David Wright

Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Ending or Beginning

There's something about young people, They don't tend to whine as much.

And instead of focusing on the crisis, they focus on Christ.

Instead of focusing on the doom of, we're not gonna be able to go on this trip that we've planned, they focus on the deliverance that God's gonna provide.

Instead of focusing on the pain and the heartache, they look at the promises and they claim those.

We can learn something from our young people.

I tell you, I was reminded this week, I was sitting next to somebody, and I really like this person, I admire this person, but sometimes they can be a bit of a whiner.

And sometimes they're really good at rehearsing the whining.

And I happened to be with this individual and I saw as they were rehearsing the whining not just to me But then they go around have you heard all of my woes have you heard all my woe now?

I don't want to be critical because I understand that people are hurting there's been times that I've been hurting But I think far too often for myself.

I can't speak about you but far too often for myself I like to rehearse the negative instead of focus on the solution, which is Jesus Christ and in this series Hope in these last days we can wring our hands and we can get nervous and what's this gonna look like what's gonna happen or We can focus on Christ He is there he's from the end from the beginning he's the beginning the end the middle everything he's there And He hasn't forgot about us.

He's not surprised by what we're going to face.

So I hope that this series has not been 1 of doom and gloom, But looking at the Christ behind the crisis who will carry you and I through the coming storm.

Amen And so we're just gonna jump right in today.

We have a little bit of ground to cover But I promise to get you out before 330 But just a little review you're welcome This person over here is not a whiner.

Little review as the gospel goes to the ends of the earth, even now as the gospel is going to the ends of the earth.

We see a reaction for or against, don't we?

Same gospel, some receive it, some hearts are warmed, and some are hardened.

And there are certain aspects, unique aspects, of the gospel that goes to the ends of the earth.

It's obedience to God, it's body temple, it's judgment, it's the Sabbath, it's all tucked right there in the 3 angels message.

But we have to remember that most of God's people are still where?

We also have looked at how the devil seen the gospel of Revelation 14 6 going rapidly around the planet comes at it with a counterfeit revival With signs with miracles with wonders and we looked at that So You have 2 things happening simultaneously.

You have the mighty working of the Holy Spirit, and you have the marvelous working of demons.

As this comes to a crescendo, all hell breaks loose on earth.

Natural disasters, economic disasters, war, conflict, strife, And all of this shakes and shakes and shakes the church.

In an attempt to please God, to come together and pray, there's a national Sunday law that will be passed.

Where the world religions, they maintain their differences, but they unite on Sunday sacredness.

They offer physical security and economic security, the ability to buy or sell.

But eventually it mounts and gets more and more intense until your life will be asked of you.

If you worship how we tell you, when we tell you, and as we claim to have the corner of truth, as they will say, based on the world majority coming together and uniting, there will be this National Sunday Law and we will be strongly encouraged, but eventually, by pain of death, asked to do this.

In the midst of all of this, the honest in heart are settled into the truth.

We talked about the shaking, the shaking, the shaking.

And those that are honest are settled into the church truth while the unconverted are sifted out.

Now that could be happening now with a personal crisis in your life but for most, for the large majority, it will happen as this crescendo mounts and the National Sunday Law comes into place.

And as the Holy Spirit is poured out in latter rain power, empowering the gospel to go to the ends of the earth in what we call the loud cry and when every human being has an opportunity to be fully sold out for Christ or against Christ then human probation closes and the 7 last plagues are poured out.

And the closing of probation, I believe, is not so much a matter of times up, but rather a time when people are made up or have made up their minds.

In the midst of the growing crisis, in the midst of the spread of the gospel, their hearts have either softened and they have accepted the seal of God, or their hearts have become hardened and they receive the mark of the beast.

And no amount of time is going to change anyone's mind.

And following in the 7 last plagues, God proves his ability to read the heart of a person.

He proves that despite what happens, those with the seal remain faithful to him and those with the mark remain rebellious towards him.

In a sense, I can't fully prove this, but my own personal theory, in a sense, I believe God is sealing and marking people as a way to make everyone know I can read the heart you can't Prove it.

I'll put a seal and a mark and we'll go through another testing time these 7 last plagues and no 1 will change Those that are loyal to me will remain loyal to me and those that are against me will remain against me and It turns out that God is absolutely 100% as always right and correct.

After the third plague, verse 7 of chapter 16 in Revelation, we read, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.

But then after the fourth plague we read of the other group, Revelation 16 verse 8, And they did not repent and give him glory.

And again after the fifth plague, verse 11, they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their deeds.

I am settled, I'm not moving, my mind has been made up.

It's not so much that they can't change their mind.

And so, Last week we looked at how in each of the plagues God is vindicating his people.

All the things that man claimed, I said last week, it was 2 weeks ago, all the things that man claimed he could offer, when push comes to shove, he cannot deliver.

In fact, let's just review some of these.

The first plague, all physical security is in Christ.

Second plague, all economic security is in Christ.

Initially they say they can, but when the second plague falls, they can't deliver.

Fourth plague, the center of my worship is in Christ.

Those that worship the Son God are burned by the Son and only Christ is the true 1 that deserves our worship.

And the fifth plague, all truth is in Christ.

So those are the first 5 plagues But now I'm going to ask you to open up your Bible and we're gonna look at the last 2 today as we close out this series Hope for these last days and we're here in Revelation chapter 16 Beginning verse 12 where we have the sixth bowl or sixth plague being poured out Revelation chapter 16, beginning in verse 12.

Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

Verse 13, And I saw 3 unclean spirits like frogs coming up out of the mouth of the dragon out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet for they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty." In verse 16 it calls this the battle of Armageddon.

An angel pours out his bowl on the great river Euphrates.

I want to ask you is this literal or is this figurative?

No Room In The Inn

Many years ago a well-known Bible teacher was invited to take part of a Christmas TV program and it was going to be a panel discussion.

So everybody was there seated around in a circle and the discussion started.

The moderator started making nice remarks about this time of year and said how beautiful the Christmas story is and how eerily the world waited for the coming of the infant Christ in Bethlehem so long ago.

Well the conversation continued around the circle until it came to this Bible teacher and he had his chance to speak.

And he said, very respectfully, I'd have to disagree with your opening statements.

On the contrary, the world was so busy with its affairs that it wouldn't even make room for him, Jesus, to be born.

Besides, no 1 even noticed, or probably would have even noticed, if God had not sent angels to announce the birth to shepherds or the star that guided the eastern kings of Palestine.

And then he went on and he said, you know, I think it's more or less the same today.

Men and women express sentimental thoughts about Jesus as they go about their affairs and their pleasures at Christmas time, but few pay any attention to the real Christ, he said, and they don't make any room for him in their lives either.

Here Jesus makes the ultimate sacrifice and condescends to this earth.

In that passage that we have read so many times before, Philippians chapter 2, 6 through 8, he being in the form of God did not consider robbery to be equal with God.

But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant or a slave, and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." So here we have the God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, condescending to this sinful planet to make atonement for the human race in the most humiliating way and form possible.

Yet so often we have turned this time of year away from a reflection on Jesus to a time of reflecting, now let's see, what do I want for Christmas?

Honey, why don't you just let me shop for myself?

I'm going to the hardware store later today and you can wrap it and put it under the tree.

As if the incredible gift that Jesus gave to this planet is not enough.

Yes, what the Bible teacher said on that occasion was true and it's likely still true today.

Certainly we're busy and few it seems truly have room for Jesus.

If you brought your Bibles I invite you to open to Luke chapter 2 As we read some of these well-known verses in our Bibles, Luke chapter 2.

And we'll begin reading in verse 1, Luke chapter 2 verse 1, And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered.

This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria, so all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Joseph also went up from Galilee, about a hundred mile journey, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife who was with child.

So it was that while they were there the days were complete for her to be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I find it hard to imagine having gone through in my own way the pregnancies of 4 children, taking my wife on a donkey on a hundred mile journey to arrive and hear her say, you didn't make a reservation?

And so they laid him in a manger because there was no room in the inn.

This was not the only place that had no room for him.

There was no room for him in the palaces of the world's kings.

And the idea that great Augustus would make room for the humble carpenter from Nazareth and his pregnant companion Mary, well that's just preposterous.

And Herod, he certainly wouldn't make any room.

Just a dozen miles from where Christ would be born, but rather than make room, He actually plots to have the young child killed when his birth was made known through the wise men.

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once wrote, alas, my brothers, seldom is there room for Christ in palaces.

How could the kings of earth receive the Lord?

He's the Prince of Peace, and they delight in war.

He breaks their bows and cuts their spears in sunder.

He burneth their war chariots in the fire.

How could kings accept the humble Savior?

They love grandeur and pomp, and He is all simplicity and meekness.

He's a carpenter's son and a fisherman's companion.

How can princes find room for the newborn monarch?

Why, he teaches us to do to others as we have them do to us.

And this is a thing which kings would find very hard to reconcile with the knavish tricks of politics and the grasping designs of ambition.

O great ones of earth, I am but little astonished that amid your glories and pleasure and wars and councils ye forget the anointed and cast out the Lord of all." Not only among kings, but notice there was no room for Christ even among the chief priests and the scribes.

It would seem as if they had missed it all together, but when it was made known to them, I imagine they laughed." If you still have your Bibles out, turn to Matthew 2.

The other account that we have of this Christmas story.

And there we read, "...when Herod the king had heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes, there they are, when he gathered the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born." Did they know?

Sure, verse 5, so they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet.

They know their Bibles, but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." Here Herod inquires of the chief priests and the scribes as to where Jesus should be born.

They quote the verse from Micah chapter 5 verse 2.

They knew the wise men had come and had visited and they knew exactly what the answer was yet not 1 of them notice not 1 is mentioned in any place in Holy Scripture as having visited Bethlehem for themselves Not to check out this infant named Christ or to worship him.

They said, yeah, we know the prophecies, it's right here.

Even among the seats of learning, the wise, the world's professors and theologians, how few of the most learned of religious leaders have room for Jesus.

But surely they're not the only important people we should consider.

Were there not good families who might have taken him in?

I'm sure there were good families in Bethlehem, but I don't read about these good families making room for a woman in labor or later welcoming the child.

I'm sure they were very gracious to 1 another.

On occasion they may have done charitable deeds for the poor, but the stark reality is that there was no room for Jesus among those excellent, well-to-do families either.

No more than the kings in their palaces or in the courts of the chief priests or the scribes.

Okay, okay, so maybe there's no room for Jesus among the wise, the mighty, the noble of this world, but surely there was a place for him among the common people, such as ourselves.

Now the rich in that day would stay with their friends.

The inns were a stopping point for common folk who had no other place to stay.

Yet it was precisely the inn that had no place for Jesus, was it not?

We like to comfort ourselves with the idea that common people are more charitable, more open to the gospel, but the truth of the matter is, it's held in Isaiah 53 verse 6, we all, like sheep, have gone astray.

Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

It really is easy to understand why common folk who filled the inn that Christmas did not receive him.

And why should 1 who had enough sense to come early give up their spot for somebody else who did not plan accordingly.

I'm sure there were countless others who were also with child in a similar situation.

Perhaps there would have been a greater incentive had they had some means, but they're not.

And so no 1 shows concern or attention and Christ is crowded out.

Am I describing anybody's life here this morning?

As 1 commentator writes, Every chamber of the soul is so filled with human interest that there is little room for Christ.

And this is so simply because our time is demanded by a thousand other things, our interests drawn off in thousand other directions, and our life is crowded to the full with possessions and pleasures until, strange though it may seem, there is no room for the Savior room for the Savior except in the stable." Is Jesus in the stable of your life or is he at the core?

Until he's entered the door of your heart and reigns upon the throne of your life, You cannot regard yourself as any better than those who slept comfortably while Mary gave birth to her child in a stable.

Some may say, I have room for Christ, but I'm unworthy.

This world was unworthy for Christ, the Creator and King, to come, but still He came.

As if to make the truth plain beyond all question, He was born among sheep and donkeys.

Were there not some vile smells in the stable?

And others might say, in all honesty, I'm afraid.

The No Limit Christian

He is known in the college football hall of fame as being identified without question as America's, American football's most renowned coach.

And here's a picture of him here, Newt Rockne.

Now he tragically died in an airplane crash while he was still relatively young.

But some 80 years ago, Notre Dame had a big game with USC Trojans in college football.

And the fighting Irish coach, Newt, knew that this other team was far superior than his own.

They had an unbeatable record for that season.

And he was trying to think, how could I possibly compete with this other team?

Well this is back in the days before all the regulations that there are today.

And So he went out into South Bend, Indiana, and scoured and looked for anybody who was over 6 feet tall and over 300 pounds.

Now I don't have a picture of the biggest guys he could find, but this was the time of football, where you just had a leather cap almost for a helmet.

So he scours around and he finds the biggest guys that he can find.

He puts them in Notre Dame uniforms, and as they open up the game and all the players come out, he leads with about 12 or 15 of these enormous Goliath-looking guys.

And as they run out onto the field, you can just see the intimidation of the other team.

This is back before you probably did all this research and knew exactly who was on the other team.

You'd get in the bus and you'd drive forever and you'd see who you're going to match with that night, right?

And Of course, the real team players were behind these big guys, and the big guys in uniform never played at all, but they sat right there on the front line.

USC watched those Giants line up, and they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record and began mentally preparing themselves for defeat.

I can't quite imagine playing football without all the protection that we have today, but his trick worked.

And his team played as hard as they had ever played, and at the end of the game, they came out on top.

An undefeated team, by 1 that really was far less superior, but the mind games in the heads of the other team that were played, the tricks that were pulled, and all of a sudden they just thought there's no way.

Does the devil ever use intimidation tactics today?

Does he play mind games with us from time to time?

Perhaps this semester you have a new teacher who is very intimidating.

Their requirements, what's gonna be due and how quickly and on and on and on.

I remember 1 teacher at the seminary assigned so much Reading.

And somebody in the front, there's always that guy that asks the question that you wish you could ask but you don't have the guts to.

And the professor just very plainly put, if you try to read all of these word for word for word, you will die.

You must skim or you will die, this is master's course level.

Perhaps it's a new boss, a new co-worker at work, and they seem very self-assured and confident, so much so that you feel intimidated.

Maybe the nominating committee will be calling you in the next few weeks, and they'll be asking you to do something that you just honestly feel a little bit scared to do and to take on.

Is this something that you really could do?

You know I can't help but think of Moses passing the mantle to Joshua.

And the word intimidated certainly comes to mind.

I mean, stop and think with me, if you will, for a moment.

Moses had been trained in the king's palace in Egypt.

And he'd been called in a miraculous way through a burning bush experience.

And God used him, Moses, to announce the 10 plagues that fell on Egypt.

Moses was the 1 that stood up against Pharaoh and his rod turned into a snake of all things.

It was through Moses that God did the impossible and parted the Red Sea.

Then at Moriah God through Moses turned the bitter water sweet and God through his servant Moses brings water forth from a rock and his staff.

It's Moses who meets with God up on the mountain and receives the 10 Commandments.

It's Moses that oversees the building project of the sanctuary.

And on top of it all, we read in Numbers chapter 12, verse 3, Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.

It was Moses that sent spies into Canaan.

And all the spies, except for Caleb and Joshua, discouraged the people, and the people rebelled and were condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until all those that had rebelled had died.

But because of Moses' sin, his 1 slip up while under pressure.

Moses commanded to speak to the rock but instead he strikes the rock twice, ruining the analogy that God wants to give, and furthermore he brings credit onto himself.

As a result of his sin, he's not allowed to lead the children into the promised land.

And we read here in Deuteronomy 31, verse 6, Be strong and of good courage.

Do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, He is the 1 who goes with you.

Then again, in the 7th verse, again we read, be strong and of good courage.

The Lord, he is the 1 who goes before you.

Do not fear nor be dismayed." Just in case you missed it, we're gonna say it again.

And then a third time in Deuteronomy 31, then he inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun and said, What?

Be strong and of good courage, I will be with you.

3 times in that chapter we see those familiar words, be strong and of good courage.

And why is it being so ingrained into Joshua?

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Presenter

David Wright

All Recordings

Ending or Beginning

37m

No Room In The Inn

26m

The No Limit Christian

25m

Marginless Living

31m

A Call to True Manliness

35m

Worry is Blind

29m

The Dilemma of Rich, Peter & Me

38m

Close of Probation and the 7 Last Plagues

46m

Crisis or Commitment

47m

Shaken or Sealed

42m

True or False Revival

48m

Facing Crisis

41m

Sound Doctrine