9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I'm sitting beside the Sabbath[br]Trail, which is this really cool trail,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that starts and ends at the Washington[br]Seventh Day Adventist Church,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in Washington, New Hampshire.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Which is the first[br]Seventh Day Adventist church,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the oldest Seventh Day Adventist church.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And this is a trail that[br]winds through the woods

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for about a mile, it's got[br]twenty-two separate stops on it,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
each of which has a part in tracing the[br]Sabbath through the Bible, through the ages.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If you ever get a chance to[br]visit, I highly recommend it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For our purposes, this trail [br]is an ideal spot to continue

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
our look at the selfishness paradigm.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have to wait to see a pure expression of[br]the loving-kindness paradigm, God's paradigm.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We won't see that until heaven.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But today, even though Satan[br]has twisted things around severely,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
God, as master designer of[br]the earth, can still be seen.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The author Ellen White, in[br]the book Desire of Ages,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
talks about how there's[br]both good and evil in the world,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and we can see God in nature still.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Where the only thing that is,[br]or can completely be evil,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is the hearts of those humans[br]who decide to be wholly evil.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And here is what she says[br]on page twenty of her book.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She says, "Now sin has[br]marred God's perfect work,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
yet that handwriting remains.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Even now, all created things[br]declare the glory of His excellence.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is nothing, save the selfish[br]heart of man, that lives unto itself.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
No bird that cleaves the air, nor[br]animal that moves upon the ground,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but ministers to some other life.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly[br]blade of grass but has its ministry.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Every tree and shrub and leaf[br]pours forth that element of life

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without which neither[br]man nor animal could live.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And man and animal, in turn, minister to[br]the life of the tree and shrub and leaf.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold[br]their beauty in blessing to the world,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the sun sheds its light to[br]gladden a thousand worlds.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The ocean, itself the source of[br]all of our springs and fountains,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
receives the streams from[br]every land, but takes to give.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The mists ascending from its bosom[br]fall in showers to water the earth,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that it may bring forth and bud."

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, we can even still see God in His earth.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And we can see Him, even in the soil,[br]if you'll remember video number one.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The soil is full of micro-organisms, there[br]are probably literally billions of them

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in a handful.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And while there is war[br]going on in our soil,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and war going on at[br]every level all around us,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
so also is there a little cooperation, a[br]little sharing, a little passing of blessings.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We see a little bit of that[br]paradigm -- God's paradigm.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We can see bacteria capturing nitrogen from[br]the air to make it available to plants,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who then provide the bacteria with[br]nutrients, and fungus in the soil,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the filaments of fungus cycle[br]nutrients and enhance plant life.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Plants provide food to the[br]fungus; symbiotic relationships.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So even though the tapestry of[br]creation is tattered and faded,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
we can still catch a glimpse[br]of God's paradigm in it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And in catching this glimpse, we can better[br]understand that he wants us to return

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to a much, much better world[br]than the one that we now live in.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But, for now we're here, in the midst[br]of this war between Christ and Satan,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
this pitched battle, which started in[br]heaven and will soon end, praise the Lord,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
here on Earth.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And this war has been[br]raging without pause.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And we're going to look at[br]a couple of the skirmishes

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
between these paradigms we've been[br]talking about, as recorded in the Bible.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We'll start with the temptation of[br]Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in Genesis 3:3 and 4.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Satan cleverly offered to Adam[br]and Eve an alternate paradigm,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
disguised though it was.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To this first couple, who had[br]everything, he offered more.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He told them that God was a liar.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And he told them that by disobeying Him,[br]they would receive the amazing thing

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He was keeping from them, and[br]that they would become like gods,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
knowing good and evil.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Well, they fell for it. And they were[br]ashamed, they were appalled,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and they were incredibly[br]sorrowful as a result.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
God then pronounced a broad ranging[br]curse in Genesis 3:14 through 19.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But within that curse, is[br]something very, very interesting.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He put enmity between us and Satan.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I read this to say in part, that God[br]gave us the ability to resist Satan,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who had just conquered us.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Our friend in Maine, Arnet Mathers,[br]who has studied this deeply,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and he concludes that[br]Satan didn't see that coming.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That are ability to resist him after he[br]conquered us, was a surprise to him.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That perspective gives us a sense[br]of just how dynamic this war was,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and is.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Next, going to the book of Job, we[br]see Satan claiming that Job serves God

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
only through selfishness, and asserting that Job follows God