SWYC 2007: In This Generation

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GYC Southwest

SWYC 2007 Plenary Sessions

Stephen Bohr

Changing The Times

I left Napa this morning which is up by PUC.

I was visiting my daughter who lives up there.

Left about 8 o'clock in the morning and arrived here at almost 6 o'clock.

Has anybody here come from a further place than PUC?

On second thought, I just came from around the corner.

It's a real privilege to be here with this very select group of youth and young adults.

I see very encouraging things happening in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and I'd like to just share 2 of them with you before we open God's Word.

I had the privilege about a month ago of speaking at the Inter-American Division Youth Congress in the city of Medellin, Colombia.

They had about 6, 000 young people gathered there.

This was an event that was organized by the Inter-American Division.

It was very spiritually enriching, but the music was deplorable.

And it was exciting for me to have youth directors from conferences and youth directors from unions and youth and young adults coming to me constantly complaining about the music.

You know if this had been just some denominational leaders, it would be different.

But it was actually originating at the grassroots, which is very, very encouraging.

A second interesting episode, I had the privilege last week of speaking to a group of 200 lay leaders near San Juan, Puerto Rico.

And they are having just terrible problems in Puerto Rico with worship styles.

It's come to the point where they have dancing on the stage, raising the hands, shouting, clapping.

The only thing that's lacking is speaking in tongues, you know, but that might come down the road.

But the encouraging thing is that when I got back home, which was on Thursday, I got a call from the youth director of the West Puerto Rico Conference.

He said, Pastor Bohr, I've had multiple requests by the young people in our conference to have a camp at our campsite with you presenting a series on proper biblical worship.

He says the encouraging thing about this is this was not an idea that we came up with.

This was an idea that the young people came up with.

And there's over 500 young people that want to go to this camp out and want to learn proper ways of worship according to Scripture so that they can go back to their churches and they can teach their churches the proper way to worship.

So there are exciting things happening in the Seventh-day Adventist church.

You know, Israel did not cease being God's special people even in the periods of the worst kings like Ammon and Manasseh which were horrendous times for Israel they were still God's people they were an apostasy but then you had Josiah's show up and they allowed God to use them in a powerful way to bring revival and reformation among God's people and as I look at this group I have no doubts whatsoever that the future of the church is bright and the finishing of the work is here gathered here this evening through the power of God us lending ourselves as instruments in the hands of God I want to thank Michael James whom I've only met online and I want to thank Norman also for the privilege, because I know that he had some clout for me being here, because I was with Advent Hope at Loma Linda last year.

And so I want to thank them for the awesome privilege of being here to spend this weekend with this very select group.

Now before we get into our study this evening, we want to have a special moment of prayer to ask the Lord's guidance.

All right, let's bow our heads for prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you for the awesome privilege of being here in this place of worship.

We thank you Father that you brought us safely, that your angels have watched over us as many of us have traveled from different places.

And Father we ask that as we open your holy word that your Holy Spirit will manifest himself powerfully here.

I ask Lord that you will open our minds and give us understanding and that you will open our hearts and plant the seed of truth in each heart.

And we ask Lord that you will help us understand the urgency of the times that we're living in Father that if there's anyone who is indolent anyone who is just sitting around doing nothing I ask Lord that this evening we might be inspired to get out and shout from the rooftops that Jesus is coming again and we must prepare.

We thank you Father for the privilege of prayer.

We thank you for hearing us for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus.

I'd like to begin this evening by reviewing a prophecy which I believe that probably most all of us are acquainted with.

And we're not going to study all of the details of Daniel chapter 7.

I'm just going to review certain aspects of the chapter and my special interest is in getting to the point of the fourth beast of Daniel 7.

Now you're going to help me along to review this chapter so you know that in Daniel 7 there's a lion what does the lion represent?

Then you have a bear what does the bear represent?

The bear represents Medo-Persia very well.

And then you have a fourth beast which is a terrible beast.

We call it the nondescript beast but really it's a dragon beast and what does this dragon beast represent the dragon beast represents Rome now what I want us to notice as we begin our study this evening is that this fourth beast has 4 consecutive stages of dominion.

The fourth beast has 4 consecutive stages of dominion.

Now let's turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 7 and take a look at that.

Daniel chapter 7 and we want to read verse 23 and then we'll continue reading also verse 24 Daniel chapter 7 and verses 23 and 24 want you to notice 4 stages of the fourth beast.

Verse 23, thus he said, the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces.

Stage number 1, the fourth beast governing by itself, no horns yet, just the dragon beast by itself.

That dragon beast represents the Roman Empire, what we call pagan Rome.

The 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom.

Let me ask you must the kingdom be there in order for the 10 horns to arise from the kingdom?

So in other words the kingdom is there for a while before the 10 horns come out.

The dragon beast with the 10 horns represents the second stage of this fourth beast of Rome.

In other words it represents Rome as it's been divided up by the barbarians who have invaded from the north.

But then I want you to notice that there is a third stage in this fourth beast.

And now notice, and another shall rise after them.

He shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue 3 kings.

So you notice that there's a third stage to this fourth beast.

The third stage is when a little horn rises among the 10 and uproots 3 of those 10 kingdoms.

And of course we know that that little horn represents what?

Represents the papal system, the Roman Catholic papacy.

Rome ruling by itself, Rome divided into 10 kingdoms, and papal Rome represented by the little horn.

Now I mentioned that there are 4 stages to the fourth beast.

Revelation’s Sanctuary Pattern

What a blessing to see so many young people out at this hour in the morning.

As long as we have this Christian fellowship and warmth, You know we can put up with a few inconveniences here and there can't we?

Because compared to what's coming these inconveniences are nothing Before we enter our study this morning we want to ask for the Lord's presence and his blessings So I invite you to bow your heads with me as we pray.

Father in heaven we thank you so much for the privilege of being in this beautiful place in the mountains.

But above all, we thank you for your Holy Word.

Father, how terrible it would be to be in this world without any guidance, direct guidance from you.

But we thank you that you have given us a compass in your Word.

And as we open that word this morning, we ask for the presence of your spirit For we are fully aware that the Holy Spirit gave the Bible and without the aid of the Holy Spirit We could never understand what he gave So be with us and instruct us and guide us We thank you father for hearing and answering our prayer for we ask it in Jesus name Amen There are 2 things That go together like a hand and a glove.

And that is the Hebrew sanctuary and the book of Revelation.

The reason why the Seventh-day Adventist Church, And I don't say this arrogantly, but I do say it truthfully the reason why the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the only church in the world That understands the book of Revelation is because it's the only church in the world that understands the Hebrew sanctuary You see the book of Revelation follows the exact sequence of the Hebrew sanctuary from beginning to end.

And in our devotional period this morning, I would like to go into the book of Revelation and follow the sequence of the book of Revelation and share with you how Revelation follows the exact sequence of ministration and of places of the Hebrew sanctuary.

Now I would like to review just a little bit the geography of the Hebrew sanctuary for those who are not real well versed in the Hebrew sanctuary.

I'd like to just give a description and also a description of the daily and the yearly service.

So most of this will be review for a lot of you, but I feel that it's important to do this.

The first was the Hebrew encampment where the Israelites lived.

You see, they were part of the sanctuary.

They will build me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.

Without them, the sanctuary would be useless because really They were the ones who needed the services of the sanctuary.

So the first place, key place of the sanctuary was the encampment.

The second key place of the sanctuary was the court.

The central piece of furniture in the court, of course, was the altar of sacrifice.

The animals were sacrificed and they were placed upon the altar.

And then of course, you went into the tent proper and the first apartment was called the Holy Place.

And in the Holy Place, as you went in from the eastern side, you would look to your left, that is to the south, and you would see the seven-branch candlestick, which was burning, the lights were burning all day, 24-7, all day and all night.

Then as you look to your right, you saw the table of the showbread.

There were 12 breads, or I wouldn't say loaves, but you had 12 cakes of bread.

They were distributed into 2 piles, 6 and 6, and I believe that's a special purpose for that.

And then as you look straight forward, still in the holy place, you saw the altar of incense, where morning and evening, continually, the incense, the smoke of the incense was ascending and going over the curtain into the most holy place.

Then of course the fourth key place of the sanctuary was the most holy place.

And in the most holy place you had the Ark of the Covenant.

And inside the Ark of the Covenant were actually 3 things.

You had Aaron's rod that budded and you had the pot of manna, but in a central location and what I especially want to dwell upon were the 10 Commandments.

And of course, above the ark was what was known as the mercy seat and that's where the glory of God, the Shekinah, came down to dwell in the Hebrew sanctuary.

Now also the sanctuary, besides the geography of it, had a daily and a yearly service.

The daily service had to do with the court and with the holy place of the sanctuary.

You see, the sacrifices were offered morning and evening besides other sacrifices, but there was a morning and evening sacrifice, which means that upon the altar the sacrifice was burning continually.

In the holy place, the bread was to be there continually.

The incense was to be going up continually.

The 7 lamps of the candlestick were supposed to be lighted continually.

In other words, what took place in the court and in the holy place was a continual thing.

It was the daily service of the sanctuary.

The services of the most holy place were yearly.

In other words, once a year, at the end of the year, you had the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Trumpets that announced the Day of Atonement.

And of course, the Day of Atonement was the great day of judgment when Israel was judged and they needed to afflict their souls during the time that a high priest was in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

And so at the end of the year, once a year, you have the services of the most holy place of the sanctuary.

Now, what I want to share this morning is the fact that the book of Revelation follows the exact order of the Hebrew sanctuary and reveals to us the different steps that Jesus takes as He does His utmost to save us.

Now if you ask most Christians why Jesus came to this earth, they'll say, well He came to save me, or He came to die on the cross.

And that's true, Jesus came to save us and Jesus came to die on the cross.

But the Hebrew sanctuary is much more involved than just the sacrifice in the court.

You have the services of the holy place and you have the service of the most holy place of the sanctuary, representing different aspects of the work of Christ.

Now as we begin I would just like to say that the different parts of the Hebrew sanctuary depict different functions of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation.

His work in the court represents primarily Jesus as sacrifice.

His work in the holy place represents Jesus primarily as intercessor.

His work in the most holy place represents primarily his work as judge.

And there's 1 further function, once the Hebrew sanctuary closes, the function of Jesus that is depicted is Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So the Hebrew sanctuary depicts 4 functions of Jesus.

Jesus as sacrifice, Jesus as intercessor, Jesus as judge and Jesus as King.

And I believe that the book of Revelation reveals all of these functions in the exact order of the Hebrew sanctuary.

Now I'm only going to share with you this morning the high points of the book of Revelation.

I wish we had time to study the nitty-gritty, the little details in between each 1 of these high points, but obviously we don't have the time.

And I trust that many of you are taking notes or you're going to get the CD or the DVD, if there is 1, and that you're going to take it home and you're going to say, okay, I'm going to check this out.

And you study everything in between the high points that we're going to take a look at in our study this morning.

Basically, I would like to begin with Revelation 1 and verse 3.

Let's begin at Revelation chapter 1 and verses 5 and 6, and then we'll jump to speak about the first 3 chapters generally.

Revelation chapter 1, And let's read verses 5 and 6.

It says here, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, that's his resurrection, right?

And the ruler over the kings of the earth.

Now notice this, to him who loved us, what tense is that verb?

Loved us, and how did he show his love and washed us what tense is the verb past and washed us from our sins in his own blood what piece of furniture in the sanctuary is this verse referring to it's referring to his what to his sacrifice So where are we in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 5?

It's reminiscing upon his work at the altar of sacrifice.

On the cross he died, he shed his blood to save his people from their sins.

But now we go to the rest of Revelation 1 and chapter 2 and chapter 3.

And you have Jesus there walking among the 7 candlesticks.

If you go with me to chapter 1 and verse 13, actually let's read verse 12 for the context.

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw 7 golden lampstands.

And in the midst of the 7 lampstands, this is the same 1 who loved us past and washed us in his blood, 1 like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band." So where is Jesus in the series of the churches?

Lessons from the Two-horned Beast

Before we open God's Word this afternoon, I would like to make a short announcement.

I represent a ministry called Secrets Unsealed, And our intention is not only to evangelize outside, but to evangelize inside the Adventist church.

Sometimes the greatest evangelism is inside.

And so we produce materials that are Not primarily for outreach, although they're good for that also, but for what we call inreach.

And we have a booth here, and we have a marketing director and her husband with us, as well as several of the Fresno Central Church members, and they would like to meet you at our booth after lunch today, upstairs.

For everyone who goes by our booth, if you sign up on our mailing list, you will receive a free complimentary copy of the DVD, Worship at Satan's Throne, which deals with the theological foundations of why we talk so much about not worshipping the way many churches are worshipping today.

It's all centered in the message to the Church of Philadelphia.

And so it's a two-hour presentation, by the way, on DVD, and it's free to you if you go by our booth and you sign up on our mailing list.

Also there's other goodies up there, and so I invite you to go by and talk to Eileen.

She's a good marketer in the good sense of the word and So we hope that you will make it a point to visit our booth.

So let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you for the awesome privilege of being in this place.

But we thank you so much for the rain and father I ask that you will pour out your rain upon us now in this meeting the abundant rain of your Holy Spirit I ask Lord that you will open our minds and give us understanding and open our hearts and give us a willingness to stand for you though the heavens fall, though it means giving up our life because we love Jesus.

We thank you Father for being with us and for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

I want to review as we begin what we studied in our sermon last night.

Very briefly let's go through Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 we have a lion, what does the lion represent?

Then we have a bear, what does the bear represent?

Then we have a leopard, what does the leopard represent?

Then we have a fourth beast, what does that fourth Beast represent?

The Dragon Beast by itself, the Dragon Beast with 10 horns, the Dragon Beast with a little horn, And then the final stage of the little horn.

Now let's turn in our Bibles to Revelation chapter 13.

Revelation 13 is actually repeating what we find in Daniel 7 using some of the same symbols but also using some different symbols.

Revelation chapter 13 and I want you to notice verse 2.

It speaks about this beast that rises from the waters from the sea And you'll notice it says in verse 2, Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.

The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

Now you'll notice here that we have the same beasts of Daniel 7.

We have a lion, we have a bear, we have a leopard, and we have a dragon beast.

And by the way if you go back to Revelation 12 you notice that the dragon beast has 10 horns So you have a lion a bear a leopard a dragon beast with 10 horns And then I want you to notice at the end of verse 2 what this dragon beast with 10 horns does.

Chapter 13 and verse 2 the last part of the verse says, the dragon gave him, that is gave this beast, his power, his throne, and great authority.

So this verse is talking about the transition from pagan Rome to papal Rome.

Now I want you to notice the time period that this little horn of Daniel 7, this beast of Revelation 13 governs.

Revelation 13 and notice verse 5, and he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies is that the same thing the little horn did absolutely let me not read the last part of the verse Let's just go to verse 7 for a moment.

It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

Is that the same thing the little horn did?

And now notice the time period at the end of verse 5.

And he was given authority to continue how long?

Which is the same as time, times, and half a time.

See time, 1 year, times, the dual without a qualifier means 2 times and then a half time.

I won't go into how you can prove that from the Bible.

3 1⁄2 years times 360 days per year and the total is 1260.

Now if the biblical year has 360 days, the biblical month must have 30.

Because 30 times 12, 30 days times 12 months gives what?

So you have 42 months here, so you multiply 42 months times what times 30 and where is the total 1260 so basically we're told that the beast at least in its first stage of existence, ruled for a period of 1, 260 years.

It says, and I saw 1 of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded." So what happened to this beast?

By the way, each head governs consecutively.

So when the head is wounded, the beast is wounded.

And so it says, I saw 1 of his heads as though he had been mortally wounded by the way when was the mortal wound given it would have to be after the 1260 years right because if it's after the 1260 years then he governed longer than 1260 years.

And so it says, it continues saying, and his deadly wound was what?

Was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast.

How many stages of existence does the beast have?

It has the period of the 42 months, it's wounded, and then its deadly wound is what?

Healed, and the whole world marvels and wonders after the beast.

Now here is a very important question that I want to ask.

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