In this Bible study, Diego Silva explores the fairness of God’s judgment and the transparency of His government. He looks at why God waited to execute judgment on Lucifer and how this exhibits His love.

Hartland Spring Convocation 2016: Message... Movement!

<p>In this Bible study, Diego Silva explores the fairness of God’s judgment and the transparency of His government. He looks at why God waited to execute judgment on Lucifer and how this exhibits His love.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Hartland Institute of Health and Education

Diego Silva

End-Time Vindication

This afternoon we're going to study the great controversy and last day events and how God will be vindicated in these last days.

The title of the message is End Time vindication and my time is short so we're going to go straight in.

I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 18.

We have a familiar story here that gives us a window into the character of God.

It helps us to understand a little bit about how God is going to deal with evil and vindicate himself as he puts an end to rebellion and purifies the universe of sin.

I'll just give you a couple of moments to find Genesis chapter 18.

He's about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

We have a few verses here that give us some very important insights into the great controversy.

The Bible says in Genesis chapter 18, are we there?

Verse 17, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?

If you look at the context, if you read the whole of Genesis 18, God is about to destroy 2 cities that were in open rebellion against him.

And what does God do as he is about to execute judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah?

And the statement that's made is, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?

Seeing that Abraham, verse 18, shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

What is God going to do before executing judgment?

He is going to make sure that Abraham understands what he is about to do.

If you go on a few verses, we're gonna go to verse 20.

The Bible says, and the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.

Did God understand the condition of Sodom and Gomorrah?

Did he understand that the cup of iniquity was full and that it was time for intervention.

But notice what the Bible says in verse 21.

And this is a glimpse of what God does in judgment, both investigative and executive judgment.

We're in Genesis chapter 18, verse 21, for those that just stepped in.

I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which has come unto me, and if not, I will know.

Does this sound like a God that knows everything?

God is doing a work of investigation here.

Now we're talking about 2 cities who have exceeded their limit in terms of wickedness and rebellion.

And God understands this, but He is about to execute judgment upon these 2 cities, but before doing what he has every right to do, he is going to make his way known to his servant Abraham.

This is important for God because Abraham is going to be the father of a great nation through which God is going to bless the world.

And so God is saying that before I do what I'm about to do, I need to make my way known unto Abraham.

And in verse 25, we're not gonna read the whole dialogue, but this is Abraham speaking with God.

The ruler of the universe opens himself up to be questioned by his servant, Abraham.

And verse 25, it's an incredible verse, especially the last part, it says, that be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee.

And notice the last part of Genesis 18, verse 25.

This is a question, And this is the question we're gonna be looking at today in our study.

Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?

And here we catch a glimpse of how God deals with rebellion.

He will execute judgment when he has satisfied the mind of those who are intelligent beings that are observing his judgments.

We're talking about end time vindication.

That's what we're gonna talk about today.

Before we continue in the word of God, I would just like to illustrate by talking a little bit about American politics.

I don't share political opinions from the pulpit.

If you're following the Republican primaries and the debates and politics these days, you are aware, and even if you're not following, you're probably very aware that Mr.

Donald Trump has been leading in the polls and in the votes in the Republican primaries.

And whether you love him or whether you hate him or whether you just don't know what's going on, most people understand that Donald Trump's popularity is a symbol of dissatisfaction in America towards government.

Whether you're Democrat, whether you're Republican, or whether you don't follow politics, most people realize that people like Donald Trump and even Dr.

Carson has dropped out of the race, but last fall he had Mr.

Trump and other GOP candidates concerned because Dr.

Carson, who's also an outsider, was also very popular in the polls for a time.

He even started competing with Donald Trump.

Carson's popularity was also a symbol that there are people who are not satisfied with government.

Back in 2009, when President Obama took office, he issued a presidential memorandum on transparency and open government.

On his first full day of office, he made an incredible statement.

Whether you like President Obama or not, you will probably agree with his statement.

Very, very lofty goals he set for his administration.

I'm reading from President Obama's memorandum.

My administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in government.

Now underscore that phrase, openness in government.

We're not gonna talk about American government, or Chinese government, or North Korean government, or Brazilian government, that's where I'm from.

And I actually cut off a few slides because my time is limited, but I was gonna tell you about a few other governments, but I'm just gonna stick to American government.

But I'm not gonna spend too much time on it because today we're gonna talk about God's government.

And I wanna contrast what we see in earthly governments with what we see in God's government and how he deals with the universe.

President Obama's statement was, we will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, underscore that word transparency.

It continues, openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government.

And having worked in institutions and being involved in church life, I have learned something about leadership.

And of course, these are the ideals that President Obama set forth.

Now, of course, many will claim that he has not really practiced what he declared, and that's really not what we're going to discuss today.

But the point that I want to bring to your attention is the importance of openness in government in order to awaken the trust of those who are being governed.

Open government is the idea that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for public oversight.

Now, let's go back to our story in Genesis chapter 18.

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End-Time Vindication

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