we should lean into this book at the very back of our Bibles and see what it
has to say for us. See what God is saying through his Apostle John to us today
because we also saw that this contained a message given to Jesus to share with
his servants for the latter days. And my friends I am convinced we are living in
the latter days. It is, it is, we do not have the time in this particular series
to go through all of the many different reasons for why I believe that. Matthew
24, Daniel, several places in the book of Daniel chapter chapter 2 and chapter 7
and chapter 8 and then Revelation 13 and there are reasons to believe it. So this
is this is why we are looking at it. We want to learn of Jesus. Last night our
title for the message was Revelation and the Gospel because we read in Revelation
14 and verse 6 that there was an angel flying in the midst of heaven with the
everlasting gospel for summarizing it everybody. All the peoples men and women
boys and girls regardless of the language that you and I might or might
not know regardless of how close they live to us in northwest Georgia or the
farthest reaches of Africa the gospel message is for everyone and so that was
last night's presentation. We had a good time I would encourage you to come
tonight as we continue this is this is for those who don't know I guess kind of
a two weekend intensive that's that's a good way of describing it. Last night
right now tonight and then we repeat the same schedule next weekend Friday
evening at 7 Saturday morning at 11 Saturday evening at 7 we will wrap up
this message in Revelation 14. Last night we also talked about how much like
Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4 the Shema was Israel's slogan if you will
that was their declaration of faith that was their their rallying call their
rallying cry that they taught to their children that they taught each other
they recited it they memorized it and so forth we discussed that Revelation 14 of
the three angels messages are really the Seventh-day Adventist churches rallying
cry it's not the embodiment of all of the things that we believe but it is a
a unique passage in the Bible that our church believes we should be proclaiming
in a special and specific way you can go to just about any Seventh-day Adventist
church around the world and mention the three angels messages they will know
what you're talking about that's what we mean by it's our rallying cry it's
really important and it's saturated with the gospel that good news of
forgiveness of sins and the free offer of grace from God himself I encourage
you to study into it and if you have questions about it see me afterwards we
can we can look at it again we're not going to go through the whole thing all
over this morning though we are going to go to our second message revelations
greatest issue this is the first angels message if you have your Bibles we will
be looking in Revelation 14 we will go elsewhere but that's where we're going
to start and before we do that though let's have one more word of prayer
heavenly Father thank you again for this beautiful Sabbath today for a chance to
worship and honor you Lord I pray that we would understand this greatest issue
at the heart of the book of Revelation bring it home to us today we pray in your
name amen amen imagine yourself having tickets to Carnegie Hall and you got to
listen and watch and experience what it would be to have one of the Philharmonic
orchestras playing Beethoven's greatest hits or Bach or Tchaikovsky and you got
to sit in maybe the first level of the upper deck so it's prime seating and you
can see the people and everyone is dressed up nicely and you've got the
brass and the strings the percussion and the woodwinds all in harmony playing
wonderfully and your heart is lifted up and it's fantastic and then imagine that
someone comes running into the hall screaming at the top of their lungs turn
on the lights everyone get up and leave fire as a side note it's not illegal to
yell fire in a in a crowded theater that don't believe that if people say it but
imagine someone does this in Carnegie Hall you're there you're enjoying it
your tickets were not five dollars they might be a little bit more maybe you
took your significant other first to dinner and it was a nice place because
you were dressed up nicely and then you went to the hall and then they had the
chandeliers and the velvet and all the things that are there and you wondered
how do I respond to the cry of fire well a couple of options one I pay too much
for these seats I ain't leaving these are mine mine row a a seat six and seven
I paid too much I'm not leaving maybe because we live in a world where
sometimes it's good to be skeptical you have learned to be skeptical you might
say I don't believe that person I don't know them they're random Joe Smith
or Jane Doe why are they yelling fire and why should I trust them at their word
maybe you believe them but you don't believe it's urgent it's true perhaps
there's a fire but maybe they just saw someone use a lighter outside the back
exit and that's what they mean by fire it's not urgent I can take my time it's
in the far back corner and I'm up here safe and sound I'll go when I feel like
it or I guess you could also just take them at their word understand the
urgency of it respond and get up and leave to safety I might recommend that
if there's some evidence that the person is is urgently proclaiming it that
there's some sincerity and how they're delivering it and they don't stop with
it maybe you should respond accordingly they're trying to get your attention and
it's good to respond to warnings but warnings are valid only if the crisis is
real which is why we go through some of those other options is it real is it
true warnings have no value in a fake crisis we're looking at the three angels
messages of Revelation 14 and they are God's final warning given in love to
a world on the verge of a stupendous crisis in our study we've we've seen
that the gospel is to be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the
nations to prepare our world for the coming of Jesus this is not unlike
something that is also recorded in the Bible where a warning was given the
messages today are just as important as Noah's message was in his day but a good
question to ask is was anyone saved who didn't go in the ark no how long did Noah
preach 120 years someone might wonder if he was a broken record someone might
think that he was just being a little redundant can you imagine if you walk
through these doors and and weekend and weekend and weekend afterwards I stood
here in the pulpit and I told you the exact same sermon word for word would
you continue to come with the same sense of urgency sadly in Noah's day eight
carried through over the full hundred and twenty years was it God's intent
that only eight people get in the boat no that boat was certainly large enough
for more he wanted more the urgency was for more the cry was please come in God
would have been delighted if the entire sea were filled with arcs can you
imagine rather than a singular boat a fleet of ships because everyone took Noah
at his word that story would be written very differently in the book of Genesis
wouldn't it God sent Noah to prepare the world for the flood sin had reached its
limits and in the antediluvian world the society had filled up the cup of their
iniquity Genesis helps us understand revelation because we see repeated themes
from then to now the crisis that the world faced in Noah's day is similar to
the crisis that the world will face in the last days because in Genesis 6 3 God
said my spirit shall not strive with man forever meaning that God had it's
driven for men for a long time and they had rejected his pleas well because God
is not one who programs us to be like a robot he honors our freedom of choice he
goes if they don't want to listen to me at some point I'm gonna stop talking
to them they have made a choice but why did they stop talking or stop listening
to God why was it that God's spirit wouldn't strive forever what was the
condition of humanity in the days of Noah the Bible tells us that the Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually heaven did all it could but
the cancer of sin was deep and malignant it had metastasized everywhere and these
people were not looking for chemo they were happy and content with what they
had and so God left them to their choice the cancer of sin must however be rooted
out of our world I'm tired of seeing the results of sin I am tired of
experiencing the results of sin I am no longer 12 my knees hurt I think others
can relate maybe more than me I have had close loved ones die death is the
result of sin I'm tired of it I'm tired of the pandemics I'm tired of the
earthquakes I'm tired of the hateful rhetoric I'm tired of the gossip and the
slander that's all fruit of sin I'm sick of it and I know God is too he wants to
root it out of our world and God back then started over with righteous Noah
and his family once again like in that time God is sending his final warning
message to the world once again heaven is making a final appeal once again
Jesus is giving this world its last warning in the messages of the three
angels in Noah's day the world was destroyed by water the Bible tells us
that in the last destruction it will be by fire in the last days just like in
Noah's days once those hundred and twenty years dragged on I'm sure there
were cynics and there are cynics today who ask where is the promise of his
coming second Peter warned us that this would be true maybe we can get this to
not lean back so badly just as I as I skip along I don't know how we can do
that in second Peter chapter 3 we read that knowing this first of all that
scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful
desires they will say where is the promise of his coming forever since the
fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were from the
beginning of creation as I observed the ads as I observed the ads for this
Facebook post and I don't actually know any of the people personally and if this
is you forgive me as I observed the comments at least two people responded
in a similar fashion why should I attend we've known all these things forever and
it's going to continue like this in essence that was their response that was
their comment Peter told us that this would be the case but he continues and
he says don't listen to the scoffers because the day of the Lord will it will
come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great
noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the
works that are in it will be burned up please note there is not a might there
is not a maybe there is not a perhaps if the seasons are right will come don't
listen to the scoffers this next part the coming as a thief that's for the
scoffers the scoffers are gonna get caught off guard because they're not
prepared for it they're not listening to the call they're not listening to the
warnings they have turned down the dials on their hearing aids so they can't hear
the comments any longer like my father-in-law used to do I don't want to
listen but we know that it's going to be obvious elements do not melt with heat
earth and the works that are in them being burned up that ain't secret my
friends you're gonna see it know it experience it it will happen but the
scoffers are caught unawares I would implore you to not be one of those
scoffers caught unaware as we study the book of Revelation we see that the
purpose of this book is to prepare a people to be ready for Jesus soon
return it's a purpose of Revelation a people that will unite with him in
giving his last-day message to the world and this is where we get to today's
passage Revelation 14 in verse 7 the next one after what we studied last
night let us read it fear God and give him glory because the hour of his
judgment has come worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs
of water since the time in which we are now living is the final period of this
earth's history the everlasting gospel of Christ's grace leads us to make a
total commitment of our lives to the one who gave his all for us he bled all he
hung there for you and me for all and in return God is asking for all let us
break this down we begin with our first part of the passage fear God and give
him glory well what does it mean to fear God well in Greek the word for fear is
phobeo which means in the sense of reverence awe and respect there is an
element of afraid because God is sovereign and destruction is coming for
the wicked however that is not why we worship God we do not give God our
allegiance and and and and our respect and our reverence because we are afraid
of him we worship him in this sense reverence
awe respect for who he is compared to who we are it is an attitude of mind
that is goddess centered rather than self-centered to recognize the immense
love of God his underlying endless love revealed in the everlasting gospel on
Calvary we willingly respond in loving obedience let's read this I love this
well from one of my favorite books the exercise of force is contrary to the
principles of God's government he won't make you do something you don't want to
do spiritually speaking he desires only the service of love last night we read
that we love because he first loved us and love cannot be commanded try doing
that to your husband or wife love me now doesn't work that way you want them to
do it in return it cannot be won by force or authority only by love is love
awakened to know God is to love him his character must be manifest in contrast
to the character of Satan because when we are discussing spiritual things and
the greatest issue it comes down to whose side are you on whose character are
you modeling yourself after and if we are to contrast God's love with Satan's
character what does the Bible tell us about Satan's character we get a glimpse
into what that original deceiver thought back in heaven before he was Satan he
was Lucifer the light-bearer but he said in his heart I will ascend to heaven
above the stars of God I will set my throne on high I will sit on the Mount
of assembly in the far reaches of the north I will ascend above the heights of
the clouds and in great profanity he says I will make myself like the most
high how unbelievably narcissistic can you get how blasphemous can you be I
will be God I'm gonna overthrow him and everything else that he has created the
essence of the debate between God and Satan the essence of that great
controversy revolves around who do we submit to is it God is it Lucifer is it
Jesus or is it Satan we just read that Lucifer was exceptionally self-centered
how many eyes did you read in that passage how many eyes are there he refused
to submit to any authority except his own rather than submit to the one upon
the throne Lucifer desired to rule from the throne and in case you are unaware
he does not respect your freedom of choice like the way the God of love does
he is happy to coerce and deceive and and trick and lie and force and and kill
if you don't go along with him very contrary to God but fearing God and
giving him glory is something worth understanding so we need to better
understand what it is to fear God by looking at other examples in the Bible
we're gonna go through these semi quickly Deuteronomy 6 to says fear the
Lord your God to keep all his commandments and statutes which I
command you Psalm 119 73 and 74 say your hands have made me and fashioned me give
me understanding that I may learn your commandments those who fear you will be
glad when they see me because I have hoped in your word that's a nice Hebrew
parallelism of equating the commandments and God's Word it's beautiful this is a
really good quote not by me that's how I know it's really good it is not the
importance of the thing but the majesty of the lawgiver we're gonna drive this
home because some like to accuse fearing God and equating it with the
commandments as y'all are trying to work your way into the pearly gates but this
is really good it is not at the importance of the thing whatever that
thing is whatever you think you're going to do in obedience to God but it is the
majesty of the lawgiver that is to be the standard of obedience some indeed
might reckon such minute and arbitrary rules as these as trifling but the
principle involved in obedience or disobedience was none other than the
same principle which was tried in Eden at the foot of the forbidden tree it is
really this is the Lord to be obeyed in all things we are faced with the same
challenge that Eve and Adam were who do we listen to our creator or a snake who
do we listen to is the Lord to be obeyed in all things whatsoever he
commands is he a holy lawgiver are his creatures bound to give implicit assent
to his will that's Andrew Bonner quoted in J. Bridges the pursuit of holiness in
other words do you recognize God as your creator is he the one who directs and
dictates or are you do you model yourself after his character or do you
fashion yourself after Lucifer's self-focus self aggrandizing that's the
question that we have to answer we get some good instructions and how to
respond to this Paul writing to the church and colossi says set your mind
on things above not on things on the earth in other words the holiness of God
is where you place your thoughts what's his character like how deep and boundless
is his love not the things that surround us we've already talked about just how
awful it is down here why would we obsess over that when we have when we
have a person who loves us who's glorious and beautiful that we can focus
on I dare say that would lead us to better thoughts the final battle in this
great controversy between good and evil is for our minds not I would say only
for our actions you can do all the right things and have your mind in the gutter
fair enough God wants your mind our actions though reveal what our thinking
process is when we think things as we absorb and take in and it becomes a part
of us and then we put it into practice more and more what we do then
demonstrates what we are if you will to fear God is to make him first in our
lives the wise man concluding the book of
Ecclesiastes after he's discussed many other things in life sums it up this way
though the end of the matter all has been heard fear God and keep his
commandments for this is the whole duty of man if you want to just open up your
Bible underline a verse highlight it and then put a little bookmark there and say
how simply can I just summarize what all the rest of those pages have for me
right here and then you prayerfully wrestle over how can that be put into
action in my life right there after all has been heard fear God keep his
commandments for this is the whole duty of man we don't often talk a lot about
someone's duty today in age we talk a lot about identity or how they feel or
what they get out of something the Bible summarizes that the wisest man that has
ever walked this green earth summarizes it as a duty of man to fear God and to
keep his commandments you have a responsibility why because he continues
this thought he says for God will bring every deed into judgment with every
secret thing whether good or evil there are many sins today I wish would go back
into being secret there used to be a time when actions carried shame with it
and now it seems a lot of that is out in the open I would like it to go back
behind the curtains into the secret places but the Bible tells us that even
those sins kept in secret are not kept from the eye of God you cannot run away
from it forever God is going to bring every deed into judgment what is this
judgment this is going to bring us to our second point in our passage for
today the message to fear God and give him glory is not simply an arbitrary
instruction it's not just because God woke up on the right side of the bed on
a Wednesday and said this is what I want there's a reason behind it there is a
purpose to the urgency of this call remember if we talked about if you're
crying out fire that's because you want people to live you don't want people to
get burnt you want people to be saved and and maybe you've called a 9-1-1 so
the fireman can also save at the building there's an urgency there's a reason for
that urgency let's read our second part of a part in red because the hour of his
judgment has come the hour of his judgment has come in Ecclesiastes we saw
that God's going to bring things into judgments if you're wondering about the
timing of that judgment it's now my friends the has come is in a way written
meaning present and continuing it is now and it's going to go on until it's
completed I'll give you a sneak peek the completion is when Jesus comes back to
take his people home until that happens the judgment goes on it's right now
Daniel Webster one of America's best-known statesmen and orators was
asked a question one day that question was how he regarded his greatest insight
or what was his greatest insight and this was his response his response was
the sense of my individual responsibility to God it's a nice
succinct statement he goes on to expand on it though this thought is not pleasant
to those who are living in their sins and out of relationship to him
consequently they are not prepared to face the tremendous issues involved but
whether the issues are faced or not the fact remains so then each of us shall
give account of himself to God Romans 14 we all are responsible to God as the
word of God declares and we cannot escape our responsibility I would say
that's why many people fear the judgment while some look forward to the judgment
and I would say there is good reason to look forward to the judgment Paul
writing to the church in Corinth says this for we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ is that an exclusionary language no that is the
most inclusionary language you can find anywhere that all literally means all
that each one may receive the things done in the body according what he has
done either good or bad but the judgment is much much more than just us it
involves us it includes us in some real way it is about us but it is more than
us because we know that there's no question that we are accountable to God
we know that there is no question that we are responsible for our own actions
that's what the word of God says and we know that there is no question that the
decisions we make will determine our eternal destiny you're rewarded based
on your choices and your actions and your faith or lack thereof but what we
want to study right now is a larger broader picture and understanding of the
judgment and how it impacts our lives many Christians fear the judgment I have
heard that several times from people I've known in my life maybe you've heard
it maybe you've said it I fear the judgment I don't like that let's read
about the other things let's not look at that people dread having their lives
reviewed before a righteous God but as we study the judgment in our presentation
today let's remember these principles one in the judgment Jesus is our judge
John 5 22 Jesus speaks of himself for the father judges no one but has
committed all judgment to the son so the one who died for you is also the one who
judges you we are judged not by a stern demanding a God as many people picture
or claim but we are judged by a loving Savior who was willing to die for us but
there's more Jesus is not only our judge he is also our defense attorney if you
can imagine having a court stacked in your favor this is the definition of
that John writes in first John my little children these things I write to you so
that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the Father
Jesus Christ the righteous the advocate is someone who's operating on our behalf
he is the judge and he's the one operating on our behalf the defense
attorney yeah if you were to walk into traffic court and you had your violation
in hand and right there was was your attorney maybe it was bad maybe you were
going I don't know 200 in a 30 that would be bad you would need an attorney
for that I dare say you had your attorney sitting there and the attorney
stood up and the attorney says we're going to plead not guilty your honor and
then he takes off his coat he puts on black robes and he runs up and he sits
behind the bench and he goes all right the plea of not guilty has been received
into the records shall we continue with and then he takes off his robes and he
puts on his coat and he runs back and he stands beside can you imagine how that
might be a little lopsided in your favor because of course your attorney is going
to put forth the best defense for the judge who is also himself that's all
lined up in our favor it's wonderful so then what is revelations judgment about
why should we take it seriously remember what we studied from our previous verse
that there is an everlasting gospel that is to be preached to the whole world
well one have you accepted the everlasting gospel and two do you
acknowledge God as ruler in your life that's in a nutshell the crux of the
judgment have you accepted the everlasting gospel and do you acknowledge
God as ruler in your life in other words like the thief on the cross as he was
speaking to Jesus hanging next to him both men dying he saw in Jesus the
Christ and he saw in himself his own guilt do you like that thief accept
your own guilt I'm a sinner in need of a Savior do you then accept the
righteousness of Christ he paid the death so you don't have to he wants to
give it to you do you accept it and then finally have you actually asked for
salvation or do you continue to put it off just like the thief on the cross
this applies to you and I today it's a very serious matter Paul in the epistle
to the Roman says the wages of sin is death and that is not just simply we die
here that is also the eternal death the forever death entirely separated from
the life-giving God but the good news is that the free gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord it is not condemnation without hope in other
words the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord same writer different book for by grace you have
been saved through faith it's not your own doing it is the gift of God you
cannot go to a Christmas party and receive a gift and then look at the gift
giver and say here's the ten dollars for the no that's rude we don't do that
maybe we don't like the white elephant gift exchanges and you just go oh now
the roll of toilet paper but that's not what we're talking about someone who
loves you has given you a priceless gift you don't then turn around and try to
give them a dollar for it it's the free gift of God and he wants to give it to
you it is also not a result of anything that you or I do no works so that no one
may boast we will not get to heaven and have some person say well I prayed a
thousand prayers and you only prayed 981 we don't get to do that all who enter
those pearly gates are there because of that same free gift no one can claim
anything that they have to offer for we are his workmanship created in Christ
Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them
you are created to do good things sin tainted that sin trips you up and causes
you to do bad things harmful things hurtful things even if you don't want to
sin makes you that was not God's intention for you from the beginning we
are his worksmanship created for good works which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them our good works empowered by the Holy Spirit they
don't save us that just divorced that from your mind and anything that comes
close to it you can't do anything to earn the
salvation but our good works do testify that our faith is genuine God's final
judgment strips away the pretense God's final judgment takes off the mask that
we all like to wear strips of the veneer and shows who we really are what is our
heart made of and whose character is it modeled after that's why we have an
appeal from Paul I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God
present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which
is your reasonable service we're gonna look at two parts to this verse one the
New Testament Greek for the word body Sumata is better translated as the
collective sum of who you are body mind emotions it's all of you you cannot
submit your physical self thinking that your spiritual self is somehow disembodied
it does not work that way you cannot abuse the physical self and then think
that I'm keeping my mind clean and pure it does not work that way those are
ancient Greek philosophies and heresies that have somehow gotten into the
Christian Church we need to stop thinking that way when it says submit
your body to Christ as a reasonable sacrifice that's all of you physically
emotionally mentally spiritually you are a total package according to God you
cannot compartmentalize you and God is looking for all but what I'm sorry what
is your reasonable service another way of translating this is an intelligent act
of worship or in my version a spiritual worship an intelligent act of worship a
spiritual worship that constitutes reasonable service in in all that you do
when you give your mind body and emotions to God you are performing an
act of intelligent worship that's awesome according to Paul our bodies
are a sanctuary the dwelling place of the Spirit of God a temple made holy by
the presence of God but that's going to bring us to our third and final point
Revelation 14 7 ends with the statement we've seen fearing God and giving him
glory we've seen the reason why and now we see a little bit of the how worship
him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water we are called
to worship God all of ourselves are called to worship God and the Bible
describes it as a reasonable service God doesn't ask of you something
unreasonable what does this mean well one you place your body on the altar as
a living sacrifice you open your heart and your mind to God's spirit so that he
can influence you he can soften your hard sin-filled heart he can make you
more sensitive to spiritual God led things you have to you have to submit
to what God wants to do that's what it means to sacrifice your body on the
altar your body will truly be the temple of the Holy Spirit when you do that
because only those who do that get this do you not know that you are God's temple
and that God's spirit dwells in you remember God doesn't force himself a
spirit of God can only dwell in you as his temple if you want him to and allow
him to I would encourage you to to respond to that affirmatively positively
welcome it in your life we continue is God at the center of our lives when God
is the center of our lives our one desire is to is to give glory to him in
every aspect of our lives whether we whether that involves what we eat what
we wear what we do for entertainments what we watch what we listen to there's
a lot of trash out there and as the saying goes trash in trash out is God
the center of your lives do you at least start your day with a prayer heaven
word at least it's one of the easiest things you can do in your spiritual
practice your eyes wake open because the alarm goes off and you don't want it to
you hit your snooze once or twice or three times or maybe you've stacked up
alarms in your phone like like the younger generations do when you
eventually decide I'm going to wake up and I'm going to get out of bed before
you do so I really encourage you send a word of prayer heavenward thank God that
you have breath in your lungs that morning and your eyes opened thank God
that you know you're not going to walk through the day alone he's promised to
be with you always until the world is no more it's still here that means he's
still here with you is God the center of your life when you sit down to eat your
your waffles like my son does each morning when you want to have your your
drink or your salad or your whatever it is you eat your pizza do you thank God
for the food do you ask that he bless the food so that you can be healthier
more than you could be otherwise without his blessing acknowledge him in it is
God in the center of your lives when you consider when you consider your
entertainment is it filled with filth or is it can't hardly get away from it but
let's just say less filthy does it lean closer to the positive and away from the
negative does it entice you with temptations that you struggle with don't
watch or listen those to those things stay away from it whatever it is if it's
a substance if it's a people if it's an action whatever it is don't let it be
the center of your life in place of God if it's your career do you praise God
that you have a job with an income regardless of where you fall on that
spectrum praise God you have it millions don't praise God when we do and if you
find yourself without one seek him for one he might lead you into something
that is perfect for you but even if you go for a while without still put God
first because he still cares for you we give glory to God as we reveal his
character to the world through lives committed to doing his will and this is
even more important in the light of Earth's end time judgment any life
focused primarily on self narrowed it down and I love this phrase we use it
again from last night narrowed it down in the claustrophobic confines of its own
littleness it's a very small life if you want to live a big life live a life for
God if you want to live a tiny claustrophobic squeezed in kind of life
live a life for self live a life for God because we give glory to God when we
reveal his character to the world what an amazing opportunity we get to show
others God himself that's impressive that's big well if you notice some of
the phrasing at the end of this this last little this last little sentence
worship him who made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water we will
notice that we also give glory to God by acknowledging him as our creator
Genesis 1 1 the Bible opens this way in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth this verse is the foundation for all of scripture Moses
did not see fit to explain God's existence Moses did not see fit to just
think grand philosophical here's where I know there's a divine being that loves
me and made the nope it's assumed it's there God and then God did what well God
is first known as a creator God created this Hebrew verb is linked to God's
creative activity it is important to God this is different than the Hebrew word
for making or made this is creating it belongs to God only he can do these
kinds of acts he speaks the Sun the moon and the stars appear in the sky he
speaks and grass jumps up he speaks and deers bound through the grass and trout
leap in the streams only for man and woman did he not speak he knelt into
the dirt and he shaped us with his own hands that's that's a personal
involvement in his creation distinctly different from all the rest of it and
it's a wonderful thing that he created you and me it's a reoccurring theme in
the Bible one example of many Isaiah writes this lift up your eyes on high and
see who created these he who brings out their host by number calling them all by
name by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power not one is
missing you know we read sometimes an article where it says a star is dying
it's soon to disappear it's gonna become nope God knows it not one is missing
God knows when that star becomes I don't know the different dwarfs or the Giants
or whatever they call them they collapse in and then you know we find out about
it well after the fact God knows them by name and he goes up there goes Sally I
don't know you know there goes Pleiades there goes you know Orion still there
Pleiades is still there but God knows them God knows them when we look at the
images that are coming through James Webb telescope if you've been here for
a little while and you've heard me preach you know I'm fascinated by these
images coming on our new telescope James Webb is looking farther out into space
than anything else before in fact it is looking so far and it's seeing so many
new things that just this week it was reported it is read this one telescope
is reshaping the the astrophysic kind of the theories revolve involving the
universe the one telescope it's it's just blowing that that whole discussion
wide open and saying ah funny how humans might be wrong for so many years look at
how vast it is out there we have to change our approach to it when you look
up there and you see those swirling galaxies and those bright twinkling stars
think of the Creator God think of him who the Bible says these are his foot
stool that's how vast he is that's why I'm amazed with the James Webb telescope
I really don't care about the theories they're debating I think it's neat this
is awesome this speaks to me of a God I cannot wait to meet it also tells us
that if God can shape the galaxies and if God can shape this earth and if God
made a mankind perfect at the beginning he can also make us that way again
because every one of us here has stumbled and fallen and has a broken
spirit on some level on some level everyone here no one is exempt but in
2nd Corinthians we read if any man is in Christ he is a new creation old things
are passed away behold all things have become new in Christ you can be
recreated and refashioned after his similitude what a beautiful promise only
the Creator can do that that's why acknowledging him as Creator matters but
the accounts of the creation also includes this thus the heavens and the
earth were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day God finished
his work that he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work
that he had done you see Jesus is also worthy of our worship as we've seen in
our verse from Revelation worship him who made all of those things well at the
end of the making all of those things he placed one more really important time
period that last stamp of authority that last stamp of this is mine and it belongs
to me on his creation the Sabbath see God rested on the Sabbath and that's why
it is significant creation and redemption are at the heart of all true
worship and we see that the Sabbath is significant because it speaks of the
creators care and the Redeemer's love that's in the Sabbath so God blessed the
seventh day and he made it holy if we count one two three four five six which
one of those six does the Bible say God blessed and made holy none which one
does the Bible say he did bless and make holy the seventh if you count your
calendar days and we are all familiar with them one two three four five six
seven you will find yourself today on a Saturday you will and no matter the
calendar around the globe however you count the days you will end up number
seven on a Saturday that's the day that God set aside and blessed it why because
on it God rested from his work that he had done and he didn't rest because he
was tired he rested because he wanted to enjoy the beauty and the majesty of his
creation he rested because he wanted to spend time with his greatest creation
Adam and Eve you and I he rested because he wanted nothing else to distract him
or us from spending time together as a heavenly family that's why he rested he
rested so man and woman wouldn't spend their first full day together thinking
that they had to labor on something it was all a gift from God here's your home
here's your mate here are the animals now just enjoy them for a day you don't
have to do anything else as we worship on the Sabbath we open our hearts to
receive a special blessing that special blessing that he placed on that day and
no other and that's why the Sabbath is the eternal symbol of our rest in him we
rest in him because of what he has done in creating and redeeming us we observe
the Sabbath to acknowledge his creatorship and his sovereignty in our
lives we keep the seventh-day Sabbath not to work toward salvation but because
we are already saved you only get to thoroughly enjoy the Sabbath when you
when you just know Jesus has done it all for me I can just rest in him that's
what the Sabbath speaks of that's what the Sabbath means we know that it's
eternal from the Old Testament to the new because the writer of Hebrews says
this there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God he's writing to
Christians he's writing to the early Christian church for whoever has entered
God's rest has also rested from his works as God it did from his let us
therefore strive to enter that rest are you striving to enter the rest that
Jesus offers you today salvation the Sabbath forgiveness of sins hope in
eternity are you striving to enter that rest our verse says fear God and give
him glory because the hour of his judgment has come worship him who made
heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water it's an urgent call it's an
important call it's a call for everyone are you fearing God and giving him glory
do you love him enough to acknowledge him as supreme in your life he loved you
enough to send his son to die on the cross so you could have forgiveness of
sin and hope of eternity in heaven do you love him in return the hour of his
judgment has come we've seen that if you fear and glorify God you acknowledge him
in that way the judgment you welcome because in the judgment Jesus is on your
side judgment is not because some arbitrary God wants to just zap people
the judgment is to prove that you belong to him look forward to the judgment but
it's right now you don't have time to wait and then finally worship him who
made heaven and earth the sea and the springs of water demonstrate your
fealty to him with reverence and awe self-sacrifice worship and glorify him
give him the credit in your life look to him for guidance in all things is he the
center do you praise his name or do you praise some other lowercase G God in
your life is he your center as we give glory to God by acknowledging him as our
creator our re-creator and our Redeemer story goes this way many years ago an
old farmer visited London for the first time in his life I would love to visit
London that's on my bucket list places to go I am NOT this man an old farmer
visited London for the first time he wandered into one of the city's great
art galleries to look around do you think he saw some fine paintings do you
think he saw paintings protected with rope and lasers and glass and security
guards and don't touch that please I think so there was one painting though
that caught his attention it was a wonderful painting of Jesus hanging upon
the cross he stopped before it and as he gazed at the picture a great love for
the one who hung there flooded his heart and he couldn't help himself but say
bless him I love him I love Jesus he was so moved with what that picture meant in
reality for him he couldn't stay quiet he had to express it others in the
gallery heard the old man's words because if you can imagine an art gallery
is usually a little quiet little hushed you can imagine someone saying bless him
I love Jesus I might draw some attention well a crowd gathered around and as
they saw tears going down his cheeks hat in his hand and forgetful of
everything else around him the observers were also touched as perhaps not a few
of them wondered if Jesus can move this man maybe he can move me they drew near
to the old farmer the old countryman maybe someone put their arm around his
shoulder maybe someone else just stood close by and they also said I love him
too brother I love Jesus as well seeing what had taken place more people stepped
forward so do I and more and more echoed the cry of that old farmer that's the
call that we have to take up that's the call of the three angels message because
without Christ revelations judgment is a terrifying event and many people run away
from it with Christ we can look forward to it but when we really see when we
truly see the clear picture of Jesus standing in our behalf in the judgment
we too with this old farmer can say and we will also praise and glorify God by
saying oh how I love Jesus is it your desire today to take up this call and
you say it in a way that attracts others attention if it is your desire I'm gonna
invite you to stand with me as we close with prayer and then remain standing as
we get ready for our final song if it's your desire to take up this this cry
this call this final warning please bow your heads and pray that with me
loving Heavenly Father we we see to what great lengths heaven has gone to save
your creation your loved sons and daughters from loss and hurt and death
we praise your name for it and we acknowledge you as not only he who
shaped and formed us but also he who redeemed and sustains us we acknowledge
and we praise you as the one who goes with us and before us leading us along
the way to that great day when you will come to finally lead us home Lord I pray
that we would not be silent but like that old farmer we would declare our
love for you and that it would be attractive to others Lord I pray that you
would acknowledge the the statements of affirmation by those gathered here then
I would also pray that if there was someone wavering someone standing in
the middle of that road they don't know which way to go Lord I pray that rather
than letting them be hit by oncoming traffic by the enemy of souls Lord I
pray that you would come beside this person through the presence of your Holy
Spirit and inspire them to say yes and step out of the middle of the road and
firmly onto your side Lord we thank you for hearing our prayers we thank you for
your love towards us please go with us the rest of this Sabbath day we pray in
your name amen