<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>

University SDA Church- East Lansing

The Great Controversy

David Shin

1. The Origin of Evil

2. Behind the Curtain

3. The Lamb and the Law

Good morning, happy Sabbath So good to be with you today in the house of the Lord and wasn't that a wonderful special music I want to thank the promise bells for that Special music and do come again We enjoy having you and 1 and but welcome the parents as well that came out today.

Let's bow our heads together as we pray this morning.

Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity that we have to come apart from the cares of this life to worship You in spirit and in truth.

We pray that as we open Your Word that You would speak to our hearts, that You would impress our minds.

May Jesus be uplifted and Christ be seen.

Today, we begin a new five-part series of messages that we've entitled The Great Controversy.

I know I've been away for a few weeks, a couple weeks on vacation, which was much needed, by the way.

And then last weekend I was in San Antonio for some board meetings, But it's good to be back with you and I will be in the pulpit consistently all the way up till camp meeting.

We'll be doing a five-part series of messages that I'm very excited about.

And we'll be answering some very fundamental questions about the origin of evil, why a God of love, or how could a God of love allow sin and suffering, and why does God allow evil to continue so long?

And so we're going to attempt, by the grace of God, to answer some of these questions from the Word of God.

And today is part 1 in this series of messages.

And we will be looking at the book of Revelation.

And the title of the book, Revelation, implies that it is a revealing.

It is something that is to be disclosed, and there are many people in the Christian community today that assume that the book of revelation Ironically, which means to disclose is a book that is shrouded in mystery How many of you heard people say we just can't understand the book of revelation?

Well, the title itself tells you that it is something that we can understand by the grace of God, and Revelation 1, verse 3 tells us that there is a blessing for those who read and understand the book of Revelation.

Before we go on, I want to invite you to take out your study guide, which is inside your bulletin.

If you don't have 1, Daniel's there in the back, can get you a copy.

This is a brief, well, it's not exactly brief today, but it's an outline of today's presentation and it will make it easier for you to follow along in our study for today.

The book of Revelation is not written in chronological order.

I remember as a child trying to read the book of Revelation and I noticed that it did not go chronologically.

It is written in a literary structure called a chiasm.

A chiasm is simply a structure where the first part parallels the last part, the second part parallels the second to last part, the third part parallels the corollary section.

And in the center of this literary structure is chapter 12.

So when you read the book of Revelation, it's helpful to see that it's written in kind of a poetic structure that apexes in the center.

And we will proceed with our study guide today as we get some background to our passage that we are going to delve into, the book of Revelation is structured as a chiasm, a literary structure that we've seen right here.

And the center of the book of Revelation is chapter 12.

And the center of the center are verses 7 through 10, which was our scripture reading for today.

And we're going to begin by looking at our first study question today.

And in this series, it's going to be more of a study than a sermon.

So we're gonna look at some questions which outline our message for today.

Question number 1, where did the war begin?

And as our scripture reading today brought out, and war broke out where?

In heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

The Bible tells us that the conflict that we are experiencing here on earth actually broke out in heaven.

And there were 2 parties that were involved in this conflict.

Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

And so we're going to look at who these characters are before we proceed.

Michael, Mikael, literally means 1 who is like God.

And the way that you understand who Michael is, is by comparing a few passages.

Michael is mentioned a few times in the Old and New Testament, and in Jude 1 verse 9, the Bible says, yet Michael, the, what does it say?

The archangel which is chief among the angels in contending with the devil disputed with the body of Moses.

So Michael is also called the Archangel or chief among the angels.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16, the Bible says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.

So when Jesus comes a second time, the Bible tells us that the voice of the archangel, we put it together with Jude chapter 1 verse 9, who is Michael, is the voice that we will hear and if we are dead it is the voice that will raise us from the dead.

The voice of the Archangel is going to raise the dead and that Archangel is called Michael, 1 who is like God.

When you look at another passage in John chapter 5 verse 25 through 29, the Bible also states another aspect of who will be the 1 raising the dead.

Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.

And those who hear will live, do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice." So when you put these 3 verses together, it's logical and reasonable to conclude that Michael, the archangel, is none other than Jesus Christ himself Michael is Jesus Christ and when you look in the Old Testament you will notice that there are several instances where the Bible says the angel of the Lord in Joseph chapter 13 Manoah and his wife who were to have Samson are visited by an angel.

And I want you to notice the dialogue between the angel of God and Manoah and his wife.

And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field.

Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband and said to him, Look, The man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me.

And when he came to the man, he said to him, are you the man who spoke to this woman?

Remember in the New Testament, Jesus said before Abraham was, I am, and the Jews took up stones to stone him?

Because that was a reference to the Old Testament where God was telling Moses his name and he said, I am that I am.

And Jesus was alluding, not just alluding, but saying that he was none other than God himself.

So he says, I am, but not only this, in verse 17 through 18, that Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, what is your name?

That when your words come to pass, we may honor you.

And the angel of the Lord said to him, why do you ask my name seeing that it is wonderful?

Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

We have Another clue in this, verses 21 and 22, when the angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord and Manoah said to his wife, we shall surely die because we have seen God.

Who was it that appeared to Manoah and his wife?

And I believe that Jesus took on the form of an angel and his name was Michael, Michael, 1 who is like God.

And so this war is between Michael, Jesus, and his angels against the dragon and his angels And who is the dragon?

You can see the answer to this in Revelation chapter 12 verse 9.

So the dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him so this controversy began in heaven and it was between Michael Jesus and his angels and the dragon and his angels there was an insurrection There was a rebellion in heaven and this rebellion was so deep that the devil was able to get some of the angels, the Bible tells us one-third of the angels, to join in this rebellion.

Which leads us to our next question, where did Satan come from?

Some people say, hey, perhaps God created the devil.

The Bible tells us the answer to this in Ezekiel chapter 28 verses 14 through 15.

It goes all the way back to the beginning when Lucifer was created.

You walked back and forth in the mist of the fiery stones.

You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you.

God created a perfect being, and he was the angel that stood closest to God.

As we look at the Ark of the Covenant, you'll notice that there are 2 angels standing right in the presence of God.

Lucifer was that angel, and he was perfect in the day that he was created until iniquity was found in him.

And in Isaiah chapter 14 verses 12 through 14 tells us the name of this angel that later became known as the devil and Satan.

Oh, Lucifer, son of the morning, for you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the most high.

And this is how Lucifer became later on known as the devil.

Series

The Great Controversy

1. The Origin of Evil

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

The Now of Prophecy

40m

Cosmic Conflict

Cosmic Conflict- Part 1

39m

Who Then Can Be Saved?

46m

Jesus on Prophecy

09 Revelation’s 1,000 Years and Hell

1h 3m

Jesus Friend of My Wounded Heart

The Healthy Mind

39m

Plenary

Pentecost Repeated

55m

The Cross and the Sanctuary

The Cross and The Sanctuary- Part 3

30m

There is Hope

Extreme Makeover

59m

Called in Darkness, Raised in Light

55m

Plenary

For Such a Time as This

1h

Reclaim Your Life

42m

A God Worth Knowing

05 A New Covenant Experience

57m

Sound Doctrine