THE GREAT CONTROVERSY SERMON SERIES
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Revelation 11:19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
Where is the ark of the covenant? That is right, it is in the Most Holy Place. How do we know this? We know this because the Bible tells us that the earthly tabernacle was an example of the heavenly sanctuary.
Hebrews 8:5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
O.K., what was in the ark of the covenant? Yes, the Ten Commandments. When the Israelites left Egypt, God Himself spoke the Ten Commandments and wrote them on stone with His own finger. The law in the heavenly sanctuary is the original, the on earth was an exact copy. In 1844, as those who suffered disappointment investigated the doctrine of the sanctuary, new light was coming to them. As never before they were influenced by these words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
God’s law reflects His character. Thus it does not change.
Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
Psalm 111:7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.
In the middle of the Ten Commandments there is the fourth commandment.
Exodus 20:8 " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Those who investigated the truth of the heavenly sanctuary saw that they unknowingly were transgressing God’s law. They were very sorry and began to keep the Sabbath. They searched the Scriptures and could not find anywhere that the Sabbath had been abrogated. Why were people celebrating the first day of the week instead of the day which God had sanctified?
Many people resisted the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary. If the earthly sanctuary is indeed a copy of the heavenly one then we come to one inescapable conclusion: The Ten Commandments are God’s unchanging law and the seventh day Sabbath is still valid. For this reason people hate this truth and they resist it with all their strength: they do not want to keep the Sabbath. It is just that simple.
People do not want to accept the light shining from open door of the Most Holy Place and they are trying to shut that door.
Revelation 3:7-8 " And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ' These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens": 8 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
With the change of Christ’s ministry, new information and new responsibilities appeared. We see these truths in Revelation 14.
Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth -- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people -- 7 saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
The judgment hour points to the time when Jesus began His work in the Most Holy Place in 1844. With the open door of the Most Holy Place, the law in the ark of the covenant appears. And in the verse that we just read we see a reference from the 4th commandment that is almost the exact same words: “worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
In the end, how are the ones described who accept this message?
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
To be ready for the judgment people must keep the law of God. In the day of judgment, the law of God will be the standard.
Romans 2:12-13 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
But to keep God’s law, faith is necessary:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Romans 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
To obey the call to “Fear God and give glory to Him!” and “worship Him that made the heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters” people must obey the law of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
Without obedience to His law, no worship can please God.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Proverbs 28:9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
Our duty to worship God is based on the fact that He is our Creator.
Psalm 96:5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
In Revelation 14:7 it is commanded for people to worship the Creator and as a result of the three angels’ message a group of people are keeping God’s commandments. One of those commandments points to God as the Creator:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
The Sabbath is the foundation of all true worship of God because the Sabbath points to Him as the Creator.
The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people:
Ezekiel 20:20 'hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'
Exodus 31:17 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.' "
At the end of time the Sabbath as a sign between God and His people will take on special meaning. Next time we will touch on this.
In the meantime, do you see the harmony of the Scriptures on this point? Do you see that God’s law is unchanging? So you see that the Sabbath is valid today? Are you following Jesus by faith through the open door into the Most Holy Place? People may try to shut that door, but they cannot.
Where is the ark of the covenant? That is right, it is in the Most Holy Place. How do we know this? We know this because the Bible tells us that the earthly tabernacle was an example of the heavenly sanctuary.
Hebrews 8:5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."
O.K., what was in the ark of the covenant? Yes, the Ten Commandments. When the Israelites left Egypt, God Himself spoke the Ten Commandments and wrote them on stone with His own finger. The law in the heavenly sanctuary is the original, the on earth was an exact copy. In 1844, as those who suffered disappointment investigated the doctrine of the sanctuary, new light was coming to them. As never before they were influenced by these words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
God’s law reflects His character. Thus it does not change.
Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
Psalm 111:7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness.
In the middle of the Ten Commandments there is the fourth commandment.
Exodus 20:8 " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
Those who investigated the truth of the heavenly sanctuary saw that they unknowingly were transgressing God’s law. They were very sorry and began to keep the Sabbath. They searched the Scriptures and could not find anywhere that the Sabbath had been abrogated. Why were people celebrating the first day of the week instead of the day which God had sanctified?
Many people resisted the doctrine of the heavenly sanctuary. If the earthly sanctuary is indeed a copy of the heavenly one then we come to one inescapable conclusion: The Ten Commandments are God’s unchanging law and the seventh day Sabbath is still valid. For this reason people hate this truth and they resist it with all their strength: they do not want to keep the Sabbath. It is just that simple.
People do not want to accept the light shining from open door of the Most Holy Place and they are trying to shut that door.
Revelation 3:7-8 " And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ' These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens": 8 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
With the change of Christ’s ministry, new information and new responsibilities appeared. We see these truths in Revelation 14.
Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth -- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people -- 7 saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."
The judgment hour points to the time when Jesus began His work in the Most Holy Place in 1844. With the open door of the Most Holy Place, the law in the ark of the covenant appears. And in the verse that we just read we see a reference from the 4th commandment that is almost the exact same words: “worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
In the end, how are the ones described who accept this message?
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
To be ready for the judgment people must keep the law of God. In the day of judgment, the law of God will be the standard.
Romans 2:12-13 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;
But to keep God’s law, faith is necessary:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Romans 14:23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
To obey the call to “Fear God and give glory to Him!” and “worship Him that made the heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters” people must obey the law of God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
Without obedience to His law, no worship can please God.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Proverbs 28:9 One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
Our duty to worship God is based on the fact that He is our Creator.
Psalm 96:5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 95:6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
In Revelation 14:7 it is commanded for people to worship the Creator and as a result of the three angels’ message a group of people are keeping God’s commandments. One of those commandments points to God as the Creator:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
The Sabbath is the foundation of all true worship of God because the Sabbath points to Him as the Creator.
The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people:
Ezekiel 20:20 'hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'
Exodus 31:17 'It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.' "
At the end of time the Sabbath as a sign between God and His people will take on special meaning. Next time we will touch on this.
In the meantime, do you see the harmony of the Scriptures on this point? Do you see that God’s law is unchanging? So you see that the Sabbath is valid today? Are you following Jesus by faith through the open door into the Most Holy Place? People may try to shut that door, but they cannot.