Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28, verse 19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. You welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter, Pastor Andrew Russell.
It's come to that time where we get to look into the word of God and study the word of God together to really receive a message from the Lord. And I'm just going to ask you just to bow your heads with me for a word of prayer. Let's pray together.
Loving Father, we just want to thank you. Now that you get to speak, we get to listen. Sometimes the week is so busy, Lord, sometimes there's so much that we have going on that we hear every other voice and we forget to listen more intently to your voice.
Your word tells us to be still and know that I am God. Give us that experience today. We ask.
We thank you. In Jesus name, amen. In the 1960s, an atheist activist by the name of Miss Madeline O'Hare and her son William J.
Murray played a key role in one of two U. S. Supreme Court rulings banning mandatory prayer in public schools.
Now, Miss O'Hare and her son William declared themselves avowed atheists and viewed religious instruction and prayer in school as a breach of human liberty. Her son, William Murray was himself enrolled in a school in Baltimore at the time. And his mother came to the school and they made a stand together, refusing to say the Lord's prayer and participate in anything of a religious nature.
Well, as you know, that stance ended up with Miss O'Hare fighting the legal system, taking actually the government to court, suing the government, and they succeeded. That was went right up to the US Supreme Court and they succeeded in banning mandatory prayer in schools. Their successful fight in banning prayer in schools also led to them forming what became known as the American Atheist Organisation.
And through that organisation, the American Atheist organisation, O'Hare filed numerous other suits, that is, lawsuits on the issue of separation of church and state. In a later interview, her son explained Miss O'Hare's atheism this way, and I quote, for the first time in my mother's life, she found something she could make money at. Of course, many across America were offended by what was seen by them to be a vicious attack on the american way of life and an abuse of the constitution.
Americans being largely christian. Life magazine gave her the title and an article that called her the most hated woman in America. The most hated woman in America.
In our last presentation that we did together. For those of you who joined us, we noted the rise of the european nations in Bible prophecy, as symbolised by the feet and the toes of that statue. In Daniel chapter two, remember, we had the rise of the four kingdoms.
God was foretelling the rise of four world empires, the breakdown of the fourth empire, which was Rome becoming divided. And that gave rise to the european nations as we know them today. And then by extension, we noted that God talked about how he would consume those nations, he would bruise those nations.
And we began to look at why. And so by extension, we noted how Christianity and the spreading of the gospel through those divided nations of Europe had actually shaped the european nations. Christianity actually shaped the european nations and how it had even extended to countries like America and Australia.
And I talked about how a man by the name of William Blackston actually noted that the english constitution, british common law, was founded upon the Ten Commandments. And of course, by extension, our countries, actually our constitutions are also founded upon the Ten Commandments. And so we talk about western society as being judeo christian society because our roots find themselves in the religion of Christ, whether we like it or not.
I talked about how the constitutions reflect the christian faith. I talked about how we say the Lord's prayer every day in the australian parliament house. I talked about how we give praise to God in the preamble of our constitution.
It's all there. It's all there. But then we began to reflect a little bit more at the demise of the christian faith in western society.
And I cited news articles showing how that same knowledge that once shaped our nation and promoted freedom, liberty of conscience, was now being supplanted by movements of pluralism and atheistic agendas under the term secular, or the term secularism. And I discussed that. I discussed what the original meaning of secular was in that it was something that was actually fashioned by the christian faith to allow for freedom of conscience, for people to believe and choose whatever they want, but how that was being eroded.
And people using the term secular now to actually mean that we are non religious. And that was not the correct use of that term. And so I cited some newspaper articles where there are efforts by governments to actually rule out Christianity out of the public square, or should I say uproot the knowledge of Jesus Christ from the public spotlight.
Kids can't talk or sing about Jesus in schools. Efforts to ban. There was efforts even to ban Christmas carols from shopping centres.
And these kinds of things are not only happening here but elsewhere around the world, as in the case of Miss O'Hare, the European Post, the newspaper, reported that UK schools, this is just last year in 2020, reported that UK schools are removing before and after Christ from the calendar to avoid offending nonchristians. Can you believe it? Before, when we usually say in the calendar, BC means before Christ, right? They're removing before and after Christ from the calendars in UK schools. And so we find ourselves living in a time that many refer to as the cancel culture.
How many have heard of the cancel culture? People are offended by what we would call objective truths. People are offended and people are trying to make truth subjective these days. In other words, you know what? Don't tell me that there is anything like objective truth.
Let us believe what we all want to believe and you can have your truth and I'll have my truth. This is how crazy society is becoming. And so people are offended by the gospel of Jesus Christ, that which helped fashion our nation.
And lawmakers are tempting to rule God and his dear son out of the picture. But there is one other that is greatly offended, and that is God. And so that's why Daniel two states, and this was our text that we reflected on that I want to unpack for us a little bit more today.
Daniel two, verse 21. It says, and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, that is, the kingdoms of the earth, all these kingdoms. And it shall stand forever.
It shall stand forever. This time of destruction upon the nations that is identified here is a period when God will respond to the prevailing unbelief and wickedness that continues in the world, and he will respond to that on a scale as never before seen. It's referred to in the Bible as the day of the Lord.
Perhaps some of you have heard of it. It's referred to as the day of the Lord. It's also referred to as the great day of his wrath.
It is spoken of throughout the scriptures, hence the title, the great day of the Lord. That's the title of our message for this week. It's explicitly spoken of four times in the New Testament, and it appears 19 times in the Old Testament.
And brothers and sisters, it's appalling to know that there are many preachers out there that will never, ever preach and teach on the great day of the Lord. Preachers want to preach those smooth things that kind of butter us up and make us feel good. And yet the Bible gives warnings, warnings that are essential for the welfare of mankind.
Isaiah, chapter two, verse ten. I'm going to read to you some of these statements. You won't have to open your bibles because I want to read through a number of statements that talk about the great day of the Lord.
Isaiah two, verse ten to twelve. It says, enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty. So enter into the rocks.
In other words, enter into the cave and hide. Okay, hide there. The lofty looks of man shall be humble.
That's a reference to the proud. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.
Isaiah 13, verse six says, how ye, in other words, cry, for the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as a destruction from the almighty. Isaiah 13, verse nine says, behold, the day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
I want you to reflect on the words and the descriptions that we're talking about here, that it's covering, that the Bible is alluding to. It's saying, it is a day for the destruction of sinners. It's a day of wrath and fierce anger.
It's a day when the Lord shall be exalted. Jeremiah 46, verse ten says, for this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries, and the sword shall devour. Joel 231 says, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and dreadful, the great and the terrible day of the Lord.
Come. Malachi, chapter four, verse five says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Now these verses that I'm quoting to you, let me put a little bit of context to things.
Often these verses were used in judgement in the life of the children of Israel. So you'll get some of these prophets reference what is called the day of the Lord in the context of perhaps the enemies of Israel, sometimes even the rebelliousness of Israel. But often the prophets would then go on and cast it into a realm that includes the whole world.
And so these references to the day of the Lord have a much larger future fulfilment, which is at the very end of time and they reference it in that context as well. Zephaniah chapter one, verse 15 to 16 says, that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteless and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm. Zephaniah goes on to say, and I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord.
And their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. It's a day of trouble and distress.
It's a day of clouds and thick darkness. It's a day for the destruction of sinners. It's a day of darkness.
It's a day of wrath and fierce anger. Six times when referencing this day, the Bible references Day in the context of a day of great doom. It references three times as a day of vengeance.
In revelation six, verse 17, it's referenced as the day as the great day of his wrath. We've all feared wrath at some time or another, haven't we? Have you ever feared someone else's wrath? I used to fear the wrath of my father when I was young, when I did wrong. Some of us fear the wrath of our employer or our boss.
Many fear the wrath of the law, the wrath of the judicial system, and therefore we endeavour to abide by the laws of the land. It's foolishness to not have that fear. And those that don't have that fear, they have ended up in all kinds of dilemmas, haven't they? I remember visiting the prisons and visiting some inmates there, and I would hear sometimes language that is spoken that reflecting that people don't have a fear for the police and for the government.
In fact, they hate the judicial system. They feel that it's unfair that they're in there and they become even more hateful toward the police and those in authority. They'll often refer to the police as pigs, they'll speak down about them, they'll refer to the wardens in the prisons as screws, and they'll only entertain those individuals as far as it serves their own purpose.
But other than that, they have no respect for the law. They have no respect for the law. And that is what the Bible describes as the sinner.
It's those that have no respect for the authority of God. They have no respect for his commandments, no respect for his law, and therefore they rebel against it. And they will end up in the most severe of predicaments as described in the context of the day of the Lord.
It is describing a day when God will visit with retributive judgments. He will visit the wicked and the unrepentant upon the earth. Foolishness, to despise the law.
Foolishness, to despise. Authority, the authority of parents, the authority that resides in the home. Foolishness, to despise the authority of governments.
You end up in the prison or you end up with fines. Foolishness to despise the authority of God. Even in the church we've all feared someone at some point in time.
And those that don't are counted as fools. Bible says it is a fool that has said there is no God. Just the fact that we don't see God, that some don't see God does not mean that he is not there.
There is evidence for the presence of God. There is evidence for the reality of God. Just take a look around you.
Look at the wonders of creation. No big bang just made these things appear as some want to teach us. Because how is it that things can just appear and then life is perfectly sustained and preserved? Foolishness, brothers and sisters, it's a theory.
And it's a theory that cannot and has not yet identified the original source of life. It's a theory. Must have been some big bang or something like that.
But evidence also is right here in the word of God. And it's foolishness that some people will take the position, well why would you believe in someone you don't see and make that the foundation for unbelief? The evidence is in the scriptures and I challenge anyone. You will not find such evidence for God anywhere else, anywhere else except in the holy Bible and what christians regard as his holy word, his word that has shaped the western nations and that made them great.
You'll find it in here. And I think some people are too afraid to look because they fear that they will come up short. While brothers and sisters, you do come up short.
We all come up short. But there is good news in the scriptures and we'll get to that. But first we must face the reality that there is a sovereign God and he will hold men and women to account for the choices that they made, for their rejection of truth, for the rejection of God and the reality of his son having been sent and having come voluntarily into this world, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, we read Peter's account of that day. Two Peter, chapter three, verse ten. Why don't you turn with me to second Peter, chapter three, verse ten.
In your Bibles, I'd like you to look at Peter's description here. Two Peter, chapter three, verse ten. Notice the Bible says here, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. We could even read on, it says in verse eleven, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens be on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The Bible says that that day will come as a thief in the night.
What it means is, just as the thief, just as sorry, no one is prepared for someone breaking in the house. The thief sneaks in and catches people unawares, catches the inhabitants unaware, so that day will come and catch the people of earth unawares. The Bible says there, as Peter described it, that the heavens will be on fire.
On that day, the heavens or the sky across the world will seem to be on fire, like when a monstrous volcano explodes and smoke litters the sky. Have you ever seen that this will be on a worldwide scale? That which is stone shall break in pieces. That which is wood shall burn, and that which is plastic or metal shall melt with fervent heat.
The Bible says it is as a time of purification, is a time of wrath, but is a time when God will purify the earth of wickedness. Turn with me in Isaiah, chapter second Isaiah. Sorry.
Chapter two, verse 19. I want you to notice how Isaiah here describes the state of men at that time. Isaiah, chapter two.
Let's read verse 19. We'll read from verse 19 through to verse 21. Notice here.
Isaiah, chapter two, verse 19 to 21. The Bible says, here, let me give you. Oh, no.
Let's read it from there. It's in the context of this great day. Verse 19 says, and they shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly, the earth.
Notice, the earth will shake at that time. In that day, a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they made, each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats to go into the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly. The earth Bible says that they will try to hide themselves.
And men that once worshipped idols of stone, once worshipped idols of gold, they will inevitably cast that aside because the reality of the living God, the spiritual, invisible living God is upon them in the most visible way. God has appeared to some quite visibly and in various ways. I had one of those experiences myself.
But he doesn't need to give everyone that experience. But in this day it will be a most visible presence of God. And so the earth will shake and his majesty will begin to shine forth.
What the Bible describes as the day of the Lord is what can only be described as a cataclysmic time of retributive judgments that will fall on the earth. Cataclysmic unlike anything that has ever been seen. It's not the full completion of judgement.
But as far as the earth is concerned at that time, it will be. The Bible speaks of an executive judgement after a thousand years that the redeemed of the earth, God's people will be with him in heaven. The Bible speaks of a time when God will cast rebelliousness into the lake of fire.
Okay, but it happens after the thousand years which we read in the book of revelation. But this day is what happens with the onset of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what takes place before he comes.
Turn with me to revelation, chapter six. Let's look at that together. Notice how John, one of the apostles of Jesus refers to this in revelation, chapter six, verse 14 to 17.
Revelation, chapter six, verse 14 to 17. The Bible says here, and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their place. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb.
My friends, this is the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is what precedes it. It's the wrath of the Lord Jesus Christ that they will hide themselves from.
He's sitting on the throne, the Bible says. And they would rather have the mountains fall upon them than face the one that they have mocked and scoffed at and rejected. Verse 17 says, for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? This is unlike anything the world has ever experienced.
I remember being in Bali and experiencing a little tremor with an earthquake there and we ran out of the house. Some have experienced much worse things than that but it will not compare to what will take place at this time. And God, my friends, is giving us a warning here.
He's given us a warning and that warning is given in mercy. It's given in mercy for you and for me. It's given in mercy that we may take the time to seek him, that we may find the reality of him.
And the Bible says that he who seeks me shall find me if he searches for me with all his heart. And there are countless people that line the pews of the church who can testify the fact that they sought after the knowledge of God. They never took life for granted.
They realised the miracle that is life and they considered the possibility of a God being there, giving them life and sustaining life in the most miraculous of ways. And when they sought him, they found him. Amen.
They found him. This day will come. The question is, who shall be able to stand notice? Who shall be able to stand as Luke, the writer, Luke describes in acts chapter two.
Turn with me now in your bibles to acts, chapter two, verse 20. Let's read acts, chapter two. I'd like to take you to verse 20 there, notice the Bible says, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and notable day of the Lord.
Come. Verse 21. Here's the answer.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall. What shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, my friends, this is a warning.
This is not saying that you should call on the name of the Lord when that time comes, brothers and sisters, that would be too late. That may be very well too late because a relationship is not built in a moment, is it? A relationship is built over time. And this relationship with our creator, with our God and with our saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is something that is developed over time and it allows you to then stand in that great day in the faith of Jesus Christ.
And when you stand in the faith of Jesus Christ, God calls you his own. You belong to him. We'll talk a little bit more about that later.
But those that will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Shall be saved. The saved are counted among those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? Let me share with you now the good news. How will you be able to stand? Who will be able to stand? The Bible tells us that Christ bore the wrath and fierce anger of God. All those descriptions that we just read about the day of the Lord, all those descriptions applied to Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on Calvary.
Let me open the scriptures with you and let me show you that this is why the Bible calls us to believe on him. Turn with me in your bibles to Luke, chapter 23. Notice the descriptions.
Notice what took place when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Luke, chapter 23. Let's read from verse 44 to verse 48.
Luke, chapter 23. Verse 44 to verse 48. Notice the Bible says here, and it was about the 6th hour, and there was what? Darkness.
Where? Over all the earth until the 9th hour. And the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. That means he gave up his breath. The translators used that word there, but it's in reference to his breath now.
When the centurion saw what was done, there was a centurion there, roman centurion. He glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous man. Verse 48 says, and all the people that came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned.
Are you getting the picture of what took place there when Jesus died on the cross? The Bible says that darkness blanketed the earth. The sun was darkened when Jesus was on the cross as he was dying. And the centurion, in witnessing what was taking place, had to rethink what was being done there to this man, because this man was believed by many to be the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the son of David.
And they mocked him because he was to be a king amongst his people. You see, friends, there are two kingdoms at war. The first kingdom is the kingdom of darkness, authored by Satan himself.
Jesus called him the prince of this world. But the second kingdom is the kingdom of light, that is the kingdom of God. And Jesus Christ shone the light on the commandments of God as the principles for righteousness and godliness.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery. All these things.
Christ shone the light on those things when he died on that cross. Because he died in our place. He died in our place.
We had broken those commandments. And so Christ shining the light on that helps us to see our sinfulness. And Christ came to bring the kingdom of light, to vanquish the kingdom of darkness.
And then this recenturion had heard about his kingship, the son of David that would come to take the throne. And now the whole atmosphere changes when Jesus is on the cross drastically, and it hangs there in darkness in a way that has never been seen before. Even others that were there, the Bible tells us they beat their breast and they left.
Considering now what possibly might have happened, what they possibly might have done. Go with me to Matthew. Notice how Matthew describes it.
We'll go to the book of Matthew, chapter 27. Matthew, chapter 27. Are you getting the picture? Matthew, chapter 27, verse 50 to 51.
Firstly, and then we're going to jump to verse 54. It's interesting that when Jesus died, that these descriptions associated with the day of the Lord were fulfilled or partially fulfilled with his death on the cross. And I'll elaborate on that a little bit more.
Notice Matthew 27, verse 50 to 51. The Bible says here Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. That's the breath again.
And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain or in two, from the top to the bottom. And notice what it says here. As Matthew describes it, Matthew was one of the disciples of Jesus.
And the earth did quake and the rocks rent. The rocks split open, it says there, and jump to verse 54. It says, now when the centurion.
Here it is again. Now when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, truly this was the son of God. Oh, my friends, when Jesus died on the cross, there was an earthquake.
The earth began to shake under the feet of the people that were there. The rocks began to split in two. Even the veil in the temple stripped down the middle.
That veil, which was a curtain that hung before in between what was called the holy place and the most holy place of the sanctuary, was so thick it could not be torn by human hands. But in that day, it tore from the top to the bottom so that the centurion and others that were there feared greatly. Some ran from that place, brothers and sisters, terrified as to perhaps what they have done here in crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, friends, if anyone should be greatly offended, it should be God. It should be God, because Jesus Christ, when he died on that cross, took upon himself the fierce anger, the fierce wrath of God. He took that upon himself as the sinner.
He took that upon himself as the sinner. He took our sins upon him. He took his sins upon.
He took our sins upon him. It was the only way. It was the only way to appease God's wrath.
That rightfully need to be poured out upon this earth. With its evil and its unrepentant ways. With its idolatries, with its selfishness, with its pride.
Christ took that wrath upon himself. For you and for me. It was what we may call a typical experience that Jesus had in receiving the wrath of God.
As opposed to the anti typical experience that would come later on. I really shouldn't use that word. Typical and anti typical.
It's a bit of theological term. But basically it's saying that what happened on a smaller scale. Would happen on a much larger scale.
But, brothers and sisters, when the great day of God's wrath comes at the very end. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Will be saved.
Because he took that wrath upon himself. Because he loves you. Because he loves me.
He understood that God was right to pour out his wrath. He understood. He walked among us.
He saw the prevailing wickedness. He understood. And it was a fearful time for him, brothers and sisters, that was not an experience that he went through willingly.
It was a time of trouble, a time of great distress for him. No movie on the life of Christ. Has ever captured what took place in Jesus'death on the cross.
The passion of the Christ put his death down to the flagellation and to the crucifixion. The nailing of big nails through his feet and through his hands. That is not what caused his death, brothers and sisters.
What caused his death was the great trouble and distress that he was experiencing. As he sensed the wrath of God resting upon him. And the earth was quaking.
And the darkness was all surrounding him. Brothers and sisters, do you have any idea of what Jesus experienced? For you and for me, that's the good news. It's the good news of the love of Christ.
You see, Jesus'death on the cross not only brings us forgiveness for our sins. But it delivers us from the wrath to come. It delivers us from that wrath that is to come.
And if we're wise, we would be fearful of that wrath. And if we're wise, we would choose God's love in Jesus Christ for you and for me. You know, William J.
Murray. That was the son of Miss Madeline O'Hare. Which I told you about in the start of this message.
He eventually came face to face with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In a tv interview, he stated that he had found God. And he said quote, I see my mother as a sinner now.
I see my mother as a sinner now. Isn't that incredible? What he once hated, once he actually came to the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. And all the prophecies concerning Christ's first coming and these prophecies that we're studying in the context of the day of God's wrath regarding his second coming.
He realised God's love for his soul. And he wondered why he had had such hatred in his heart to a God who gave his only son for an undeserving world. And he chose Jesus Christ.
And he realised his mother's hatred and his mother's error concerning the living God. At the time that that interview was being conducted, Miss Madeline O'Hare was actually watching the interview on television. And she ordered that the tv be turned off.
And she asked, am I really that bad of a mother? Am I really that bad of a mother? See, the world, the Bible tells us, and that's what Daniel two is bringing to light. God has shed the gospel and the good news of his son with this world. But more and more, the world is rejecting and continuing in unrepentance and wickedness.
And my friends, let's not talk about how good we are, because we do not reach the standard that God has. We do not reach the standard of godliness. Without him, the world is headed to godliness.
And it's an ugly reality that is upon us. I was studying with a man the name of Daniel the other day. And he's one that surfs the Internet.
And he's talking about movements and things that are at play. And he said to me, Pastor Andrew, you're talking to me about God's love and Jesus Christ. But I look at the world and I see what men are doing.
I see how men are defrauding each other. I see the wealthy extorting out of the poor. And I see all these things, and he says, and it doesn't make sense to me what you're saying.
The world is not. It didn't make sense. How does God love such a world? I said to him, I said to him, we are living, Daniel.
We are living in a time when the world is inherently evil. Those were my words. I spoke to him this week.
That was a week ago. I'd spoken to him before, and I spoke to him this week. He said he has not forgotten those words.
And Christ died for the inherently evil. He died for you and for me. I know I don't deserve it, but I know that God loves me.
And I know that he loves you. Jesus not only died for our sins, but he died that we might escape the wrath that is to come. And I wonder if you found Jesus like William J.
Murray, one that was so hateful, one that was instrumental in supporting his mother in founding that american atheist association. Have you found Jesus like William J. Murray? You see, the truth is that Jesus found William.
That's the truth. Jesus found William. While we search for the Lord, the Lord is always there, not very far from us.
He's just waiting for the hand of faith to be stretched out to him. Bible says, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be what shall be saved shall be saved. And I wonder if you would be willing to call on the name of the Lord today to call on the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, that we might find mercy in the eyes of God, that we might find help in the presence of God in our life and that he might deliver us, that he might deliver you from the wrath to come, if that's your decision, right where you are.
I don't see you coming through the camera, but will you put up your hand? Will you say, yes, Lord? Yes, Lord, you're in the knowledge of your son, in him bearing the fierceness of your wrath, in him suffering great distress and trouble, so much so that it took his life. Nothing physical took his life. It's that distress and trouble and the fierce hot displeasure and anger of the Father that rested upon him so that we might never go through it.
In recognising that you want to say, Lord, I acknowledge Jesus Christ, your son and what he endured for me. And I will never want to go through that, Lord. And God says, you will never have to go through it as you walk with me in the name of Jesus Christ.
That's your decision. Let's pray. Let us all commit our lives to the Lord.
And let's be serious about our walk with God. Let's be serious because God offers us salvation in Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
Loving Father. Lord. We've unpacked, Lord, today that which Daniel talks about, Lord, in the context in the days of these kings and the times, Lord, that we are living in the time of the european nations, Lord, that the time will now come, Lord, soon, where you will break in pieces and consume these nations.
For you have a controversy with the nations, Lord. They are trying to rule out the knowledge of truth. They're trying to do away, Lord, with the knowledge of God and his son Jesus Christ.
We don't see such attacks Lord. On Hinduism we don't see such attacks on Buddhism, Lord but we see these attacks on the religion of Christ. Because Satan knows, Father Satan knows that Christ is the answer to this world.
Christ is the saviour. Father the warnings that you give in scripture ought to make us fear for what will come. Not Lord, because it's your purpose for us to be fearful of you.
But it's so that we might realise our helplessness, that we might realise that we are doomed, that we might realise that we need someone to save us. And Father, today again, Lord, you have shown us that your son is that saviour that we are looking for. O Father, you've given us a picture of what he suffered when he died.
On behalf of the sinner, Lord oh Father, we thank you that he was willing, willing to come from heaven and to bear it all. Lord, on Calvary's hill o father, as the earth shook, Lord, when he was on that cross, as the darkness engrossed him o father, as he was overcome with fear and trouble Lord, he understood, Lord, he accepted your judgement on our behalf. We thank you father, for Jesus Christ today.
Lord, thank you for establishing us in the faith of your son. And Lord, may we walk with you joyfully, Lord, from this day forward. May we love you Lord, as you have loved us and continue to love us.
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you everyone.
I'm so thankful that God speaks so sincerely and honestly with us and that yes, the day will come when he will purify this earth, but that he speaks to us first and foremost while there is time and calls us to himself. I praise the Lord for your decisions at home. I praise the Lord that you've joined me in prayer and I look forward to worshipping together with you soon.
God bless you. This message was made available by the Dundas Seventh-day Adventist Church. For more resources like this visit their YouTube page.
Dundas Seventh-day Adventist Church. This programme has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia Radio.
