GYC 2007: Be

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Mark Finley - The Shaking and the Sifting: A Biblical Approach

Mark Finley

Shaking and Sifting, Part 1

Well, it's 9.30 and it's time to start our class.

We want to start on time and we're going to bow our heads, but before we do that, let me tell you a little bit about the use of the workbook.

To get the most out of class, you'll need a Bible, a pen, and the workbook.

You'll also need a desk, and since you do not have 1, the back of the person in front of you should work very nicely.

So the idea is you balance your Bible on your knee, you take your workbook and you put it on the back of the person in front of you, it's far better to take notes on their back than it is on their shirt, but you will do quite well if you do that.

1 of the things that you need to be aware of in the use of the workbook, We are not bound to the workbook.

Whether we do not serve the workbook, it serves us.

So there are going to be areas in the workbook that I don't cover.

But by the time you leave at the end of 6 sessions, I'll give you the key, and you actually have the key in your workbook for all of the answers, and so you can do a lot of self-study beside what we do in class.

So if there is an area that I'm going over, and I don't want you to be hung up on what do I write in my workbook and where does this go and I miss this word don't worry about that because of the fact that my goal is for this class to be an experience of study of the word of God, study of the writings of Ellen White, and an inspirational class too, where you'll leave feeling not simply that you've stored information in your head, but you leave feeling that that you've met Christ, that you have a new understanding of last-day events, and a new understanding of what Jesus wants to do in your own personal life.

But you will have the key to all of the information in the workbook, and so you really don't have to worry that you're going to miss something there.

What I will do is I will direct you to certain pages that we will be filling in some blanks.

And maybe by the second session, I'll sit somebody at the computer hooked up to the projector, and I'll have somebody over at the whiteboard.

I'll organize that for the second session so that as I go on, if you're a little ambivalent in what to write in your workbook, we'll type that in and we'll put it up on the screen and we'll have somebody writing on the workbook, writing on the board later that will get that material up as well.

So if some of you are still coming in, there are a few seats around in here.

I certainly don't mind if you want to come up and sit on the floor if you're comfortable there just feel free to do that so if you want if you're in the doorway and you need it don't have a seat in the room and you want to sit on the floor that's fine with me don't worry about it if it's more if it's easier for you to sit on the floor and write than it is for you to stand just make yourself at home this is no that's no problem at all let's pray and then we will begin our session in this particular period of time father in heaven and deep within our hearts there's a longing for Jesus to come.

We look at this world with its sin and degradation, with its poverty, with its pestilence and pollution and war and famine, and Lord, in our hearts, more than anything else, we want to go home.

We want to be with Jesus, not for our sake, but for his sake, because no matter how much, Lord, we want you to come, you wanna come more.

Lord, your heart's broken over the sinfulness of this world.

You created Eden so perfect, and now we have a world that's all messed up.

And Lord, we just long to understand better the last day events, not so we understand a time chart, but we understand Jesus and his strategy and his plan and what's gonna happen in this world.

And so Father, I pray that as we study together that we'd be drawn close to the heart of God that you'd inform our minds, impress our hearts, and revive our spirits.

The title of our class is Coming Events and let me give you a brief overview of the course syllabus.

And so if you have your syllabus, we're going to look at just an overview.

As a class, I always like to know where we're going.

I always like to know where we're headed.

And as a class, when I take a course, I want to know what topics the teacher is going to cover and so In our first class we're going to look at an overview of the coming crisis You know I've called that the coming crisis anticipated or dreaded if you look for example on page 4 and we'll come back to look at that shortly but we're going to talk about the book of revelation the outline of end events in the book of revelation will look at the key events that are outlined there when you come to class number 2 session 2 I've called that revival genuine or counterfeit and if you'll look at the second session we'll talk about the objects of Satan's attack, Satan's strategy for example, his strategy on the unconverted his strategy on Christians who are not Adventists and we'll look at Satan's special strategy for Seventh-day Adventists.

We will look in the second session at Satan's 4 strategies, particularly for Christians and for Adventists, and look at what he's doing because if you know the enemy and you know what the enemy is going to do you'll be able to counteract the counterfeit of the enemy and so we'll look for example at satan's false miracles the false religious revival that he's going to bring to the world and to the adventist church and how to tell the difference We'll look at spiritualism and we'll look at Satan's impersonation of Christ.

Toward the end of our second session this morning we're going to talk about the latter rain, the ingredients of receiving the latter rain and what to do when the latter rain and how to be a recipient of the latter rain and when it will be poured out.

In session 3, 1 of the most powerful sessions of the entire class, we'll talk about shaken or sealed.

You see, every human being will be in 1 of 2 classes at any time.

What's the difference between the shaking and the sifting?

And does it make any difference if you know the answer to that question?

It makes all the difference in the world.

And so we're going to look at what the shaking of Adventism, the sifting, will the church go through the crisis, and we're going to look at God's methods of the shaking, you see that in class 3, 4 classes that will be shaken out, and I'll take you back on a Bible study, and we'll look through scripture at how people were early christians and how they were shaken out at a time of persecution look for example at demons in his life we'll look at judas in his life and we'll look at peter and a number of others who actually failed their lord will understand why we'll apply that to the end time and we'll go into the writings of Ellen White and look at how that shaking will occur in Adventism, how many will leave God's church, what will cause the shaking, what's going to happen in our beloved church, and how we can be aware of all that and how the church will ultimately triumph at the end.

In class number 4, we're going to look particularly at the whole issue of worship in the National Sunday Law.

Many seventh-day adventists and even some seventh-day adventist pastors and bible teachers have the idea that a world leader will come on the scene and that that world leader will pass some kind of religious legislation That's contrary both to the Bible and the writings of Ellen White.

The National Sunday Law does not come from the top, it comes from the bottom.

It's something the people want and the legislators yield to the popular demand because they want to get elected.

And we're going to study that and how that's going to happen and each step of its build up both in the bible and the writings of Ellen White we will then look at once the national sunday was passed we'll look at the growing magnitude of the national sunday law because it's passed in phases many people think it's just gonna happen not so it's over a period of time I'll show you that both in the Bible and the writings of Ellen White so we're gonna look at that then in class number 5 we're gonna look at the close of probation and during that class on the close of probation the 7 last plagues and we're gonna look at plagues and promises and how do you see christ in every single plague where is jesus in every plague in are the plagues arbitrary acts on the part of god or are the plagues something that have to do with the plan of salvation so we will take a look at the plagues in class 5 in class number 6 we will talk about heaven and eternity and heaven is for real so that is our overview for class today Every single class will focus on Jesus.

I remember teaching last day events and a young woman came up to me in Australia.

I was conducting a prophecy seminar in Australia And this young woman was probably 17 or 18 years old.

And she said, Mark, every time I used to think about last day events, every time I used to think about the time of trouble, I would almost vomit.

And she said, my stomach would just turn and I'd get this headache and I'd break out in a cold sweat.

And she wasn't fooling, she was actually telling me the truth.

And so I probed her a little bit, I said, why?

And she said, because I knew that I just did not have the spiritual strength to stand through the time of trouble.

And I would get all these pictures of this pain, and get all these pictures of being in prison, and not being able to eat, and not being able to buy or sell and she said it became so overwhelming to me that I thought I'm never gonna make it it made me sick but she said I listened to your presentations and I saw Jesus I love that old him just when I need him Jesus is near just when I falter just when I fear just what I need him most So this class is not going to be doom and gloom.

Every class we're going to focus on Jesus.

Every class we're going to focus on his grace and love.

Now we need to be clearly informed on what's going to happen in the future.

But an understanding of the crisis without an understanding of the Christ does not enable you to go through the crisis.

An understanding of the pain without an understanding of the promises only leaves you to struggle.

An understanding of doom without understanding deliverance only leaves you depressed.

So you have doom without deliverance, you have depression.

So we want not only to face what's coming, but face it confidently and courageously in Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bible, and I know you do, 1 Chronicles chapter 12, and I will direct you at the right time to our workbooks, but a little introduction.

Is a study of last day events merely a study to fill our heads with information?

The Bible tells us about a special group of people living in the days of Israel, they were called the tribe of Issachar.

And of the children of Issachar who had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were 200 and all their brethren were at their command.

Now this tribe was called the tribe of what?

Did their understanding of the times make any difference at all?

What difference that understanding the times made?

They knew what Israel ought to do, so understanding the time that we're living in knowing that we're living in the last days of earth's history.

It enables us to know what we ought to do.

So there is a direct relationship between understanding the times and hearing the call of God to your heart to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

So the children of Israel, of Issachar, understood the times and they knew what Israel ought to do.

Now did we read about a group of people in the Old Testament that knew the time?

And because they knew the time, what did they know?

Now Romans 13 11, and do this, knowing the time.

Shaking and Sifting, Part 2

Every year I will hold evangelistic meetings in different parts of the world, and the Adventist message burns brighter and brighter in my soul every year.

I have more confidence in the integrity of the Adventist message today than I did 40 years ago when I started preaching it.

So it burns more brightly in my soul, in my heart, in my spirit every year.

Somebody said, well, do you ever get any doubts?

I had a person say to me once, you've got to keep an open mind.

What, do you get up every morning if you're married and say, well, I'm going to check out 15 others and see if I made the right decision or not?

I have a sermon I preach called the value of closed-mindedness.

I don't have to get up every morning and say, Is Jesus my Savior?

All this business about having an open mind, you apply it to marriage.

You get up in the morning, you say, Oh darling, I got to keep an open mind now.

I'm going to go out and investigate 7 others." Not at all.

There are some things that you weigh the evidence, you make your decision, and you move on.

I'm open to find out more about her charms and her love.

With Jesus, I'm open to find out more about his charms and his love.

If you wrote a book about my beloved church and all its faults, I wouldn't read it if you wrote a book about my beloved church and all its faults the church is the bride of Christ if you go write a book about the faults of Jesus' bride, you're accountable to Jesus you miss that If you go write a book in your smug complacency about all the faults of Jesus' bride, Jesus is going to deal with you.

Whatever we say or write, it must be in love.

There's places that the church needs improvement, but it does not need a lot of critics tearing it down and stabbing it in the back, because it indeed is the bride of Jesus.

And Jesus loves His bride, and according to Ephesians, 1 day the bride of Christ is going to rise, spotless, pure, without a wrinkle or any such thing.

We are getting ready for session number 2, and we're going to pray.

We never open the Word of God without praying.

Father in Heaven, We want to thank you again for your word.

Most of all, thank you for Jesus, who is the giver of the word and the living word.

Inspire our hearts as we study and lift our vision again.

HMS Richards was invited to a meeting of non-Seventh-day Adventist pastors.

And as he attended the meeting, he was sitting at supper that evening at the banquet with a pastor that didn't know that Pastor Richards was an Adventist.

And as they began talking, this pastor looked over at Pastor Richards and they were talking about different religious groups, different religious denominations.

And the 1 pastor looked at Pastor Richards and he said, you know those Adventists?

And he said, it's too bad that, it's just too bad, Pastor Richards, that we have those Adventists, because if we didn't have those Adventists, you know, we wouldn't be so confused about Revelation.

Pastor Richards kind of smiled and he looked at him and he said, you know something, it is too bad that we have those Adventists because if we didn't have those Adventists we wouldn't understand the truth about revelation and he kind of joked him for a little bit you know and It is true that just as God used the book of Romans in the Reformation period and used Martin Luther to generate and stimulate revival and that Romans was present truth for that hour, so in the last days, Revelation is especially present truth for our hour.

In Revelation chapter 1 verse 1 we read an introduction to the book of Revelation.

Many Bibles will say the Revelation of St.

John, this is really the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It's Jesus' final revelation to an end-time people.

The book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place.

And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.

So this is the revelation of Jesus, and it's a revelation that Jesus gave regarding things that must shortly take place.

The Father blesses you, the Son blesses you, and the Holy Spirit blesses you.

When you see the triple blessing, that's always the blessing of the Godhead, the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So as we read this end time material in Revelation, you will be blessed.

As you hear the words of this prophetic seminar, you will be blessed.

But the reason to read and to hear is to keep, and blessed are those who keep the things that are in it, for the time is near." The closer the time comes for the fulfillment of Revelation's prophecies, the more important it is to clearly understand them.

Now Revelation's prophecies are divided into 2 parts, And really you can divide the book of Revelation into 2 sections, chapters 1 to 11 and chapters 12 to 22.

Chapter 1 in the book of Revelation is an introduction.

Then you have 3 immediate sequences of 7 that take you to chapter 11 the 7 churches the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets they take you from chapter 2 to chapter 11 and cover most of that territory with an interjection of revelation 4 and 5 which you really see the lamb at the throne of God those 7 sequences take you from John's day down to the end of time just as daniel has a major sequence prophecy in daniel chapter 2 that is amplified in daniel chapter 7 that is further amplified in daniel 8 and further amplified in daniel 11 you will never interpret prophecy wrongly if you understand the principle of repetition and enlargement.

The reason so many misapply prophecy is because they do not understand that principle.

In repetition and enlargement says that in Daniel 2 you have a basic outline of history that takes you from the days of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the breakup of the Roman Empire, then the coming of Christ.

Then you go to Daniel 7, you cover the same ground and it adds the judgment and the little horn.

You go to Daniel 8, it covers the same ground, Babylon through Rome, the breakup of the Roman Empire, then the little horn, the papacy, then the judgment, and then the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8.

You go to Daniel 11, and in the conflict of the king of the north, it does essentially the same thing, leaving out Babylon because his vision is in the days of Medo-Persia.

The earlier prophecies give you a basis that they repeat any large secondly the profit time sequence prophecies always begin with the profit is time sequence prophecies always begin with the profit is so in the days of daniel the prophecies would begin in the nation of Babylon.

When Babylon is fading away, like in Daniel chapter 8, he starts in Medo-Persia, which is the second empire, because that empire is gone.

If that is true, and you take the same principle and apply it to Revelation, where should Revelation's prophecies begin?

In the days of John or in the days of Rome, precisely the case.

If you don't deal with the 7 churches, the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets that way, you'll get all confused in prophetic interpretation.

You'll try to apply the trumpets to the end time, you'll try to put them into time sequence prophecy, it'll really confuse you but if you understand John 1 gives you the introduction, all time sequence prophecies begin in the in the place where the prophet lives and then what do you have then?

You have the 7 churches which are your basic outline then you have your 7 seals which will amplify the 7 churches even more then you have the 7 trumpets that come on that then when you come to revelation 12 you have a hinge in the chapter just like in Daniel Daniel you have your first 6 chapters that are historical.

The first 6 chapters in Daniel describe how to be ready at end time.

The last 7 chapters in Daniel describe when end time events will occur.

Revelation chapters 1 to 11 are the practical chapters of a church facing end time and how to prepare for end time.

That's what you learn in the 7 churches, the different kinds of Christians in every age and how to prepare.

That's what you learn in the 7 seals, what the church would face and how to prepare.

That's what you learn in the 7 seals what the church would face and how to prepare that's what you learn in the 7 trumpets that's the whole purpose of the first 11 so you have the how at first in revelation and you have the when second starting with revelation 12 to revelation 22 you have the unfolding in very careful detail of end time events.

1 of the things that is unique about Revelation is it counteracts the activity of Satan that's described in Ephesians 6.

So if you have your Bible, turn please to Ephesians 6 and verse 12.

In Ephesians 6 verse 12, Paul speaks about his day, and this principle will amplify at the end of time.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." So there is a battle between Christ and Satan.

And if the devil deceived a third of the angels in heaven, can we not expect for him to pull out all his wiles on the last day church?

So we're entering into a battle and we need to know the enemy's battle plan.

Thank God we're not going into this battle in the dark.

Thank God we are not left like others without adequate information.

We have the enemy's battle plan in advance.

Isn't that what many war generals want in the Second World War?

True and False Revivals, Part 1

I would not open the word of God and would not go into class without prayer.

We're on class number 3 in your booklet and Shaken or Sealed, 1 of the more powerful classes, a class that we need to do some praying before we get into.

Father in heaven, I want to thank you for the opportunity of coming and studying your Word.

We could be any 1 of a hundred places today, but here we are here.

As a group of youth and adults to pour over the Scripture, to fix our minds on your word.

May your eternal truths fill our hearts now and forever and prepare us for end time to know Jesus and to live with him forever in Christ's name.

What if you're traveling on a train, and your train's going from Minneapolis to Anchorage, Alaska?

And you got on the train at night, and it's been pretty dark, and you haven't been able to guide yourself at all by the scenery as you've traveled.

And the further you travel, the more doubtful you become.

You wonder, am I on the right train after all?

Will in 03:00 in the morning, we be going over a bridge and will we tumble down?

Will this train meet another train head on on a track, and will it crash?

And really, will this train ever get to the destination?

Maybe it's going to stop 20 miles, 30 miles, 40 miles from the destination, maybe I'll have to get out of the train and walk.

See, if all these kind of things going through your head, will your knowledge of the train's safe arrival at the final destination affect what you do?

If you know that that train is going off a bridge, you're going to get off at the stop before, right?

If you know that the train's going to get hit head on and crash, you're going to get off at the stop before.

If you know that the train's never going to make it to the destination, but you could stop at a station, get off at that station, get on another train and go to your destination, you would do that.

Your knowledge of whether the train makes it through to the end will determine whether you stay aboard the train.

He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The train may have a lot of ice on the windows so you can't see clearly.

The train may have an old grouchy engineer.

The train may have a few people in the...

There may even be somebody that smokes ham in that train.

And you say, I don't like these people on this train.

They shouldn't be eating that old ham over there.

The train may even have a car that plays some music there may even be religious music played in a certain way in 1 car I'm getting off this train that's offensive to me The train may even have some people who wear certain things in dress that you wouldn't wear.

But it's cold off the train, and it's icy off the train.

There may be people on the train that have jealousy and envy and criticism.

But if you know that ultimately the train is going through to the end and it's not going to crash and it's not going to stop before it gets to the final destination, you are going to stay aboard the train.

And that's what I want to study with you today.

Will the Seventh-day Adventist Church survive?

Will God call out a few from Adventism to form a separate body?

Does the Bible teach a remnant within the remnant?

Will the church split up into small groups and will that ultimately happen where are we headed well if you take your material please enter to session 3 page 3 session 3 page 3 you'll notice that god has 2 methods of purifying his church And what we're going to share in this session is that God is going to use a method different than he's ever used before, and a method rather different than he's ever used before, to purify his church at end time.

Throughout history, God has always purified his church by calling out a faithful few.

Let's go back, for example, to the days of Abraham.

And God said, Abraham, it's time to move.

Next, Abraham became the father of a nation.

Abraham had sons, and Isaac and Esau, and then he had, and Isaac had sons.

Jacob and Jacob had 12 sons and they became the 12 tribes of what?

If some of you don't have material, you can look on with somebody that does.

And so God called, you're writing in the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage.

So there's been this calling out, this calling out and throughout history, God called out Abraham throughout history.

But then as Israel apostatized, what was God's next move?

So God calls out New Testament believers from Judaism.

So first he calls out Abraham, then God calls out the nation of Israel, they are his chosen people, his select few.

Then God calls out New Testament believers from when Israel apothetizes.

But then after the New Testament, church continues for a while, and you have the union of church and state, you have the days of Constantine, you have the great apostasy, and what does God do when there's the great apostasy in the dark ages, God calls out the what?

And so God calls out the reformers out of the papacy.

Series

Mark Finley - The Shaking and the Sifting: A Biblical Approach

True and False Revivals, Part 1

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

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