GYC West 2014: I Am The Conflict Continues

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GYC West

Dave Fiedler

Finally It’s Over

We have traced the great controversy down through the ages.

And you know, 1 of the things that is most remarkable about the great controversy, to me at least, is simply how long it's taken.

Well, Not only can he do anything, he's smart enough to do the right thing.

And I will take some comfort in Eloite's statement that says that the words of man, if of any value, echo the thoughts of God.

I won't have a lot of my own words to say, because I'm dealing in an area where I don't know much.

Actually, I'm going to stop short at the end.

We'll not be directly dealing with all that God has taken as His responsibility, but I want to go up to the end of our responsibility.

We are the ones, after all, who we're dealing with today.

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

We pray that you would use this occasion and the instruction that you've given us to be a blessing to guide our thoughts and our actions.

May we do as Jesus would do if he were here since he has entrusted his ministry to us.

6000 years ago, roughly, give or take, the members of the Godhead understood Satan's plans and arguments and they rejected them, but nobody else really understood the situation clearly.

That's what has stretched this problem out for as long as it has.

2000 years ago, roughly, Angels and unfallen worlds understood Satan's plans and arguments and rejected them because Jesus showed that Satan's claims about the Godhead were false.

I just want to point out that this is an issue that required more than pronouncement.

God could not say, I'm really a good guy, you ought to trust me.

When Christ came to the earth in person Satan's fiercest warfare was directed against him but by causing the Son of God to be crucified Satan struck a blow at himself when Christ died on the cross Satan's death knell was sounded.

His deceptions were narrowly, we don't use that word that way any longer, the the figure of speech there is like this kind of squinting of the eyes to narrowly watch is to watch very, very carefully because you don't really know whether you trust this thing or not, okay?

So we would say maybe closely watched but his deceptions were closely watched by the inhabitants the unfallen world as he in disguise worked in such a way that he thought he could not possibly be detected But he was left to follow his own course to condemn himself by his own deeds.

Satan could not be condemned because God said he's guilty.

And before the cross, as in front of the cross, or in the light of the cross of Calvary, he stood, revealed in his true character.

When Christ cried out, It is finished, the unfallen worlds were made secure.

For them the battle was fought and the victory won.

Henceforth Satan had no place in the affections of the universe.

The arguments he had brought forward, and here's the arguments, that self-denial was impossible with God and therefore unjustly required from his created intelligences was forever answered Satan's claims were forever set aside the heavenly universe was secured in eternal allegiance now I want to point out a little logical deduction I get from this okay Satan said self-denial is impossible with God I mean he can get anything he wants right he speaks and it stands fast how can you be how can you deny yourself as I'd like a bagel you know and you got a bagel you know How can you deny yourself when you have the power of creation at your command?

So Lucifer said God never denies himself.

It's unjust to require self-denial of the created beings.

Well it says here that that charge, that accusation, argument, that's the word it says, okay, that argument was forever answered.

And I would like to suggest that what that means is that self-denial is therefore justly required of his created beings Not only is it possible with God But it's justly required.

The next step in the process, this is the 1 that's most important to us.

Godhead saw through Satan's plans, the universe saw through Satan's plans.

We're morally challenged, which is perhaps the bigger problem.

So hopefully, sometime in the near future, the 144, 000 will understand Satan's plans and arguments and will reject them and in the process will show or demonstrate to the unfallen worlds that Satan's claims about humanity are false.

It required a member of the Godhead to demonstrate that Satan's claims about the Godhead were false.

But Satan has also made accusations about humanity.

Satan has made accusations about the human race as a category.

Satan has declared that men and women could not enter the kingdom of heaven unless the law was abolished in a way devised by which transgressors could be reinstated in the favor of God and made heirs of heaven by abolishing the law.

He made the claim that the law must be changed, that the reins of government must be slackened in heaven, that sin must be tolerated and sinners pitied and saved in their sins so this is the whole this is the whole motivation for Satan he got kicked out of heaven because he had sinned he said God you ought to change that law and God said now there's an interesting thing and we're not going to go off into this right now but I'll just plant a seed in your mind.

You read what Ellen White has to say about that discussion, and God never says, I won't change the law.

I cannot change the law that's just a seed for thought let's go on every soul that develops a righteous character and withstands the power of the wicked 1 is a testimony to the falsehood of Satan's charges against the divine government.

Well the charges against the divine government because the divine government has proposed saving human beings.

Taking people like you and me back to heaven.

And Satan's accusation is human beings can't unless you drop the law.

And so anytime a human being does, that's an argument or that is a testimony to the falsehood of Satan's charges.

Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of himself in his church.

When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in his people, then he will come to claim them as his own.

Some of you are old enough to remember when that was a very, very divisive hot topic statement back in, what was it?

It was about the, it was the second quarter of 1977, I believe it was, in the Sabbath school lessons.

You may or may not remember that particular occasion, but there was a whole shipment of Sabbath school lessons that were burned at the dock at 1 country because they were not in favor of what was being presented.

And it was basically off of this statement.

Okay, so Christ is waiting for this long, for the manifestation of himself, okay, when his, get to the right spot here, when his character is perfectly reproduced.

Now I'm going to say that I think sometimes we have really kind of put this statement into a strange set of circumstances and context.

And there's been a lot of, I would say, somewhat misdirected argument as to what it means to perfectly reproduce the character of Christ.

I don't think it has to do with whether you eat Lincats or veggie dogs or whatever.

Which brand you buy, I don't think that's it.

We get really fussy sometimes about things that I think are maybe missing something, so I like this Next statement it comes from the same book, so it's it's more or less the same context.

It's admittedly 300 and some odd pages down the down the road in the book but I like it just so remember we're talking about here the character Christ perfectly reproduced and this next statement says the completeness of Christian character is attained when the impulse to help and bless others springs constantly from within.

When the sunshine of heaven fills the heart and is revealed in the countenance.

Now that is not to say all we have to do is love people and we don't have to worry about the Sabbath and all this other stuff that's just unnecessary baggage no that's not what that's saying okay what it's saying is if you are if you actually love people if you actually have this desire to help and bless springing from within and you combine that with intelligence and intelligent Understanding of God's plan and the great controversy and the circumstances of it Then you will see the need for all these other things that people like to sometimes dismiss as being extra baggage There is a reason for the Sabbath.

There is a reason for all these other things.

And those reasons appeal to the intelligence of anyone who wants to help and bless his neighbor.

In these thoroughly converted souls, the world has a witness to the sanctifying power of truth upon the human character.

Through them, Christ makes known to the world his character and will.

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Finally It’s Over

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