Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 41 - Desolation of the Earth - The Great Controversy

Transcript

41 - Desolation of the Earth - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter forty one, Desolation of the Earth. Her sins have
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities in
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the cup which she hath filled. Fill to her double
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: how much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, So
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: much torment and sorrow give her, for she saith in
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: her heart. I sit a queen and am no widow,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: shall be utterly burned with fire. For strong is the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: bewail her and lament for her, saying alas alas that
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: great city Babylon, that mighty city. For in one hour
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: is thy judgment come. The merchants of the earth that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: have waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies, shall
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: and wailing and saying alas alas, that great city that
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls. For in
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: one hour, so great riches is come to nought. Such
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: are the judgments that fall upon Babylon in the day
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: of the visitation of God's wrath. She has filled up
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the measure of her iniquity. Her time has come. She
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: is ripe for destruction. When the voice of God turns
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the captivity of his people, there is a terrible awakening
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: of those who have lost all in the great conflict
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: of life. Why approbation continued, They were blinded by Satan's deceptions,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and they justified their course of sin. The rich prided
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: themselves upon their superiority to those who were less favored.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: But they had obtained their riches by violation of the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: law of God. They had neglected to feed the hungry,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to love mercy.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: They had sought to exalt themselves and to obtain the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: homage of their fellow creatures. Now they are stripped of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: all that made them great, and are left destitute and defenseless.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: They look with terror upon the destruction of the idols
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: which they preferred before their maker. They have sold their
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: souls for earthly riches, and enjoyments, and have not sought
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: to become rich toward God. The result is their lives
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: are a failure. Their pleasures are now turned to gall
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: their treasures to corruption. The gain of a lifetime is
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: swept away in a moment. The rich bemoan the destruction
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: of their grand houses, the scattering of their gold and silver,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: but their lamentations are silenced by the fear that they
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: themselves are to perish with their idols. The wicked are
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: filled with regret, not because of their sinful neglect of
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: God and their fellow men, but because God has conquered.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: They lament that the result is what it is, but
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: they do not repent of their wickedness. They would leave
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: no means untried to conquer. If they could the world
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: see the very class whom they have mocked and derided
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and desire tired to exterminate, pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and earthquake. He who is to the transgressors of his
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: law a devouring fire, is to his people a safe pavilion.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: The minister, who has sacrificed truth to gain the favor
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: of men, now discerns the character and influence of his teachings.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: It is apparent that the omniscient eye was following him
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: as he stood in the desk, as he walked the streets,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: as he mingled with men in the various scenes of life.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Every emotion of the soul, every line written, every word uttered,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: every act that led men to rest in a refuge
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of falsehood, has been scattering seed. And now in the
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: wretched lost souls around him he beholds the harvest. Saith
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: the Lord. They have healed the hurt of the daughter
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: of my people, slightly, saying peace, peace, when there is
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: no peace with lies. He have made the heart of
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: the righteous sad whom I have not made sad, and
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: strengthened the hands of the wicket, that he should not
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: return from his wicked by promising in life, Woe be
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: my pasture. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: of your doings. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry and wallow
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: yourselves in the ashes, ye principle of the flock, For
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: your days for slaughter and your dispersions are accomplished. And
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: principle of the flock to escape. Ministers and people see
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: that they have not sustained the right relation to God.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: They see that they have rebelled against the author of
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: all just and righteous law. The setting aside of the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: divine precepts gave rise to thousands of springs of evil, discord, hatred, iniquity,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: until the earth became one vast field of strife, one
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: sink of corruption. This is the view that now appears
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: to those who rejected truth and chose to cherish error.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: No language can express the longing which the disobedient and
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever eternal life.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: eloquence now see these things in their true light. They
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: realize what they have forfeited by transgression, and they fall
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: at the feet of those whose fidelity they have despised
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and derided, and confess that God has loved them. The
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: people see that they have been deluded. They accuse one
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: another of having led them to destruction, but all unite
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: have prophesied smooth things they have led their hearers to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: make buoid the law of God and to persecute those
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: multitudes are filled with fury. We are lost, they cry,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: and you are the cause of our ruin. And they
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: admired them most will pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: The very hand that once crowned them with laurels will
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: be raised for their destruction. The swords which were to
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: slay God's people are now employed to destroy their enemies.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed. A noise shall come
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: even to the ends of the earth. For the Lord
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: hath a controversy with the nations. He will plead with
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: all flesh. He will give them that are wicked to
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: the sword. For six thousand years, the great controversy has
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: been in progress. The Son of God and his heavenly
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: messengers have been in conflict with the power of the
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: evil One to born enlighten and save the children of men.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Now all have made their decision. The wicked have fully
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: united with Satan in his warfare against God. The time
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: has come for God to vindicate the authority of his
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: downtrodden law. Now the controversy is not alone with Satan,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: but with men. The Lord hath a controversy with the nations.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: He will give them that are wicked to the sword.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: The mark of deliverance has been set upon those that
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Now the Angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: the command is given, slay utterly old and young, both
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: maids and little children and women. But come not near
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: my sanctuary, says the prophet. They began at the ancient
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: men which were before the house. The work of destruction
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: and little children perish together. The Lord cometh out of
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her blood, and
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: shall no more cover her slain, and this shall be
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite all the people
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: that have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: in that day that a great tumult from the Lord
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: shall be among them, and they shall lay hold every
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. In
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and by
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the awful outpouring of God's unmingled wrath fall the wicked
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: inhabitants of the earth, priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: high and low. And the slain of the Lord shall
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: be at that day from one end of the earth,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: even unto the other end of the earth. They shall
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried. At the coming
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: of Christ, the wicked are blotted from the face of
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the whole earth, consumed with the spirit of his mouth,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and destroyed by the brightness of his glory. Christ takes
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: his people to the city of God, and the earth
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: is emptied of its inhabitants. Behold, the Lord maketh the
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: down and scatter whereth abroad. The inhabitants thereof the land
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled. For the Lord
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: hath spoken this word, because they have transgressed the laws,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned. The whole
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins of cities
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: thrown out by the sea, or torn out of the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: earth itself are scattered over its surface, while vast caverns
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: mark the spot where the mountains have been rent from
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: their foundations. Now the event takes place foreshadowed in the
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: last solemn service of the Day of Atonement, when the
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: ministration in the Holy of Holies has been completed and
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: by virtue of the blood of the sin offering. Then
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: the scapegoat was presented alive before the Lord, and in
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: presence of the congregation, the High Priest confessed over him
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: their transgressions, in all their sins, putting them upon the
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: head of the goat, in like manner. When the work
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: of atonement in the heavenly Sanctuary has been completed, then
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: host of the Redeemed, the sins of God's people will
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: be placed upon Satan. He will be declared guilty of
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: all the evil which he has caused them to commit.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: And as the scape boat was sent away into a
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness. The Revelator foretells
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: the banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: After presenting the scenes of the Lord's second coming and
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: the destruction of the wicked, the prophecy continues. I saw
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: the bottomless Pit and a great chain in his hand.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: loosed to a little season. That the expression bottomless pit
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: is evident from other scriptures concerning the condition of the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: earth in the beginning. The Bible record says that it
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: face of the deep. Prophecy teaches that it will be
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: brought back partially, at least to this condition, looking forward
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: to the great day of God. The prophet Jeremiah declares,
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: and void, and the heavens and they had no light.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: I beheld the mountains, and lo they trembled, and all
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and lo, there was
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: and all the cities thereof were broken down. Here is
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: to be the home of Satan with his evil angels
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: those who have never fallen. It is in this sense
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: that he is bound. There are none remaining upon whom
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: from the work of deception and ruin, which for so
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: many centuries has been his sole delight. The prophet Isaiah,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: looking forward to the time of Satan's overthrow, exclaims, how
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: weaken the nations? Thou hast said in thine heart, I
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: will ascend into Heaven. I will exalt my throne above
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the stars of God. I will be like the most high.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Yet thou shalt be brought down to Hell, to the
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: sides of the pit. They that see THEE shall narrowly
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: look upon THEE and consider THEE, saying, is this the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: cities thereof, That open not the house of his prisoners.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: For six thousand years. Satan's work of rebellion has made
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the earth to tremble. He has made the world as
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof, And he opened
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: not the house of his prisoners. For six thousand years.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: His prison house has received God's people, and he would
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: have held them captive forever. But Christ has broken his
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: bonds and set the prisoners free. Even the wicked are
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: now placed beyond the power of Satan, and alone with
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: his evil angels, he remains to realize the effect of
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: the curse which Sin has brought. The kings of the nations,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: even all of them lie in glory, every one in
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: his own house the grave. But thou art cast out
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: of thy grave like an abominable branch. Thou shalt not
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: thy land and slain thy people. For a thousand years.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: to behold the results of his rebellion against the law
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: of God. During this time, his sufferings are intense. Since
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: his fall, his life of unceasing activity has banished reflection.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: But he is now deprived of his power and left
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: to contemplate the part which he has acted since first
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: he rebelled against the government of Heaven, and to look
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: forward with trembling in terror, to the dreadful future, when
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: he must suffer for all the evil that he has done,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: and be punished for the sins that he has cause
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: to be committed to God's people. The captivity of Satan
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: will bring gladness and rejoicing, says the prophet. It shall
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: come to pass in the day that the Lord shall
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy trouble,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: and from the heart service wherein thou wast made to serve.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: That thou shalt take up this proverb against the King
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: of Babylon, here representing Satan, and say, how hath the
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: oppressors ceased? The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: the scepter of the rulers, that smote the peoples in
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: with a persecution that none restrained. During the thousand years
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: between the First and the Second Resurrection, the judgment of
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: the wicked takes place. The Apostle Paul points to this
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: judgment as an event that follows the Second Advent. Judge
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. Daniel declares
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: that when the Ancient of Days came, judgment was given
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: to the saints of the Most High. At this time
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. John
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: and the Revelation says, I saw thrones, and they sat
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: upon them, and judgment was given unto them. They shall
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: with him a thousand years. It is at this time,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: as foretold by Paul, the saints shall judge the world
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: in union with Christ. They judge the wicked, comparing their
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: acts with the Statute Book the Bible, and deciding every
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: case according to the deeds done in the body. Then
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: the portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: according to their works, and it is recorded against their
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: names in the Book of Death. Satan also and evil
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: angels are judged by Christ and his people, says Paul,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: know ye not that we shall judge angels. And Jude
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: declares that the angels which kept not their first estate,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the Great Day.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: At the close of the thousand years, the second resurrection
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: will take place. Then the wicked will be raised from
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the dead and appear before God for the execution of
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: the judgment. Ridden Thus the Revelator, after describing the resurrection
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: of the righteous, says, the rest of the day lived
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: not again until the thousand years were finished. And Isaiah
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: declares concerning the wicked, they shall be gathered together as
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: up in the prison, And after many days shall they
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: be visited. End of Chapter forty one.