? 807 00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:55,560 That's what Babylon says. But God's word says differently. 808 00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:59,160 God says, no, come out of Babylon. 809 00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:04,320 Come out of Babylon. Come out of the confusion where 810 00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:08,120 the Bible says one thing and the church says the complete 811 00:54:08,120 --> 00:54:15,800 opposite. OK, the Bible says this, but God 812 00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:21,760 says, but Babylon says this. OK, God says come out of her my 813 00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:27,160 people, come out of her my people, and be not partakers of 814 00:54:27,160 --> 00:54:28,080 her sins. Why? 815 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:32,880 Because the fate of Babylon, you don't want to receive the fate 816 00:54:32,880 --> 00:54:36,120 of Babylon. Babylon is fallen and ultimately 817 00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:39,360 Babylon will be destroyed. So the message of the second 818 00:54:39,360 --> 00:54:41,440 Angel is Babylon is fallen. Why? 819 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:45,960 Because she has misrepresented God with her intoxicating, 820 00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:50,320 seductive wine to the world in this great controversy between 821 00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:51,960 good and evil. Listen to this Prophets and 822 00:54:51,960 --> 00:54:55,680 Kings, page 530. In that last night of mad folly, 823 00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:59,000 Belshazzar and his Lords had filled up the measure of their 824 00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:01,520 guilt and the guilt of the Chaldean Kingdom. 825 00:55:02,280 --> 00:55:06,200 No longer could God's restraining hand ward off the 826 00:55:06,200 --> 00:55:09,840 impending evil. Through manifold provinces, God 827 00:55:09,840 --> 00:55:14,280 had sought to teach them reverence for His law. 828 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:17,720 What was God trying to teach the Babylonians? 829 00:55:19,360 --> 00:55:22,440 For what? Reverence for God's law. 830 00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:29,840 OK, here's what it says. We would have healed Babylon, he 831 00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:32,320 declared, of those whose judgment was now reaching unto 832 00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:34,720 heaven. But she is not healed. 833 00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:39,120 That's what Jeremiah wrote. God wanted to heal Babylon. 834 00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:42,640 Amen. That's how good and gracious God 835 00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:45,840 is. OK, because of the strange 836 00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:49,160 perversity of the human heart, God had at last found it 837 00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:54,600 necessary to pass the irrevocable sentence. 838 00:55:55,240 --> 00:56:00,800 Belshazzar was to fall, and his Kingdom was to pass into other 839 00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:06,080 hands. Belshazzar was given the good 840 00:56:06,080 --> 00:56:10,160 news about God and His Kingdom, but sadly he failed to glorify 841 00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:15,240 him with that knowledge and submit himself into God's ways. 842 00:56:17,080 --> 00:56:22,320 Friends, this story is written for our admonition, Amen. 843 00:56:23,840 --> 00:56:27,680 This story is written for our benefit, Amen. 844 00:56:29,720 --> 00:56:33,840 We don't want to miss, make the same mistake that belches are 845 00:56:33,840 --> 00:56:38,680 made and reject the first angel's message by failing to 846 00:56:38,680 --> 00:56:42,320 fear God and give glory to Him and choosing. 847 00:56:42,440 --> 00:56:47,520 Remember it's a choice, choosing to worship God who made the 848 00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:51,920 heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. 849 00:56:53,040 --> 00:56:58,240 The truth of the matter is this, that we are all broken, just 850 00:56:58,240 --> 00:57:05,040 like Babylon, everyone of us. OK, the good news is this. 851 00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:12,280 God wants to heal you like he wanted to heal Babylon. 852 00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:17,040 Do you want to be healed by God? Amen. 853 00:57:17,040 --> 00:57:19,360 If you want to be healed by God, raise your hand. 854 00:57:19,600 --> 00:57:21,560 Amen. I want to be healed by God. 855 00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:25,120 Amen. And I for our online audience, 856 00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:27,640 write text to us. Write get on your little 857 00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:31,640 keyboard and tell us I want to be healed by, by by God. 858 00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,840 OK, just text that in right now. Tell us so. 859 00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:39,920 So, Sister Joy up there, she'll read it about when I give her my 860 00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:42,280 microphone in a few minutes after we close the service. 861 00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:44,520 She can tell me. Yeah, we had three people or we 862 00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:48,640 had five people or even 1. But acknowledge it. 863 00:57:49,120 --> 00:57:51,640 Confess it. Say I want to be healed. 864 00:57:51,680 --> 00:57:53,640 Amen. Amen. 865 00:57:54,120 --> 00:57:57,040 Amen. And God will do exactly that. 866 00:57:57,040 --> 00:57:59,960 Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for 867 00:57:59,960 --> 00:58:03,760 your word. Your word sheds light on our 868 00:58:03,760 --> 00:58:08,880 path and it's a lamp to our feet to guide us in these very, very 869 00:58:08,880 --> 00:58:13,280 dark, foreboding days. Lord, there is a seductive wine 870 00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:17,040 that is out there, the wine that is offered by none other than 871 00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:21,080 Babylon itself. But Lord, we want the truth. 872 00:58:21,080 --> 00:58:23,880 You've given us the truth. The truth is that we are all 873 00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:28,720 fallen like Babylon. We are all broken like Babylon, 874 00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:34,600 this God of love who wanted to heal Babylon even though she 875 00:58:34,600 --> 00:58:38,440 rejected that healing. We have acknowledged we need you 876 00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:40,800 to heal us. We need to be broken. 877 00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:43,480 We have been broken and we need to be healed. 878 00:58:44,240 --> 00:58:48,400 So Father, forgive us where we have strayed. 879 00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:52,120 Forgive us for where we have praised the gods of gold and 880 00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:58,080 silver and iron and wood and stone bronze. 881 00:58:59,160 --> 00:59:04,360 Forgive us, Father, where we have rejected that first angel's 882 00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:07,360 message, where we have strayed and tried to build our own 883 00:59:07,360 --> 00:59:10,800 Kingdom just like Nebuchadnezzar did of old. 884 00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:14,600 Father, grace us with your presence. 885 00:59:14,600 --> 00:59:19,960 Bring healing to our hearts. We thank you for hearing and 886 00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:24,960 answering this prayer in Jesus name, Amen. 887 00:59:25,080 --> 00:59:25,240 Amen.