I'm glad God is still in control, and controls things to His advantage!!!!!!
If that weren't the case you and I won't even be here to have a choice.
All would have been lost and no one after Adam and Eve would have had any choice.
This business of insisting that God maintain a "hands off" position is NOT preaching the third angel's message at all -- it's defending the devil who from the beginning was saying God has no business getting in his way.

None of this sin consequences is what God desires -- He HATES SIN and death, He offers life and righteousness !
Does the prolific spread of sin and death mean His plan fails -- NO!!!
No -- the demonstration of God's love is not failing. But it would fail if God did not intervene. Before the flood, mankind, in the full possession of god given intellect and all the riches of earth's wonderful creation demonstrated they would take the gifts of God and use them to crush righteousness and goodness. It was fully demonstrated that sin crushes out all righteousness. Yes, that demonstrated sins great and terrible evil power. But do we recognize how helpless we are in the face of sins great power? It is in the very intervention of stopping the consequences and power of sin and giving people who haven't already sold their souls to the devil the chance to chose life in God, that demonstrated God's love. It is in this very intervention that God's love is demonstrated and free choice is again restored.

But for some strange reason some can't see that, and insist the devil and his agents be given free reign without any intervention from God????
Yet without God's intervention the devil removes all free choice.
It's because God has intervened time and time again, that we have free choice!

Sin will always crush out all righteousness -- and rule with terrible tyranny, holding mankind in absolute and total bondage of slavery with no choice at all.
Why would you insist God sit back and allow this? -- He will not -- He will give everyone free choice, and this can come only because He will intervene and stop sin's tyranny.

The important point in the list of names --
God knows us by name! Not just as "groups of people" He knows each one by name. Each has a purpose in His plan.

We need to study His plan, read His Word over and over -- His covenant -- like the returned exiles -- and take hold of His everlasting covenant.

Last weeks study was all about worship and the part music played in their worship.

1 Chronicles 25:6 AKJV says, "All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman."

They obviously used musical instruments back then as most of us do today.

What are ways that you have experienced the joy of worship through music?

In what ways is this important to you?

Lesson #11 was titled "Backslidden People."

Why do people backslide???

Another question:

What are the first signs that a person is backsliding???