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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Peter Chung

How to Defeat Babylon

Holy Father, our Father God in heaven, Father we thank you for another day of life and breath.

And Father, in each passing day we are reminded that life is precious, that life is fragile, and life is just a vapor.

And so Father, we thank you for allowing, extending grace and mercy upon us here today, with breath in our lungs and a heart that beats.

And so Father, in spite of myself, may I be a blessing, not a curse to your people.

I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit, that your people be blessed by the preaching of the Word.

Father, today, your people here have made the sacrifice to be here.

There's many other choices that they have, but they chose to be here.

So Father, I ask that you honor their choice, that they be blessed, and that we see the love that you have for us and the work that you desire for us to do so that we could be an instrument of healing and restoration in this broken and dark world.

So Father, may this message be a blessing.

May this message prepare us even more closer to your son's soon return.

October 31st is a day that Bible-believing Christians have a great aversion to.

It is a date that we equate with evil, and rightly so.

But October 31st is not a day of evil, it is a day of good.

It's because October 31st, now don't stone me now, I see some faces now, you're about to, oh he's gone crazy.

October 31st is a day that is very important for us as Protestant believing Christians.

In fact, in October 31st, 1517, a priest and Roman Catholic scholar named Martin Luther approached the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nailed a piece of paper containing 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.

Without Martin Luther nailing these 95 theses, our church would not exist here today.

These theses was a condemnation of the papacy because the papacy at that time was selling the forgiveness of sins in the form of indulgences.

Instead of going to God directly, the people in Europe during the Dark Ages would have to go to a priest, pay money for each sin that they committed in order for them to be forgiven.

Now I don't know about you, but that's a lot of money to spend, is that correct?

And Martin Luther, being that he studied the Bible and he looked at the Bible, he saw the corruption of the papacy.

He saw that Babylon is causing confusion about the forgiveness of sins, declared war on Babylon.

And there was a fundamental text that Martin Luther read as he studied the book of Romans, because at that time in European history, only the priest had access to the word of God, and because Martin Luther sought to search the Scripture for himself, the Bible says in Romans chapter 1 verse 17, this is the central thesis that lightened Martin Luther's mind that something was wrong at that time of the selling of indulgences.

Notice the Bible says in Romans chapter 1, verse 17, the Bible says this, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

And so that text brought revival and reformation and a transformation.

That 1 man in the middle of Germany, in the middle of nowhere, because Germany was geopolitically at that time was not that significant.

You know, each of us can turn the world upside down in our own sphere.

We may look like we're insignificant, but when we have God's Word and God's truth, God can use us in our sphere to turn our sphere upside down.

And so this statement by Paul, that the just shall live by faith, lighten Martin Luther's mind.

Because the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so therefore we're sinners and we're guilty, but the just are not guilty.

Because the Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so therefore we're sinners and we're guilty, but the just are not guilty.

Notice the Bible says in Romans chapter 4, verse 5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth or trust on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

So the just that live by faith believe that Christ justifies the ungodly.

In Asian culture, we equate certain behaviors with being good and being bad.

We equate you study well, you go to Loma Linda Med School or Dent School, you are a good person.

Any other profession, you're a bad person.

And even as an educator and a teacher, you equate certain behaviors as good and certain behaviors as bad, and we say, oh, this person's a good person and this person's a bad person.

The reality of the matter is we're all bad.

As a high school history teacher, I respect sinful human nature because I see it all the time.

So we have to get this out of our mind, just because we come to church and pay tithe, that automatically makes us good.

Or because people do these things and people don't do these things, that by default they're good.

The reality of the matter is, we're all bad and We all need to be justified or forgiven by Jesus because we are all ungodly.

And so notice what Inspiration says in Manuscript Releases Volume 21, 1891.

A penitent sinner, contrived before God, discern Christ's atonement in their behalf and accept this atonement as their only hope in this life and the future life, their sins are pardoned.

So justification by faith is believing that your sins are pardoned.

When Jesus says something in the Bible, do you believe it?

Every believing soul is to conform his or her will entirely to God's will and keep in a state of repentance and contrition, exercising faith in the atoning merits of the Redeemer, and advancing from strength to strength, from glory to glory, pardon and justification are 1 and the same thing.

So justification by faith is that Jesus forgives and also forgets your sins.

And so, with the Protestant Reformation sweeping towards Europe, Not only did Martin Luther transform the European area and that known Western world Theologically, but also transforming it politically because now when people start to study the Bible for themselves Saying that why should we follow the Pope when we have the Bible ourselves.

That bled over to why should we follow these divine right kings that claim that they're appointed by God?

We can rule ourselves and liberty of conscience and democracy swept throughout the world.

And so not only did it transform theologically, transform socially and politically, and people had agency and now people promoted free will and liberty of conscience And the world was being turning upside down, and the challenge of authority caused many in authority to fear.

Notice what the Bible says in Revelation 12, verse 17.

The Bible says this, and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of the sea which keep the commands of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Satan is waging war with Bible-believing Christians that keep the commands of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

And so the question is, who does the dragon use as an instrument to war against God's people?

Notice the Bible says in Revelation 13 verse 1, the Bible says this, And I stood upon the sands of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and upon the horns 10 crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet was as the feet of the bear, and his mouth was the mouth of a lion, and the what?

Dragon gave him his power and his great authority.

So the dragon waged war by using the beast power to declare war upon God's people.

So the question is, how does the beast power wage war against God's people?

Notice the Bible says in Revelation 13, verse 4, the Bible says this, and they worshiped the dragon which gave power to the beast and they worshiped the beast saying who is like unto the beast who is able to make war with him?

So the dragon uses the beast to make war.

And in verse 7 it says, and it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power is given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations.

So the beast power uses persecution to declare war upon God's people.

But there is another description of this beast power.

Notice what the Bible says in Revelation 17 verse 3, and as we study Bible prophecy, there is a consistent principle God repeats and enlarges as he describes it over and over again.

Because as human beings, we're easy to forget.

So God repeats and enlarges and gives more detail, leaving truth systematically, and there's another description of the beast.

Notice the Bible says in Revelation 17 3, so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy having 7 heads and 10 horns.

So here there's an added detail not only is this beast of 7 heads and 10 horns but a woman is riding this beast.

Now when someone is riding something or a beast of burden that person that is riding on top of that beast of burden is controlling that beast of burden.

And so this woman, as the woman of Bible prophecy, represents a church.

This religious entity is controlling this political entity.

Takes orders and direction from this religious entity.

And so, what sin does this woman that ride this beast commit?

Notice the Bible says in Revelation 17 too, and whom the kings of the earth had committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." So this woman, this impure woman, has illicit relationships with the political powers of this earth.

In other words, this system, this religious power, is mixing church and state together.

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How to Defeat Babylon

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