Lowell Hargreaves

Amazing Facts

Standing Tall, While Others Fall

Today, my topic is entitled, Standing Tall When Others Fall.

And I'll invite you for just a moment to bow your heads with me as we pray once more for God's presence.

Our Heavenly Father, as we open your Holy Word now, we pray for your spirit to teach us on this beautiful Sabbath.

If you have a Bible, take your Bible and turn to Daniel chapter 3.

1 of the most well-known stories in the Bible is found in Daniel chapter 3.

We're going to go through that story today.

Daniel chapter 3, beginning with verse 1, says, Nebuchadnezzar, he was the great king of Babylon, the king made an image of gold whose height was 3 score cubits and the breadth thereof, or the depth thereof, was 6 cubits.

He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

The plain of Dura is just a few miles outside the walls of Babylon.

And Babylon back then was the superpower of the world.

This image, the Bible tells us, was 60 by 6.

And you understand that in Babylon they use 6 as a common number.

We get our 60 minute hour from the Babylonians.

The 60 second minute comes from the Babylonians.

And this image was 60 cubits high and 6 cubits probably in depth.

Translating into our measurements, that's about 90 feet high by 9 feet deep.

And there have been a number of colossuses built.

In antiquity, you may have heard of the Colossus of Rhodes.

It was 70 cubits high, or about 100 feet.

But Babylon, the kingdom dominating the world back then, was a superpower itself.

The city of Babylon was 1 of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

And they had there within the city a lot of gold.

In fact, it's known as the Golden Empire.

Antiquity tells us that the image of Baal within the city of Babylon was 23, 000 kilos of solid gold.

The table in front of the image was another 23, 000 kilos of gold.

They had 2 enormous golden lions there inside Babylon.

They had an 18-foot statue of a man, solid gold.

You can understand building an image of gold, that was no problem.

They used gold like we use concrete today.

The story of Daniel chapter 3 takes place probably between 15 to 20 years after the events of Daniel chapter 2.

In Daniel 2 you have an image, But the image of Daniel 2 only has a head of gold.

Inspiration tells us, Nebuchadnezzar said much regarding the interpretation given by Daniel.

But the words, thou art this head of gold, produced the greatest effect upon his mind to think, aha, I am the head of gold.

These Words impressed him so much that his wise man, who had not been able to tell the dream, proposed that he make such an image as the 1 seen in his dream, and that he set it up that all might see the head of gold, which was a representation of his kingdom.

So the idea of building this image actually came from his wise man.

And it was first the idea, the suggestion was that he would build an image like he had seen in Daniel chapter 2.

His pride and vanity found full scope in the thought that he could thus represent his importance.

And he resolved that instead of merely copying the image he had seen, he would make an image that should excel the original.

I'm going to make the whole image of gold.

It was his design that the whole image should represent the greatness of Babylon.

Therefore that which had been said regarding the kingdoms that were to follow should be blotted from his mind and from the minds of those who had heard the dream by the splendor of the image he was about to make, not just the head of gold, the whole image of gold.

From his rich store of treasure, historians tell us he had just come back from the conquest of Palestine.

Basically, he had conquered the then known world.

He had the gold from the other empires he had conquered.

He had the gold that he had brought back from Jerusalem.

From his rich store of treasure Nebuchadnezzar caused to be made a great golden image similar in its general features to that which had been seen in vision, save in the 1 particular of the material of which it was composed.

Whole image of gold, Accustomed as they were to magnificent representations of their heathen deities, the Chaldeans had never before produced anything so imposing and majestic as this resplendent statue, 3 score cubits in height and 6 cubits in breadth.

90 foot high, that's probably including the pedestal that we're standing on.

Can you imagine what that would look like as the sun shone, reflected off this polished piece of gold?

Even for an idolater that would have been impressive.

And it was not surprising that in a land where idol worship was of universal prevalence, that the beautiful and priceless image in the plain of Dura, representing the glory of Babylon and its magnificence and power, should be consecrated as an object of worship.

This thing was so beautiful, so dazzling, why not worship it?

Now, You still have your Bible open, right?

Daniel 3 verse 2 says, Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Everybody who was anybody came for this dedication.

All the world leaders of the then known world gathered there on the plain of Dura.

And there are some scholars who believe that the king of Jerusalem, who was a vassal for Nebuchadnezzar, also came.

If you'd like a text that may indicate that you can put in your notes, Jeremiah 51 verse 59.

It was no doubt that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not the Only Hebrews there on the plain that day with all those thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands.

Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Must have been thousands there on this great plain outside of Babylon.

Then a herald cried aloud, to you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, this is the whole then known world, that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music you fall down and Worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.

Verse 6, and whoso falleth not down and worships shall the same hour be cast in the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

And we have here a death decree, a universal death decree.

Are there some lessons we can learn from this story for in time?

Now verse 7 says, therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, how many?

All the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

The whole world bowed down before this image.

We have here forced worship and Extreme pressure.

And we are standing there with the thousands of the world leaders.

And you're there because Nebuchadnezzar thinks you're somebody.

Because only the leaders came, so you're there.

And you hear this proclamation, when the music begins to play, bow down.

And when the music starts, this is not clumsy music with discordant notes.

Biblical Missionaries

The Ambassador Group

07.Biblical Missionaries: Jesus- The Master of Missions

Welcome to another in-depth exploration of biblical missionaries written by Borge Shentz edited for audio and produced by the Ambassador Group.

Exploration 7 Jesus, the Master of Missions Here is our theme text for this exploration.

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

John 20.21 NIV According to Scripture, a core activity of the Trinity is mission.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are involved in saving humanity.

Their Word began at the fall and continues through until the end.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will then restore this redeemed world to full unity with the divine will.

According to the Gospels, Jesus underwent the radical change into human form necessary for his mission to succeed.

In Jesus Christ, the meaning of history comes into focus.

The total mission activity of God becomes coherent, and the deepest needs of humans for meaningful existence are fulfilled.

In the New Testament, we discover the purposes of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We find here how he outlines the program for mission, and we get glimpses of how Jesus met people from other nations, people of other faiths.

In the Word of God, we can see the incredible saving activity of God on behalf of fallen humanity.

Jesus in the Old Testament Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." Besides being great texts about the futility of salvation by works, these texts reveal the eternal nature of salvation.

They show that the plan for our redemption has been formulated long, long ago.

So it is no wonder that all through the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is revealed in 1 way or another.

Especially powerful are the prophecies, which clearly show that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

We will now listen to 5 Old Testament texts all apply to Jesus.

What do these texts say about Jesus and his role as Messiah?

Our first Old Testament text is Isaiah 61 verse 1 which says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted.

He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives, and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who abound.

Daniel 9 24-27 70 weeks, or 490 years, are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, Jerusalem, to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up and make full the measure of sin, to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness, permanent moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation, to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint a holy of holies.

Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the anointed 1, a prince, shall be 70 weeks of years, and sixty-two weeks of years it shall be built again with city square and moat, but in troubleless times.

And after the sixty-two weeks of years shall the anointed 1 be cut off or killed, and shall have nothing and no 1 belonging to and defending him.

And the people of the other prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Its end shall come with a flood, and even to the end there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.

And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for 1 week, 7 years, And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease for the remaining 3 and one-half years.

And upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations shall come 1 who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator.

Isaiah 7 verse 14 says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.

Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.

Isaiah 9, verse 6 tells us this about the Messiah, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 42 verses 1-9 reads, Listen in silence before me, O islands and regions bordering And Isaiah 42 verses 1 to 9 reads, Let them offer their strongest arguments.

Let us come near together for judgment and decide the point at issue between us concerning the enemy advancing from the east.

Who has roused up 1 Cyrus from the east, whom he calls in righteousness to his service and whom victory meets at every step he the Lord subdues nations before him and it makes him ruler over Kings he turns them to dust with the sword of Cyrus and to driven straw and shaft with his bow.

He, Cyrus, pursues them and passes safely and unhindered even by a way his feet had not trod and so swiftly that his feet do not touch the ground.

Who has prepared and done this, calling forth and guiding the destinies of the generations of the nation from the beginning?

I the Lord, the first, existing before history began, and with the last and ever-present unchanging God, I am he.

The islands and coast lands have seen and fear.

They help every 1 his neighbor and say to his brother in his tiresome idol-making, Be of good courage.

So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths the metal with the hammer encourages him who smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, That is good, and he fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend, you whom I, the Lord, have taken from the ends of the earth and have called from the corners of it and said to you, you are my servant.

I have chosen you and not cast you off, even though you are exiled.

Now that we have heard the 5 Old Testament references, what did these texts say about Jesus and his role as Messiah?

The prophet Isaiah describes the mission of Jesus with these words, Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen 1 in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

I the Lord have called you in righteousness.

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42 verses 1, 6, and 7, your international version.

Think about the incredible idea that Jesus, the Creator, took upon Himself, our humanity, and in that humanity, lived and died as he did.

What great hope does this offer you in a world that in and of itself offers no hope at all?

The Desire of Ages Jesus Christ is Lord of both the church and the world.

His coming is a fulfillment of the Old Testament expectations of a saved community that would extend far beyond the Jewish people.

The coming of Jesus, especially his suffering and a resurrection, ushered in a new age in which the distinction between Jew and Gentile, as far as the gospel is concerned, disappears.

Jerusalem would remain the center, at least for a while.

However, the point of departure was no longer Herod's temple in Jerusalem, but the Jews converted to Christ.

These Christian Jews would then be the true remnant of Israel at that time in the early church, the ones called to bring the gospel to the world.

This announcement of the worldwide universal mission of Christ as Savior of all nations was repeated at his birth, during his childhood, and at his baptism.

What do the following texts teach us about the universal mission of Jesus to the world?

Luke 2, 8-14 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living, out under the open sky, in the field, watching in shifts over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall come to all the people.

For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior who is Christ the Messiah the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you, by which you will recognize him.

You will find after searching a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven, a heavenly knighthood praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among men, with whom He is well pleased, men of good will of His favor.

Luke 2 25-33 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, cautiously and carefully observing the divine law, and looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been divinely revealed, communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed 1.

And prompted by the Holy Spirit, he came into the temple enclosure, and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, Simeon took him up in his arms and praised and thanked God and said, And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart, leave this world in peace, according to Your word.

For with my own eyes I have seen Your salvation, which you have ordained and prepared before in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, to disclose what was before unknown, and to bring praise and honor and glory to your people Israel.

And his legal father and his mother were marveling at what was said about him.

Luke 3, verses 3-6 And he went into all the country round about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance, of hearty amending of their ways, with abhorrence of past wrongdoing, unto the forgiveness of sin.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness, shouting in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make his beaten paths straight.

Every valley and ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be leveled, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough roads shall be made smooth.

And all mankind shall see, behold, and understand, and at last acknowledge the salvation of God, the deliverance from eternal death decreed by God.

John 1.29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look!

There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

No question, Jesus came as the Savior for all humanity.

What does this truth mean for you in the context of mission?

Prayerfully consider these empowering words written by Ellen G.

White in the book Testimonies for the Church, Volume 6, on page 29.

The missionary spirit needs to be revived in our churches.

Every member of the Church should study how to help forward the work of God, both in home missions and in foreign countries.

Scarcely a thousandth part of the work is being done that ought to be done in missionary fields.

God calls upon His workers to annex new territory for Him.

There are rich fields of toil waiting for the faithful worker.

I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 15, verse 24, New International Version.

Between his first public appearance and his crucifixion, Jesus focused his ministry almost solely on the Jewish, particularly in Galilee.

The Lord addressed himself first to Israel.

Before the cross, there are very few messages of good news to the Gentiles.

Apparently, Jesus wanted to awaken the Jewish people to their place, purpose, and role in God's overall mission for lost humanity.

Israel was to have the opportunity to be the witnesses of God's message to the world.

ASI 2015: Lift Him Up

Health & Family

Don Mackintosh

Same-Sex Marriage, Your Marriage, the Sabbath, and Present Truth

What we're going to try and cover today, where are we in terms of this discussion, how did we get here, the abandonment of coverture and the historic definition of marriage, same-sex marriage is a tipping point and what should we do.

The recent ruling of the case of same-sex marriage occurred on June 26, 2015, And the court decided in a 5 to 4 decision that the 14th Amendment requires the state to license a marriage between 2 people of the same sex, to recognize a marriage between 2 people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out of state.

So the law of the land in America, they saw great benefit in not being ununited in their approach to this issue, and so they did not let states go their own way in this ruling, and they said, we want to all do the same thing.

And of course, people were, Some were very upset with this because it was taken out of the legislative process and was decided by 9 attorneys and there's been a lot of discussion of that.

More recently then, this month, there's another bill that's being suggested in the Senate following up that Supreme Court decision, the Equality Act that will expand that ruling that was made by the Supreme Court to various areas of business and employment, education, and it's getting great traction because many people are beginning to get behind that in actually 1 side of the house, if you will, and on the other side as well.

A vast change of a definition that really has been there for millennia, and then agitation to take that definition, that redefinition, and expand it into every area of society.

Well, as you may remember, this debate has gone on for some time and there was a rapid change that began around 2007 and 8, you can see there, and the opinion of the country basically flipped.

You might say that the final movements were rapid ones, And there was a flipping of the understanding of marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act that was passed back during the Clinton administration was, you know, jettisoned by this recent Supreme Court ruling.

It was interesting to read and listen to all the oral arguments leading up to the decision.

How many of you were able to listen to those or read those?

I'm not saying it was something you had to do, but it certainly was interesting and as I read through those, I went through them more in depth, like I said, in those other presentations, but I want to kind of cut to the chase today.

Arguing for the same-sex marriage, Mary Bonauto of Gay and Lesbian Advocates, who's been a defender of many of these cases, got into a dialogue with the Chief Justice Roberts, and as they began discussing and talking about the definition of marriage, I just will remind you of some of the things that the Supreme Court justices said in their oral arguments.

Every definition that I looked up prior to about a dozen years ago defined marriage as unity between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife.

Justice Antonin Scalia added, I don't know of any society prior to the Netherlands in 2001 that permitted same-sex marriage.

Even during oral arguments, Justice Kennedy, who would ultimately write in favor of same-sex marriage, had the question, this definition has been with us for millennia and it's very difficult for the court to say, oh well, we know better, which is exactly what they did.

But at that point he was questioning that.

And then Justice Samuel Alito, well, how do you account for the fact that as far as I'm aware, until the end of the 20th century, there never was a nation or a culture that recognized marriage between 2 people of the same sex.

How can we infer from that that those nations and those cultures all thought that there was some rational, practical purpose for defining marriage in that way, or is it your argument that they were all operating independently based solely on irrational stereotypes and prejudice.

And this was really the line of reasoning for those that were on the court that were against same-sex marriage, and that was that there was a millennia of precedent and there must be a good reason for that.

In a response to that question and then in the response that Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion for the recent ruling, kind of follow the same kind of reasoning.

And again, those just coming in were talking about how did we get where we are in this particular case.

Your Honor, my position is that times can blind, and if you think about the example of sex discrimination, and what it again, I assume it was protected by the 14th Amendment, but it took over 100 years for this court to recognize that a sex classification contravened, was in conflict with the Constitution.

And then came, and then she cited these cases, which we'll look at briefly, Craig v.

So let's just look at those briefly because when we enter into discussing what the court is trying to think, we have to look at how they got there.

Oklahoma passed a statute prohibiting the sale of non-intoxicating 3.2% beer to males under the age of 21, but allowed females over the age of 18 to purchase it.

So the statute was challenged as a 14th Amendment equal protection violation by a man who was over 18 but under 21 and an Oklahoma vendor of alcohol.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

Standing Tall, While Others Fall

54m

07.Biblical Missionaries: Jesus- The Master of Missions

44m

Same-Sex Marriage, Your Marriage, the Sabbath, and Present Truth

1h 15m

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ASI Members in Action

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