Title: Fireproof

Location: Chewelah, WA/01-21-2023

Opening Hymn: 602 O Brother, be Faithful
Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-4
Closing Hymn: Be not Afraid

* Revelation 14:9-12 “And the third angel followed them, saying

with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and
receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be
tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their
torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest
day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience
of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus.”

What point in time are commandment keeping saints patiently

waiting while at the same time others, who have the mark of the
beast, are worshiping the beast and his image?

Is this point in time before the second coming of Jesus or after the
1,000 years?

Does this firestorm occur before the second coming of Jesus or

after the 1,000 years?

Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego walked about in a firestorm

and lived to tell about it.

How would you like to experience what they went through?

Well, you will indeed experience this, if Jesus returns within our
lifetime. We will experience a firestorm more spectacular than
what these three worthies went through.
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* How was it that Elijah could step into a chariot of flaming fire,
pulled by horses of fire, without being incinerated?

I’ll tell you how: He was fireproof as were Shadrach, Meshach and
Abendigo.

2 Kings 2:11 “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked,
that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire,
and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven.”

* Those of us translated without seeing death will first be tested

as were those three worthies and then we will go through a literal
fire just as they did.

* The command to worship a false Sabbath will be much like that

command to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

Those of us who pass this Sunday law test will survive a pre-
second advent lake of fire.

* Most of us know about the lake of fire brought to view in

Revelation 20 and 21. This lake of fire, that engulfs the world,
takes place after the 1,000 years spent in heaven.

We understand this to be a literal lake of fire into which Satan and

his followers will be cast.

* But, according to Revelation 19, there is a lake of fire that

engulfs the world before the second coming of Jesus.

The pre-advent lake of fire takes place during the time period of
the seventh plague.

Under the seventh plague it says:

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* “…and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give
unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”
Revelation 16:19

And in Revelation 19 it describes this wrath of God:

* Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them
that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake
of fire burning with brimstone.”

The beast and the false prophet symbolize the powers of the
papacy and the two horned beast of Revelation 13 which
represents apostate Protestant America. Revelation also calls
these two powers the harlot and her daughters.

They are the ones who will be enforcing the false Sabbath and will
cause nearly the entire population of planet earth to unite in
rebellion against the law of God.

These two powers represent systems of worship. They represent

false ideologies. An ideology is not a living being that can be cast
alive into a literal lake of fire.

These belief systems deceived the “them” mentioned in the text

and caused “them” to receive the mark of the beast (Revelation
13:16).

* Revelation 18:8 “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,

death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned
with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”

Literal plagues affect literal people.

Who will be utterly burned with fire? The harlot and her
daughters are composed of living persons who at this time have
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all received the mark of the beast “in their right hand or in their
foreheads.”

This is the very fire of which Peter writes:

* 2 Peter 3:9-12 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as

some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance [pre-close of probation]. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night [this phrase “thief in the night”
identifies the close of human probation which initiates the
beginning of the day of the Lord];

* in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved [burnt up], what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

(Notice right here what Peter is saying: Seeing then that a

firestorm will be engulfing the world, we need to be holy. Why?
Because that is the only way we can become fireproof as were
Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego.)

Continuing on in the text:

* Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat?”

Peter does not want us to miss this point. Notice his language:

* melt with fervent heat

shall be burned up
be dissolved
heavens being on fire
be dissolved
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the elements shall melt with fervent heat

Peter is talking about a lake of fire that comes into play in the day
of the Lord that the righteous will pass through.

Zephaniah speaks of this great day of the Lord:

* Zephaniah 1:2, 3, 14, 18 “I will utterly consume all things from

off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast; I will
consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and
the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from
off the land, saith the LORD…. The great day of the LORD is near,
it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the
LORD: the mighty man shall cry

* there bitterly… Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to
deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make
even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”

Isaiah also speaks of this day:

* Isaiah 24:5, 6 “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants

thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the
ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the
curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are
desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and
few men left.”

Here is the Spirit of Prophecy support for a literal, pre-advent lake

of fire. In this statement we find the time frame for the phase, the
day of the Lord.

* “The bowels of the earth were the Lord’s arsenal, from which he
drew forth the weapons he employed in the destruction of the old
world. Waters in the earth gushed forth, and united with the
waters from heaven, to accomplish the work of destruction. Since
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the flood, God has used both water and fire in the earth as his
agents to destroy wicked cities. In the day of the Lord, just before
the coming of Christ, God will send lightnings from heaven in his
wrath, which will unite with fire in the earth.

(The day of the Lord is the day of the Lord’s wrath as Zephaniah
put it. It is time period of the seven last plagues that occur just
before the coming of Christ. God will send lightnings from heaven.
Lightning is an aspect of the seventh plague – Revelation 16:17, 18
“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there
came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so
great.)

The statement continues:

* The mountains will burn like a furnace, and will pour forth
terrible streams of lava, destroying gardens and fields, villages and
cities; and as they pour their melted ore, rocks and heated mud,
into the rivers, will cause them to boil like a pot, and send forth
massive rocks, and scatter their broken fragments upon the land
with indescribable violence. Whole rivers will be dried up. The
earth will be convulsed, and there will be dreadful eruptions and
earthquakes everywhere. God will plague the wicked inhabitants

* until they are destroyed from off the earth. But the saints will
be preserved in the midst of these dreadful commotions, as
Noah was preserved in the ark at the time of the flood.” Signs of
the Times, March 13, 1879.

Just as no one outside of the ark survived the flood of water, so no

one without the seal of God will survive this firestorm.

All those who have received the mark of the beast will be
destroyed from off the earth in this seventh plague, lake of fire.
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* “Water will never destroy the earth again, but the weapons of
God are concealed in the bowels of the earth, which He will draw
forth to unite with the fire from heaven to accomplish His purpose
in the destruction of all those who would not receive the
message of warning and purify their souls in obeying the truth
and being obedient to the laws of God.” Signs of the Times,
January 3, 1878.

* “The places of the earth will be in confusion, as from its bowels

pour forth its burning contents, to destroy the inhabitants of the
world, who in their wickedness resemble the inhabitants of the
antediluvian world.” {Ms72-1902.2}

Ellen White is saying that the plagues will destroy all the wicked
inhabitants from off the earth. This is before the second coming of
Jesus.

Those of us who reject the mark of the beast and receive the seal
of God will go through this lake of fire without it having any effect
on us.

This fire will have no more effect on us than had the fiery furnace
on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We will be fireproof.

* Isaiah 43:1, 2 “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall
the flame kindle upon thee.”

No one who received the mark of the beast will live to see Jesus
return to this earth. If this be the case, why does the Bible say that
the wicked will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming?

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It says this because there will be a resurrection of wicked people
after the fire has fulfilled its mission.

* “There is a mighty earthquake, ‘such as was not since men were

upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.’
Revelation 16:18….The whole earth heaves and swells like the
waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations
seem to be giving way…. Graves are opened, and ‘many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth…awake, some to everlasting
life, and some

* to shame and everlasting contempt.’ Daniel 12:2. All who have

died in the faith of the third angel's message come forth from the
tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who
have kept His law. Those who had died in faith under the third
angel's message, keeping the Sabbath, came forth from their
dusty beds. ‘They also which pierced him’ (Revelation 1:7), those
that

* mocked and derided Christ's dying agonies, and the most

violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold
Him in His glory, and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and
obedient…” The Faith I Live By, p. 182.

* Revelation 14:13 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto

me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth:”

From which point in time is this henceforth? This verse follows

Revelation 14:8-12 which presents the three angel’s messages.

Those who will be resurrected in this special pre-advent

resurrection are those who died, keeping the Sabbath, since 1844.

These righteous saints will be resurrected alongside those who

crucified Christ and those who were most active in opposing Christ
and His people over the past 6,000 years.
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These wicked people will be the ones who will be destroyed with
the brightness of His coming:

* 2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed,

whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”

There will be many who were violent opposers of truth during the
time when men were receiving the mark of the beast. They will be
consumed by fire from God in the time of the seventh plague.

Then shortly after, they will be resurrected along with those who
crucified Christ. They will once again be destroyed, but this time
by the brightness of His coming.

There could be hundreds of thousands if not millions of “most

violent opposers of His truth and His people” raised from the dead
from those who died over the last 6,000 years in this special
resurrection that takes place several days before the coming of
Christ.

This special resurrection takes place after the fires have consumed
all the wicked from off this earth.

It will be the wicked from this resurrection who will call for the
rocks and mountains to hide them at the second coming of Jesus.

* “Then those who pierced Him will call on the rocks and
mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him
that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.” Letter
131, 1900 (Last Day Events, p. 275).

Here is the statement that puts these events in the correct

chronological order.

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This is the statement that modified my understanding of earth’s
final events and provided the inspiration for this sermon,
Fireproof.

* “At this time, when wickedness is at its height, ministers of the

gospel are crying, “Peace and safety.” Upon the minds of those
who are thus set at rest, “sudden destruction cometh.” [1
Thessalonians 5:3.] Unprepared, they shall not escape….
Everything will be penetrated by fire. The tainted atmosphere
will be cleansed by fire. The fire having fulfilled its mission
(sudden destruction), the dead that have been laid away in the
grave

* will come forth—some to the resurrection of life, to be caught

up to meet their Lord in the air; and some to behold the coming of
Him whom they have despised, and whom they now recognize as
the judge of all the earth. All the righteous are untouched by the
flames. They can walk through the fire, as Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego walked in the midst of the furnace heated seven
times hotter than

* it was wont to be heated. The Hebrew worthies could not be

consumed because the form of the fourth, the Son of God, was
with them.... The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.” [2 Peter 3:6, 7, 10.]
This scene has been presented before me as fully as I could bear
to behold it.” {Ms159-1903.20}

From what I’ve shown you, here is how I now understand these
final events:

All who receive the mark of the beast will be destroyed from off
this earth by the plagues. The final plague will include the very
atmosphere being set on fire. God’s people will be preserved alive
in the midst of this firestorm.
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During the Loud Cry many will oppose God's people. They will all
die from the plagues. The most vigorous opposers will then be
resurrected to witness the 2nd coming.

These people who will be resurrected will come into a world that
has just been scorched by fire. There will be nothing left alive
except the righteous people who have passed through this fire.

The wicked will hear the blessings of God pronounced upon those
whom they had persecuted in their former life and they will
worship at the saint’s feet:

* Revelation 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of

Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I
will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to
know that I have loved thee.”

* “Then Jesus ... took His place on the cloud which carried Him to
the East, where it first appeared to the saints on earth—a small
black cloud which was the sign of the Son of man. While the cloud
was passing from the Holiest to the East, which took a number of
days, the synagogue of Satan worshipped at the saints’ feet.”
{Mar 287.8}

Then they will be destroyed by the brightness of the second

coming of Jesus and be resurrected 1000 years later to receive the
wages of sin which is eternal death.

It is at this time that the second lake of fire will consume Satan
and his followers and melt this earth down to then be recreated
by God.

* Revelation 20:10, 14, 15 “And the devil that deceived them was
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the
false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever... And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
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is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The saints will be inside the Holy City, New Jerusalem, preserved
once again from a lake of fire.

* Isaiah 33:12-15 “And the people shall be as the burnings of

lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Hear, ye
that are far off, what I have done; and, ye [that are] near,
acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness
hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the
devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting
burnings? He that walketh

* righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain

of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that
stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes
from seeing evil;”

* “The Hebrew worthies could not be consumed because the form

of the fourth, the Son of God, was with them. So in the day of the
coming of the Lord, smoke and flame will be powerless to harm
the righteous.” {Ms159-1903.20}

* It was because of the choices that the Hebrew worthies made in

the first chapter of Daniel that they were persevered in the fiery
furnace.

They chose to obey God in every detail of life, even down to what
they ate. And it was an obedient, godly lifestyle that helped to
keep their minds clear and in tune with the Holy Spirit.

Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who shall
dwell with everlasting burnings? In other words, who among us
will be fireproof?

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He that walketh righteously as did Shadrack, Meshach and
Abednego.

Closing Song: Be Not Afraid

* (this verse plays through twice)

Be not afraid
For I have redeemed you
Be not afraid
I have called you by name
When you pass through the waters
I will be with you
When you pass through the floods
They will not sweep o'er you
When you walk through the fire
You will not be consumed
You are Mine
You are precious in My sight.

* My love for you

Is everlasting
My love for you
Shall have no end
When you pass through the waters
I will be with you
When you pass through the floods
They will not sweep o'er you
When you walk through the fire
You will not be consumed
You are mine
You are precious in My sight

* Closing Slide

* A lake of fire. Or, "the lake which is fire." This phrase

immediately turns the reader's mind to an identical phrase in ch.
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20; 10, which in turn seems to call for the conclusion that these
phrases refer to the same fiery event, namely, the destruction of
the wicked at the end of the thousand years. But to do so presents
a problem. The 19th chapter is most evidently

* discussing events in connection with the second coming of

Christ. Hence to hold that the lake of fire mentioned in ch. 19:20
describes an event at the close of the millennium is to lift this
verse out of its contextual sequence. It is always better, if
possible, to find an explanation that allows any given statement to
maintain its historical

* sequence in a passage of Scripture. As regards ch. 19:20, this is

possible on the reasonable premise that there is a fiery judgment
from God both at the beginning and at the close of the
millennium. There is no inconsistency and certainly no
contradiction in speaking of a lake of fire at the beginning and a
lake of fire at the end of the millennium.

* James White wrote thus on this point: "So, if you please, there
are two lakes of fire, one at each end of the one thousand years"
(RH Jan. 21, 1862).
Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, pp. 875, 876
(comments on Revelation 19:20).

* Closing Slide

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