Welcome to answers to the big questions. I'm your host Allen Sonter, and I'm glad you could join me.
In the last episode, I told you what hell is and where it may be found. Because so many people have preconceived ideas on the subject as well as on the subject of death, a couple of short episodes certainly will not answer all the questions raised in the minds of listeners. In my answers to the Big Questions in this series, only a brief outline of the subjects is possible.
So if you would like more information with supporting references, you're welcome to contact me at three ABN as I've said before, I can only point you to what the Bible says on the subject, and the rest is over to you. Guided by the Holy Spirit of God if you ask Him for his help today, I'd like to look at the question is one religion better than another? This question can be taken in two ways. It could mean is one major religion such as Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism better than another? Or it can be taken to mean, is one Christian denomination better than another? Actually, no matter which way the question is taken, the same principles can be applied in giving an answer.
Let us first look at whether a religion such as Christianity is better than, say, Hinduism or Buddhism, or any number of other options that exist today. No doubt, when we use the word better, we mean that the religion will provide us with better means of coping with the issues of life that arise from day to day, and that it will provide us with eternal life after death in a form that brings joy throughout eternity. From the answers I have already given to the Big Questions that have been dealt within the preceding episodes of this series, you'll see that I have a worldview that places our present existence on this planet in the context of a great battle between God and Satan.
Thus, a religion that acknowledges this war between good and evil is clearly better than one which follows any other worldview, whatever that may be. For this reason, I believe that Christianity, in its form that most closely follows the teaching of the Bible, is better than any alternative. Now let's examine the various forms of Christianity to determine which denomination most closely follows the Bible.
At this point, we need to go back and study what has happened throughout the history of the Christian Church from the time of Christ to the present. Jesus Christ Himself taught us how to live according to the Creator's plan. What he taught was truth.
Indeed, he declared that he himself is the truth. He tells us that in John 14 six, Jesus passed truth onto his disciples, who in turn taught it to those who became disciples and followers of Christ from generation to generation. However, Satan was active in trying to deceive and mislead the followers of christ.
So as time passed, he introduced his principles into the Christian Church. Little by little, pagan practices and teachings began to creep into the church. And when the Emperor Constantine nominally accepted Christianity in the fourth century, paganism rapidly influenced the Christian Church to the point where Satan was able to bring the church largely under his control and the Satanic power spoken of by the Apostle Paul in two.
Thessalonians chapter Two was set up. For several hundred years, only small groups of Christians maintained the truths of the Bible. But God was still at work to drive back the power of Satan, and Reformers began to arise in the 15th and 16th centuries to restore Bible truths.
Wycliffe in England, Huss in Bohemia, Luther in Germany, Calvin in Switzerland restored lost truths such as salvation by faith, the removal of images, the symbolic nature of the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. Their followers formed into denominations that accepted the truths their leaders taught. But most of their followers didn't go beyond what these men understood from the Bible.
Later, men like Wesley accepted more truth and emphasized the need to keep God's commandments. Then, in the 19th century, William Miller and many others around the world preached the second coming of Christ, and some of their followers formed into churches that went on to accept the Bible truth about the state of the dead and the 7th day Sabbath. By the late 18 hundreds, most of the truths of the Bible had been recovered.
And the 7th day Adventist Church was teaching the truth about the great controversy between Christ and Satan and preaching the prophecies of the books of Daniel and Revelation, calling Christians to prepare to meet Christ when he returns the second time in the near future. From this very brief outline of Christian church history, it can be seen that the best church or denomination is the one that most closely follows the principles and teachings of the Bible, as this church will lead its followers to be obedient to all the teachings of Christ and will love Him and keep his commandments. When Jesus gave his apostles the great commission recorded in Matthew 20 819 and 20, he said, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Notice that Christ's disciples were to be taught to obey all his commands. Satan tries to have people think they are Christians when they're not obeying God's commandments because he knows they are not really Christ's disciples unless they love and obey Him. Satan uses deception in his efforts to induce people to join his side of the war against Christ.
Indeed, in Matthew 24, where jesus tells his disciples about the signs of his second Coming. He warns them three times of deceptions that Satan will practice upon them. He warns against people claiming to be Messiah in verse four.
And he warns of false prophets in verse eleven. And he warns of signs and wonders being used to support false claims in verses 23 to 25. Therefore, we do well to take his warnings seriously.
Not everything is what it appears to be, and where Satan's involved, it's likely that almost nothing is what it appears to be. This is particularly true of those things which Satan uses to make it appear that the dead are still alive, but living in a spirit world. The whole spiritualist movement is based on falsehood.
Satan and his evil angels have the ability to impersonate people, both living and dead. Thus Satan's demons appear to the loved ones of those who have died, pretending to be their departed spirits and deceiving many into believing that when we die, we go to heaven to live there in a spirit world, waiting for the loved ones to join them. This kind of deception makes a resurrection unnecessary in the minds of many Christians.
Satan himself can impersonate Christ. So if we think we see Christ in a dream or vision or even in real life, the only way we can know whether it's really Christ is by what he says and how he behaves. If he says things that disagree with the Bible, we know that it is a deception and not Christ.
As mentioned earlier, another Bible teaching that the 7th Day Adventist Church recovered was the truth about the Sabbath. Satan has introduced into the Christian churches the teaching that the weekly day of worship which the Bible calls the Sabbath is Sunday, the first day of the week, and not Saturday, the 7th day of the week. The Bible clearly teaches that God asks us to keep holy the 7th day of the week.
Now, it's interesting that of all our time units second minute, hour, day, week, month, year the only one that is not based on some event in the solar system is the week. The second, the minute and the hour are divisions of the day, which is the time it takes for the Earth to rotate once. The month is the time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth, and the year is the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun.
But the week is not based on anything we can observe in nature. We have the week because God created everything on the Earth in seven days. In Genesis one and verse one, we are told that the Earth was formless and empty.
But in Genesis 131 and two, verses one to three, we are told that God made everything in six days and rested the 7th day and made it a special holy day to complete the week. He then told his people to keep it as a weekly Sabbath to remind them of the fact that he created the world in six days and set apart the 7th day as the Holy Sabbath. And that commandment is found in Exodus 20, verses eight to eleven.
When Jesus came to Earth, he spent quite a lot of time, for example, in Matthew chapter twelve, verses one to 14, teaching how the Sabbath should be kept in doing good and healing people, but not in doing ordinary work. Jesus Himself and all the apostles kept the Sabbath. But after the apostles died, gradually Christians began to keep Sunday so they would have more in common with the pagans around them.
This change accelerated when Constantine accepted Christianity and laws were made to make people keep Sunday. But a few Christians always kept the true Sabbath down through the centuries, until one of the early Adventists, Joseph Bates, heard about the Sabbath and started keeping it and writing about it to encourage others to keep it as well. So the group of Adventists which Joseph Bates belonged to accepted the 7th day Sabbath and eventually took the name 7th day Adventist.
There are a few other Bible teachings that 7th day Adventists believe which other Christian churches have not understood, especially relating to the prophecies of the books of Daniel and Revelation, but we haven't time to go into detail about them today. So to come back to our question for today, is one religion better than another? I believe the answer is definitely yes. The best religion is one which acknowledges that there is a war going on between Christ and Satan and teaches that ultimately, joy depends on being on Christ's side, accepting God's free gift of eternal life in Christ and living.
As his disciples in loving obedience to all his commandments, waiting for the wonderful day when he returns to set up his kingdom of glory. Well, that's it for this week. I invite you to listen again next time, and if you have any questions or comments about today's presentation, you're welcome to call Three ABN and leave your name and number or email so I can get back to you.
Thank you for listening. You've been listening to answers to the big questions. I'm Allen Sonter and I hope you can join me again next time.
if you have any questions or comments in relation to today's program, you can call 3ABN Australia Radio within Australia on 024-97-3456 or from outside of Australia on country code 6124-973-3456.
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The Law is good and Law is right and it's written by God in stone. The law is love, and the law is light, and it's written by guarding stone. I will follow his commandments, I love in Him alone for his law is my delight it's written down in stone oh, it's written down in stone the Law is holy, the Law is pure and it's written by God in soul.
The Law is faithful forever sure and it's written by God in soul. I will follow his commandments. I it's written down stone.
Always written down stone. The law brought fire and the law brought flood brought down judgment from a holy God. But the Lord showed a mercy when he said his son who bought my pardon with this precious blood I love him so I will follow his commandments.
I will bit in him alone. For his law is my life. It's written down in stone I will follow his command him alone for his love is my life it's written down in stone down in stone inscribe my God Almighty it's written down in soul saddenly it dawned upon me that this road I travel on is a pathway unreturning that my life will soon be gone yet even now as I'm held captive christ say my only praise these trials I'm facing last but few days for I know I fought a good fight and I know that I've kept the faith even though my destruction is at hand.
I can sing because I see the truth has set me free. And I know I will live with him one day eternally. Even though it all seems hopeless, even though I'm tightly bound I am strengthened, my mind is free.
I know I am heaven bound for I know I fought a good fight and I know I've kept the faith even though my destruction is at hand I can sing because I see the truth has set me free and I know I will live with him one day eternally. When Jesus comes again one bright and shining day he'll take me by the hand and I know I'll hear Him say welcome home, my precious child welcome home, my beloved friend. Even though the darkness often seems too great I rejoice because you prove that you are strong and true.
So come enter in and live with me. SA SA love you that I love you all. Dream of beautiful crown that never la way glory, honor and power of every day all my Jesus name name no need for night beautiful angel all that never see worthy down the glory, honor and all diamond beautiful day all beautiful way beyond the dream all the regular it sam had gone astray he was out in the wind and the rain.
And the shepherd called the hired man. Go find my sheep again. Then the hired man said o shepherd, the night is wild and bad but the shepherd smiled as if that little lamb was the only one he had.
As if the only one he had. Then the shepherd searched in the darkness when the night was cold and bleak and he found that little lost lamb and held it to his cheek. Then the hired man said, o shepherd, you should have let it be.
But the shepherd smiled as he held it close and that little lost lamb was me and that little lost lamb was you you have been listening to a production of Three ABN Australia radio.
